We asked these experts to come because whether we are working in Haiti, the Dominican Republic or Madagascar, people want and need clean energy and local electrification, simple, affordable housing, and better cookstoves. 

PPAF Executive Director Dr. David Stillman opened and moderated the session.  Presenters included BioGen (Dominican Republic and U.S.), Medesco (U.S.), Habitech International (U.S. and Dominican Republic), WECAN, Inc., and Project Gaia (U.S., Ethiopia and Brazil).  A presentation was also made on Viridian Energy, whose program for non-profits will benefit the Foundation. (See article.)

BioGen manufactures modular and scalable equipment to provide 200 to 700 kw of electricity for communities and agro-business sites, through gasification of a wide variety of biomass and organic waste.  According to the BioGen team, its gasification process is a clean energy solution which combines strong temperature control in the reactor with an exclusive closed loop tar recovery process.  Specialized systems clean the synthesis gas virtually tar-free, and the filtered tars are recycled as fuel in the reactor.  The result is exceptionally clean synthesis gas that will run a wide variety of genset engines, a closed-loop process free of wastewater emissions, and  the ability to operate with numerous varieties of biomass.  BioGen’s manufacturing takes place in the Zona Franca of Santo Domingo, D.R.  Brad Godfrey, Founder/CEO, Bill Yeates, Chairman of the Board, Eng. Giovanni Capello, Board Director and Alfonso Rodriguez, Sales and Sustainability Director and Frank Ciufo participated in the meeting, as did Rick Lafond and Alex Krutansky.

Medesco builds on the experience of its principals in engineering, health care and management.   Marty Borruso presented Medesco’s technology which maximizes the round-the-clock energy needs of hospitals and such institutions.  He described its flagship project, with Atlantic Health Systems / Overlook Hospital in New Jersey for a 4 Megawatt State of the Art Trigeneration system for electricity, heating and cooling.  The system will operate at over 90% efficiency, providing electric, heat, steam, hot water and airconditioning to the hospital while reducing the carbon loading by 10,891 tons per year.  Medesco’s analyses have demonstrated significant financial advantages, showing reductions in total energy bills from 45% to 60%, a simple payback of investment of fewer than three years and lifecycle ROI ranging from 250% to 400%.  Medesco principals Alfred LoBiondo and Frank Ciufo, Robert Peake, corporate director, Facilities at Atlantic Health, and John Borruso also participated.

Habitech International provides equipment, technical and financial assistance to establish building material production facilities to supply projects for construction of low-cost housing, commercial and institutional buildings, including in seismic-prone developing countries.  Its products include soil-cement interlocking bricks, concrete interlocking bricks and blocks, concrete joists for floors and flat roof structures, and concrete roofing tiles. John Weatherhead gave a PowerPoint presentation showing the equipment and the actual building, step-by-step, of 15 houses in the Dominican Republic in 2009.  He emphasized involvement of the community and prospective homeowners in the construction.  Ten houses were delivered to the NGO headed by the Country’s First Lady. The remaining five were private units for sale. This provides an effective demonstration of a successful experience which can be replicated in the D.R. and Haiti where the geology is similar.
 
WECAN, Inc., a consulting firm based in the U.S., provides training of trainers and best practices in management to support the expansion of Habitech International’s low cost innovative housing technology. These organizations are currently preparing plans for work in Haiti.  Francisco Di Blasi highlighted that these plans can also promote community mobilization, youth employment, and other steps to address local needs.  The first phase is to identify a community in rural Haiti for a “demonstrated” deliverable product, and to help design a blueprint for replication and expansion.  They are seeking funds from public, private and NGO sources. 

Project Gaia Inc. is a nonprofit organization that is part of a global initiative promoting clean-cooking fuels, particularly alcohol cooking stoves, for those living in poverty.  Brady Luceno and Harry Stokes presented the CleanCook stove, produced by Dometic, A.B.   The stove burns alcohol fuel without smoke, is easy to use, is highly efficient, and affordable to run. The stove is stable, and the fuel is stored safely in a non-spill fuel tank.   Project Gaia is working with SImACT, Inc., the Public-Private Alliance Foundation and others to manufacture the stove in Haiti and to ensure production and marketing of sugar-based ethanol and the stoves.    

The Haiti Southwest Sustainable Development Project is the 21-month $8 million launching project of a 20-year, $200 million project known as the South Coast Initiative for 10 Communes in the southwest of Haiti.  This, in turn, is the first stage of a larger program known as the Haiti Regeneration Initiative.  The UN Environment Program (UNEP) and the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) are jointly responsible for the project, which was approved by the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission and funded by the Haiti Recovery Fund.   The South Coast Initiative also receives funding and support from Catholic Relief Services, the Green Family Foundation, and others.

Andrew Morton is the Haiti Program Manager for UNEP-Geneva and the Director of this Project.  He spoke about the project and the potential for working with some of the presenters at this PPAF meeting.  He noted that the region suffers from serious land degradation, relatively low levels of investment, difficult transport links and high vulnerability to hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. At the same time it has significant agricultural and beach and park tourism potential.  The project aims to: (a) Reduce poverty through the introduction and expansion of sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, forestry and energy programs; (b) Reduce the vulnerability of urban populations to flooding through restored catchments and improved river basin; and (c) Increase the contribution of sustainable forestry to help meet Haiti’s energy and timber needs.

Viridian Energy is an energy supplier serving New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Illinois. Viridian Energy offers premium renewable energy products that meet or exceed the proposed 2020 federal environmental goal of 20% renewable energy. Many states have already adopted Renewable Portfolio Standards, which require electricity suppliers and utilities to source a minimum amount of their electricity from clean energy sources. Viridian exceeds this requirement in each state in which it operates.  Alex Stillman briefed the group on Viridian’s offerings.  See a separate article on how you can help the Public-Private Alliance Foundation by selecting Viridian as your electricity provider.  For more information or to become a customer, contact ppafoundation2@gmail.com

Other participants included Dr. Lesly Kernisant President of SImACT, Inc.; Josiane Radjoelson, Counselor, the Mission of Madagascar to the UN; Serge Beauzile and Claudel Seide, Haitian-American technical experts; Lord Kevin Lumb and Elaine Ward of Global Investment Summits;  Maria Teresa Lasa of Columbia University’s Earth Institute; John M. Finan, New York City Consulting Group, and Jonathan Hanson, photojournalist.   PPAF Board members attending included George Garland, Jeanne Betsock Stillman. Secretary and Scott Wright, Treasurer.   PPAF Senior Fellows attending included V. Judith Bowman, John Edgar Stillman and Michael Ambrozek

WHAT:      Global Summit for Strengthening Public Private Partnerships to Accelerate Global Electricity Technology Deployment 

WHERE:     UN Headquarters. 

WHEN:      June 2, 11 am to 6 pm. 

HOW TO REGISTER:       https://www.SignUp4.net/Public/ap.aspx?EID=E8GL10E  

Registration will close soon.  Also, please notify David Stillman, ppafoundation@gmail.com so we will know that you are attending.  We look forward to seeing you there. 

Mike Morris, the Chairman and CEO of American Electric Power and of the e8 and Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, the head of UN Energy are extending the welcome to additional participants for the Global Summit.    

UN-Energy is the interagency mechanism on energy.  It was established to help ensure coherence in the UN system’s multi-disciplinary response to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) and to ensure the effective engagement of non-UN stakeholders in implementing WSSD energy-related decisions. It aims to promote system-wide collaboration in the area of energy with a coherent and consistent approach since there is no single entity in the UN system that has primary responsibility for energy.

The e8 is a non-profit international organization, composed of 10 world leading electricity companies.  Created in the wake of the 1992 Rio Summit on environment, Its mission is to play an active role in global electricity issues within the international framework and to promote sustainable energy development through electricity sector projects and human capacity building activities in developing and emerging nations worldwide. 

Gold Mining Consultations

The DR’s Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), South-South News and the Council for Hemispheric Affairs organized the event.  Panel presenters were Benjamin Peachey, Communications Director, International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM); Zoe Amerigian, Researcher, Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA); and Manuel Bonilla, President, Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation/ Barrick.  Asunción Sanz, Director of GFDD’s Washington DC Office, and Ambassador Francis Lorenzo, President of South-South News and PPAF board member, gave introductory remarks.  Kerry Stefancyk, GFDD Representative to the UN, was the moderator. 

Mr. Peachey reviewed the work of the ICMM, which sets performance standards and puts forth guidelines on safety, social and environmental responsibility, and transparency for the mining industry. The Council has 18 company members and 30 association members in 54 countries. 

Ms. Amerigian discussed negative impacts of gold mining in Latin America, including large-scale water consumption, acid mine drainage, cyanide contamination, sedimentation of rivers, open-pit mining, mountain-top removal and worker exploitation.  She outlined recommendations for better balancing environment and economic concerns by corporations, governments and communities. 

Mr. Bonilla described the Pueblo Viejo Dominicana mine, its state of the art production processes and measures to reduce negative impacts.   A $3.3 billion joint venture of Barrick Gold and Goldcorp, it should be functioning in 2012 and produce $8 billion of revenues for the government in addition to corporate profits over its perhaps 25-year lifespan. Hazardous waste clean-up and environmental remediation have been priorities since Barrick took over the site in 2006, as the previous government contract holder had caused much damage over many years.  Going forward, responsiveness to complaints and attention to community social investment programs would also be priorities.  The mine should be a model of technology and triple bottom line performance.  Asked why he was taking such a “do-gooder” approach, Mr Bonilla said he was an environmental engineer and a patriotic Dominican. 

 For further information see: http://www.globalfoundationdd.org/gfdd/fulltext.asp?t=a&id=8135

PPAF works to promote the advancement of women in its activities in its focus countries and welcomes this new important agency. 

UN Women will function as a secretariat and also will carry out operational activities at the country level; it brings together four parts of the UN system:

• the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), established in 1946;
• the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), established in 1976, and with its headquarters in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic;
• the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI), established in 1997; and
• the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), established in 1976).

The new body will be headed by an Under-Secretary General who will be a member of all senior UN decision-making bodies and will report to the Secretary-General.  [Keep reading for more information on UN Women and on Ambassador Cuello's statement concerning a role for UN Women in the Dominican Republic.]

Advocates argue that through the establishment of UN Women, an historic step has been taken towards gender equality, women`s empowerment and women`s human rights as a whole.   According to UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon, through this resolution “We enter a new era in the UN`s work for women.”    

INSTRAW and the Dominican Republic  

In the UN press release discussing adoption of the resolution, Ambassador Federico Alberto Cuello Camilo is cited as saying his delegation

 “‘shares the delight’ of all other Member States at the adoption of the resolution.  The creation of UN Women answered the call of millions of women and girls around the world that had been waiting on the United Nations to respond to their needs.  He hoped that working with and for women through a single body would allow the Organization to tackle the gender-related specificities of development in a coherent and efficient manner.  He thanked the co-facilitators and Secretariat officials that had provided guidance during the negotiations.

 He said that the Dominican Republic had a long history of fighting for women and, to that end, had hosted INSTRAW, which had been essential, among other ways, in providing logistical support to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) following the devastating 12 January earthquake there.  He trusted that the integration of INSTRAW’s mandate into that of UN Women would preserve its training functions and ensure that its physical facilities remained in the Dominican Republic to guarantee the new body’s equitable geographical representation.”

 Role of UN Women

The General Assembly resolution creating UN Women expects this agency to have both operational and what the UN calls “normative” roles: dealing with policies and promoting and monitoring international covenants and agreements, working with the Commission on the Status of Women, a separate intergovernmental body, and with the UN Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC.

As far as the financing is concerned, the operations of UN Women will be funded from voluntary contributions, while the regular UN budget will support its normative work.

According to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon “UN Women will significantly boost UN efforts to promote gender equality, expand opportunity, and tackle discrimination around the globe.”

For more information, see the text of the full draft resolution, which deals system-wide coherence under the agenda item 114, Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit.

http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/64/L.56   The final resolution, not yet posted, is: A/RES/64/289.  See also:

http://www.unwomen.org/

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/

http://www.un.org

On Friday, July 2, four Dominican Republic organizations held a conference at the United Nations about the “Empowerment of Young Women through Youth Delegates to the United Nations.”   This was a side event to the 2010 Substantive Session of the UN Economic and Social Council which took place on the day that the United Nations General Assembly formally adopted Resolution A/64/L.56, which establishes “UN Women” as the new gender equality entity at the UN. 

These were the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD), La Fundacion Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), the United Nations Association of the Dominican Republic (UNA-DR) and the Permanent Mission of the Dominican Republic to the UN.

Convinced that empowering women and youth fuels thriving economies, and spurs productivity and growth, the Public-Private Alliance Foundation welcomes their involvement on national delegations.  PPAF regularly involves young women and men from different origins and cultures as interns.   PPAF also welcomes the creation of UN Women, which will be operational by January 2011.   PPAF further seeks to help achieve the aims of UN Women, to work for all women and girls toward achieving the goals of equality, development and peace all over the world.

Panelists at the July 2 event were:  Federico Alberto Cuello Camilo, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations in New York; Kerry Stefancyk, Program Coordinator for GFDD; Anik Kohli. UN Swiss youth delegate in 2008-2009; Fruzsina Molnar Straus, Communication and Program Officer at the World Federation of UN Associations (WFUNA); and Yamile Eusebio, Director of Formative Activities in FUNGLODE and Director of the New York GFDD office.  Pilar Sandoval, the Executive Director of UNA-DR was unable to join the panel.

The main theme of the meeting was to promote and show the value of youth delegates at the United Nations, and the extent youth representatives, in particular young women, are involved.

The United Nations Youth Program (in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs)  provides for young people to become representatives of their country at an international level. Promoting youth rights and fostering active participation in decision making bodies are the main purposes of the program.

Through their involvement, youth focus on the Millennium Development Goals, asserts Anik Kohli.   Contacting government ministries, organizing awareness raising projects through school visits, and study trips to the capital are among possible actions delegates can take. Furthermore, at an international level, thanks to the inclusion of youth delegates in a country’s official delegation, youth can be part in decision-making at the United Nations in the United Nations General Assembly and various functional Commissions of the Economic and Social Council such as the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and Commission for Social Development (CSocD).

The role of a youth representative varies from country to country. One focus of a youth delegate’s work can be in the Third Committee, the part of the General Assembly that deliberates on Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Issues. In past instances, youth delegates have delivered statements on issues of concern to young people in the Third Committee, and have also taken part in the drafting of various youth resolutions. 

There are obviously many advantages in getting involved as a young delegate.  These can include learning about international affairs in a way that cannot be done as part of formal studies in a university, expansion of networks, and all the professional opportunities may result. According to Ambassador Cuello, youth involvement offers momentous opportunity and great experience. Furthermore, the youth involved bring new ideas to staff and perhaps are the diplomats of the future.

How and why to become a youth delegate:

One of the selection criteria is obviously to have a strong interest in international affairs and significant experience with youth organizations. Applicants must be ages from 18 to 25, ready to work at least 6 hours a week as a Youth Delegate and must at least speak English fluently, says Anik Kohli.

Some countries have existing youth representative programmes to select youth delegates, other do not. In the latter, youth need to lobby in their country on the importance of having a youth representative in its delegation to the UN General Assembly.  They need to write to the Minister of Foreign affairs and the Minister of Youth outlining the merits and how Youth are worth representing. The lobbying would be more compelling through cooperation with existing youth organizations in the country.  Each country has its own application process, thus interested youth have to inquire through their ministry of foreign affairs or a national youth council about how the application process works. Then they will need to apply accordingly.

Alejandro Javier, one of the three young delegates from Dominican Republic in 2009, said that the selection process for the Dominican Republic’s first ever Youth Delegation was thorough, and the competition was fierce. Alejandro presented his essay on Youth Empowerment, and the selection committee (composed of representatives from the United Nations and the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs) evaluated it and warranted his inclusion in the second stage of the process. He was then interviewed and selected as one of the three Youth Representatives to the General Assembly that will represent the Dominican Republic.

Of course the youth can also get involved through various organizations. The United Nations Association for Dominican Republic, a non-profit organization, is dedicated exclusively to the empowering of youth in international affairs. The UNA-DR participant’s average age is from 19 to 23 years old and is composed of more women than men.

Yet, approximately one billion youth live in the world today. This means that one person in five is between the age of 15 and 24 years, or 18% of the world’s population is “youth”. Nevertheless only 26 countries are conscious that Youth participation not only leads to better decisions but is an integral part of a democratic society and so have a Youth Delegation to the U.N.  According to Ms. Yamile Eusebio, as Youth worldwide are touched by major issues such as education, employment, role of girls and young women, poverty, drug abuse, etc., it is vital that more countries select Youth delegates.

For more information:

Global Foundation for Democracy and Development: http://www.globalfoundationdd.org/gfdd/

La Fundacion Global Democracia y Desarrollo: http://www.funglode.org/

UN Youth Program:   http://www.un.org/youth     See also:   http://www.unyouth.com/

UN Women agency: http://www.unwomen.org/

Youth Delegates to the 64th Session of the General Assembly 2009 http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/ga64.htm

Swiss Delegation to the UN: http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/topics/intorg/un/missny.html

PPAF is very happy to learn that the Dominican Corporation of State Electrical Companies (CDEEE) recently signed its first contract, with Grupo Eolico Dominicano, to buy wind energy that will be carried by the Interconnected Electrical System (SENI). The system currently carries only energy from conventional sources.

The energy will come from Grupo Eolico Dominicano’s 34 mega watt wind park, which will join SENI in 2011. 

Speaking to the newspaper Dominican Today, Grupo Eolico Dominicano representative Wilfredo Gonzalez, who participated in PPAF’s 2009 seminars, called the deal “historic.” He said that the group will continue to make renewable energy investments in the Dominican Republic.

The power will be sold to the CDEE according to the price formula found in Law 57-07 on Incentives to the Development of Renewable Energy Sources and Special Regimes.

http://www.dominicantoday.com/dr/economy/2010/7/5/36209/Dominican-Republics-1st-wind-energy-park-to-operate-in-2011

PPAF has worked with ADOA since 2007 in strengthening fish farming in the Dominican Republic.

email info@adoard.com
Edificio CONAPROPE
Feria Ganadera
Santo Domingo
República Dominicana

June 10-11, 2010 – AMCHAM DR / AMCHAM Haiti Conference– Montrouis, Haiti

About 600 people attended the “Building A New Haiti” conference organized by the American Chambers of Commerce of the Dominican Republic and Haiti and the U.S. Commercial Service.   Speakers included the Haitian President Rene Preval and the Prime Minister, Max Bellerive.  Partial lists of attendees and presenters and PowerPoint presentations of selected speeches are available on the AmCham DR website:  http://amcham.org.do  David Stillman of PPAF and a team from SImACT attended, with Lesly Kernisant making a presentation in the Tourism segment.  PPAF has posted a few photos from the event.

June 12-13, 2010 – PPAF/SImACT Workshop, Jacmel, Haiti    

About 50 participants from the AmCham conference, plus about 20 from Jacmel and elsewhere participated in the PPAF / SImACT workshop “Reconstruction and Business Opportunities in Southern Haiti.”  Billed as an add-on to the AmCham conference, this workshop focused group discussions and site visits on several practical possibilities.  The Minister of Tourism Patrick Delatour gave a keynote address.   (See article, press and photos.)

June 21, 2010 – “Building a New Haiti” Debriefing and Planning meeting, Brooklyn, NY

About 20 people attended the meeting, held at the offices of the Brooklyn International Trade Development Center of Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York.  Several shareholders and friends of SImACT participated, as well as the PPAF Executive Director.   Thoughts, comments and suggestions of those who attended the June 10-11 conference in Montrouis will be used to shape the July 10 forum and the September trade mission (below) and for communications with government officials.  

July 10, 2010 – Meeting to Plan a Trade Mission to Haiti, Brooklyn, NY

Participants in the July 10 meeting will help plan for a trade mission to Haiti.  The meeting is being organized by the New York State Association of Minority Contractors and the NS and J Advisory Group.  It will be held Medgar Evers College.  PPAF and SImACT have been invited as presenters.  Contact events@nsandj.com  to reserve a place.

September 8-10, 2010 –  Proposed Trade Mission to Haiti 

A trade mission, jointly led by NS&J Advisory Group and SImACT, is being planned for September, to Jacmel and other sites in Haiti.  Details will be available after the July 10 meeting.

The June 2 summit was organized in effort to begin to review the funds that had already been pledged in the months following the New York summit. The day was spent discussing ways to create and implement initiatives aimed at rebuilding the Haitian infrastructure after the devastating earthquake of January 12. The focus was on projects that would restore some of Haiti’s most basic systems such as water, sewage and electricity, as well as building housing for the many displaced Haitians.

Fifty-four donor countries and 35 international organizations attended the summit. According to President Fernandez, by its close, a total of 7.81 billion was promised to help aid in the reconstruction of Haiti- still short of the 10 billion originally pledged in New York.  Most of these funds have not yet been delivered.

“ All this leads to the figure of US$6.71 billion. If we add the US$1.30 billion offered by the United States in the Summit in New York to that, we’ve already identified US$ 7.81 billion in pledges for Haiti’s reconstruction” (President Fernandez) .

 Former President Clinton and Prime Minister Bellerive are charged with using $ 5.3 billion of those dollars to fund various reconstruction projects over the next 18 months. The new Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti (ICRH), will have their first meeting on June 14th to discuss further details.

Another concern was the safety of the million or so Haitians who are now homeless and susceptible to the 2010 Hurricane season which began June 1. Efforts are being made to ensure their protection and secure housing for the refugees in order to shield them from the effects of the harsh season and prevent further tragedy.

“We have more than one million people that are currently living in very precarious conditions, in camping tents,” stated Clinton, who is the United Nation’s Special Envoy to Haiti. “We can not allow for people to die during this Hurricane Season because they inhabit temporary dwellings.”