Bill Gates & The Ricky Martin Foundation form alliance.

The Microsoft Corp Chairman Praises The Success Of Navega Protegido, A Joint Program Of Ricky Martin’s Charitable Foundation And Microsoft, Aimed At Protecting Children & Families Across Latin America From Hazards On The Internet Such As Identity Or Asset Theft And Child Predators

Partial Proceeds From Each Ticket For The Upcoming U.S. Concert Dates Of The Grammy Winning Superstar’s Black & White Tour Will Also Be Donated To Support The Work Of The Ricky Martin Foundation: http://www.rickymartinfoundation.org>

During an address yesterday in Cartagena, Colombia at the Microsoft Government Leaders Forum (GLF)—Americas, Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates highlighted the company’s successful partnership with The Ricky Martin Foundation, in the creation and implementation of the “Navega Protegido” educational initiative.

According to Microsoft’s press release following the event, “committed to children’s online safety, the [“Navega Protegido”] campaign has been launched in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela. Microsoft is producing a series of awareness videos, featuring singer Ricky Martin, targeted at parents and children, focusing on online safety.”

Currently in the midst of an extensive run of concert dates in Latin America, Ricky Martin relayed his foundation’s pride in the program: “We are very proud to join efforts with Microsoft in such a noble campaign that seeks to protect children from the hazards on the Internet. Together we will take great strides to protect our most vulnerable population.” Echoing Martin’s strong belief in the program, Angel Saltos, Executive Director of the Ricky Martin Foundation, added that, “The educational videos are a practical tool to make the Internet a safer place for children. By educating parents, teachers and minors about the risks of the Internet, we can prevent abuses against children. The efforts begin in Latin America, but our goal is to have a global impact.”

The campaign takes three approaches: education, technology and partnerships. Education initiatives include adult, educator, community leader and child training; technology initiatives focus on developing software and online tools to help protect children from potentially harmful content; and government partnerships enable investigations to pursue criminals who target children and support legislation to create tough penalties for them. To date, the Navega Protegido Web site campaign has reached more than 3 million people from 15 Latin American countries seeking information on Internet safety.

In addition, Martin will combine his passions of musical performance and humanitarian work, by donating partial proceeds from each ticket of the upcoming U.S. concert dates of his Black & White Tour to further support the work of The Ricky Martin Foundation – which advocates for the well being of children around the globe in critical areas such as social justice, education and health.

Touring in support of his recent critically acclaimed and #1 debuting album Ricky Martin: MTV Unplugged and its internationally chart-topping first single “Tu Recuerdo,” Martin’s Black & White Tour will visit arenas across the United States & Canada in April & May (see full schedule below). With concert dates planned across the globe, Martin’s Black & White Tour has already met with unprecedented success during its initial shows throughout Latin America, including a record-setting, sold-out four night run for over 60,000 fans in Puerto Rico, Martin’s sweep of all four-top prizes at the world’s largest Latin Music festival in Viña del Mar, Chile, and a performance to well over 50,000 fans in a single night in Buenos Aires, Argentina.