The event was officially inaugurated by the ACTO Secretary General, María Jacqueline Mendoza Ortega, who appreciated the presence of all and said that it is a very important moment.
In recognition of the valuable contribution to the field of water resources, the Secretary General presented an appreciation plaque to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Manager, Isabelle Van der Beck, for the GEF Amazon Project; and to the assistant superintendent of implementation of the programs and projects of the National Water Agency in Brazil (ANA), Tibério Magalhães Pinheiro, for the Amazon Project.
On the occasion, there was also a brief presentation by the cellist and maestro Diego Carnero who played music from the Amazonian region. Born in the Brazilian part of the Amazon, he is a multifaceted artist, one of the most outstanding young concert artists in his country.
The beginning of the celebrations is part of the mandate entrusted to the Permanent Secretary of ACTO, by the Foreign Ministers at its XIII Meeting, which was held in Tena, Ecuador, in 2017, in order to carry out the necessary coordination for the organization of events aimed at celebrating the forty years of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, as a way to make visible the results achieved by the Treaty to present date.