“Proud of the work done so far”

he President Borich and Government Spokesperson Camila Vallejo; Government Deputy Secretary General Nicole Cardoch; and Secretary of Social Organizations Ignacio Achurra presided over a ceremony to honor social and community leaders on Friday.

“Thanks to your work, your neighborhoods, your communities, the families that live in the different communes of our country are better off today, thanks to you. “Proud of the work done so far,” The head of state assured the more than a thousand people who arrived at the Municipal Theater of Santiago.

Organized by the Department of Social Organizations (DOS) of the Government General Secretariat, the event aims to recognize and value the work of organizations and encourage the creation and coordination of these groups.

president Highlight the great work done by community leadersnoting that “time and again, they recovered and kept going, and even though they did have many doors closed, they ultimately opened them so that their communities could live better. You are hopeful and make sense of the troubles we have.”

On this occasion Three historic society leaders were honored posthumously: Ana González de Recabarén, Raúl Basso González and Magdalena Fabbri Lizarager.

The President said “Throughout history, there have been many who have taken on the noble and difficult task of representing their neighbors and communities, creating unprecedented groups, and telling the nation and society at large: We are here, and we deserve the same rights.”

Minister Vallejo, for his part, stressed that community leaders “have left their mark on their communities through hard work, courage and a lot of sacrifice (…), but also with a lot of love for their communities, they have managed to mark the trajectory of life and improve the living conditions of their communities and organizations.”

Chile has more than 360,000 organizations registered in the Civil Registry. In addition to these, there are thousands of informal organizations that play important roles in areas such as emergency response, coping with the economic impact of the pandemic, coordinating women’s organizations, coordinating security committees or influencing legislation and public policy-making processes.