Public-Private Partnerships for Sustainable Development

Woman cooking in an American Relief Committee Camp

The photo above shows life in a displaced persons camp in Haiti.  Many are living with less.  Extradordinary reconstruction is needed. 

The United States and the United Nations (UN), in cooperation with the Government of Haiti, and with the support of Brazil, Canada, the European Union, France, and Spain,  co-hosted the “International Donors’ Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti” at the United Nations in New York on March 31.   Co-Chairs were UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Haiti President René Préval.

PPAF Executive Director David Stillman had the good fortune to speak briefly with President Clinton at the conference about ideas developed during Stillman’s recent trip to Haiti.   PPAF expects to follow up on this in the coming weeks.

The goal of the donors conference was to mobilize international support for the development needs of Haiti in an effort to lay the foundation for the country’s long-term recovery.  The Prime Minister of Haiti  presented the Action Plan for Haiti’s future and explained how international support can assist. Countries, international organizations, and other partners had an opportunity to pledge resources, to discuss coordination in support of Haiti’s long-term recovery and to commit to a sustained effort to support Haiti.

At the conference, the United Nations Members States and International Partners pledged US$ 5.3 billion for the next two years and US$ 9.9 billion in total for the next three years and beyond. 

View here the Closing Press Conference .   The action plan, the meeting agenda and the final communiqué also available on the www.haiticonference.org site.

Powering Haiti’s Future

TAMPA, Fla. (March 16, 2010) – International experts involved in the rebuilding of Haiti believe there’s an unprecedented opportunity to incorporate alternative energy sources into the new infrastructure, says David Stillman, the executive director of the Public-Private Alliance Foundation which is working with the United Nations in charting a new path for the earthquake-ravaged nation.

Stillman will brief the USF community on those plans during a talk at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, March 22, in the Marshall Student Center, Room 2707, on sustainable development and renewable energy in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and other developing nations. The conversation is open to the public.

The Public-Private Alliance Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing poverty in the world by uniting business, governmental, community, academic with efforts through the United Nations. The organization’s goal is to stimulate entrepreneurship, commerce and investment in sustainable development. 

Stillman, a United Nations senior officer for 30 years, said he recently attended a Haiti reconstruction conference where organizations are already taking steps to incorporate alternative energy resources – such as ethanol-powered cook stoves – into relief and rebuilding efforts. Stillman said alternative energy can be built into the Haiti’s new infrastructure, creating jobs and a sustainable economic base for the impoverished nation.

The organization had already been considering opportunities to incorporate alternative energy into development in the Dominican Republic when the Jan. 12 earthquake hit Haiti. The focus had been on a sugarcane-based ethanol – a natural because of the island’s history in sugarcane production, which has waned in recent years leaving fields vacant and workers unemployed. But other alternative forms of clean, sustainable energy could be developed if public, private, academic, non-governmental organizations, private corporations and financiers can coordinate their efforts, he said.

“Renewable energy is needed and is possible in various ways at various levels,” he said.

Stillman’s presentation is part of a continuing focus the Patel Center has on renewable energy projects in the region. The center recently selected two USF students for a six-week business development internship to analyze market potential for alternative energy products in the Dominican Republic and Panama.

Kedwin Dominguez is currently a junior majoring in electrical engineering. His research interests include incorporating alternative energy sources in communities in United States and Dominican Republic. Wilnelly Ortiz is a marketing major in the College of Business Administration with an interest in learning more about businesses in other countries.

The focus of these U.S. Department of Education-funded internships is to help small businesses in Florida involved in alternative energy products and services to develop and expand their export markets.

The University of South Florida is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of only 25 public research universities nationwide with very high research activity that is designated as community engaged by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.  USF was awarded $380.4 million in research contracts and grants in FY 2008/2009. The university offers 232 degree programs at the undergraduate, graduate, specialist and doctoral levels, including the doctor of medicine. The USF System has a $1.8 billion annual budget, an annual economic impact of $3.2 billion, and serves more than 47,000 students on institutions/campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and Lakeland. USF is a member of the Big East Athletic Conference.

-USF

by

Vickie Chachere
News Manager
University Communications & Marketing
813-974-6251
vchachere@admin.usf.edu

Congratulations to Project Gaia, which plans to provide ethanol cookstoves to Haiti!

On March 16, Project Gaia received an award at the World Biofuels Markets 2010 Conference in Amsterdam, entitled the Sustainable Biofuels Award, for the theme of “Adoption–for a commercial project, a municipal fleet, or a new user.”  Project Gaia won out over two municipal fleet nominees, the Stockholm Clean Vehicles Program and the San Sebastian municipal Bus Company.

Boma Anga of Clean Fuels Development Company, Abuja, Nigeria, Project Gaia’s private sector partner in Nigeria, and Meghan Sapp, Executive Director of PANGEA, accepted the award on  behalf of Project Gaia.  PANGEA is Partners for Euro-African Green Energy

Harry Stokes, Executive Director of Project Gaia, said, “We will apply the cash prize toward buying CleanCook stoves for Haiti.”

According to David Stillman, “The Public-Private Alliance Foundation and Project Gaia are partners in the effort to introduce and ultimately commercialize the use of ethanol-burning cookstoves in Haiti and elsewhere.  This is especially relevant in the wake of the Haiti earthquake where cooking fuel has become very expensive and the traditional fuel of many, namely wood and charcoal, continues to denude the countryside.  And yet, sugar ethanol can be a successful local product.”

Project Gaia already has pledges of initial donations of cookstoves and ethanol from Brazil and other sources.  Project Gaia, PPAF and others are working to expand beyond the donation phase to create a regular supply of stoves and fuel.

The award will come with a cash prize and publicity and media attention at the conference and post conference until next year.  Information about Project Gaia will be included in the Conference proceedings and on the flash drive distributed to all members containing the conference materials.  The Conference MCs stressed the need for stoves for Haiti and the importance of emergency energy intervention there.

The panel of judges was composed of:

Raffaello Garofalo, Secretary General of EBB,

Rob Vierhout, Secretary General of Ebio, Ausillio Bauen, Director, E4 Tech,

Jonathan Kingsman, CEO, Kingsman,

Kevin McGeeney, CEO, Starsupply Renewables,

Marcos Sawaya Jank, CEO, UNICA,

Graeme Wallace, Director General, EFOA,

Jim Lane, Editor, Biofuels Digest, and

Suzanne Hunt, Principal, Hunt Green LLC.

See also an earlier blog article on ethanol cookstoves: http://ppafoundation.org/blog/2010/haiti-summit-outcomes/

Cookstoves for displaced Haitians, ethanol to run these, biodiesel for electrical generators and fuel, and construction of transitional housing were among Public-Private Alliance Foundation interests discussed during the HAITI – Resources for Reconstruction & Humanitarian Assistance Summit, held on March 9 and 10 in Miami. 

Displaced Haitians Set Up Encampment at Port-au-Prince Golf Course

UN Photo

Dr. David Stillman, PPAF Executive Director, spoke at the panel on Economic Recovery and Reconstruction and hosted afternoon roundtable sessions.   Conference participants signed up to meet with speakers, to discuss business or support related to reconstruction priorities.

PPAF’s interest in renewable energy grows out of its work since 2008.  Several project possibilities that respond to the Haiti crisis are being developed, notably:

• Partnering with Project Gaia to make cookstoves that run on ethanol broadly available. 
• Partnering with businesses in Haiti to produce sufficient ethanol for cookstoves.
• Creating a production model that will result in sustainable commercialization of cookstoves and ethanol, on the local Haitian market.

PPAF seeks financial and technical support for these projects, from interested governments, business and financial houses, individual donors, major foundations and UN agencies. 

Regine Barjon, Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce of Florida, holding stove, with Brady Anne Luceno and Harry Stokes of Project Gaia, talking with Maureen Taft-Morales (l), Congressional Research Service

This effort potentially meets several needs:  (a) cooking and the fuel to do it, (b) rebuilding small business capabilities, and (c) helping protect Haiti’s fragile environment, where many have relied on wood and charcoal for cooking.

Brady Lucerno, David Stillman & Harry Stokes, showing the cookstove and the ethanol canister

The Summit was organized by Global Investment Summits and the IPOA (International Peace Operations Association). The event stressed the pivotal role the private sector will play in long-term reconstruction in Haiti.  Its aim was to enable participants to begin addressing the efforts required to reconstruct Haitian infrastructure and rehabilitate the country’s economy and society.  The summit aimed to contribute to work in the fields of logistics, transport and communications, infrastructure, housing, security and stability, and medical and nutritional aid.

At the Summit, Stillman discussed with the organizers and with the leadership of SImACT, a Haiti Diaspora investment group, the possibility of convening a workshop on investment and commerce in Southern Haiti, to be held in Jacmel.

Dr. David Stillman, PPAF Executive Director, will speak at the  HAITI – Resources for Reconstruction & Humanitarian Assistance Summit, to be held 9 – 10 March 2010 in Miami, Florida.  He will be a panelist on Economic Recovery and Reconstruction and also participate in afternoon roundtable meeting sessions. 

The event stresses the pivotal role the private sector will play in long-term reconstruction in Haiti.  This not-for-profit event constitutes a partnership between Global Investment Summits and the IPOA (International Peace Operations Association).  The aim of the summit is to allow the parties involved to begin addressing the vast efforts required to reconstruct Haitian infrastructure and rehabilitate the country’s economy and society.  All profits from the event will be donated to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. 

The objective of the summit is to help rebuild the political, economic and commercial hubs of Haiti, particularly in the devastated capital, Port-au-Prince. With an estimated 60% of the country’s GDP eradicated, up to half of building infrastructure ruined and damaged in the capital, and nearly 1 million displaced people, rebuilding the nation will prove to be a massively complex process. The summit aims to contribute to the reconstruction efforts in fields spanning from logistics, transport and communications infrastructure to security sector reform, while helping ensure stability for and the welfare of Haitians in terms of medical and nutritional aid and shelter.

The Organizing Committee of the Workshop “STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF DOMINICAN AQUACULTURE 2010-2015″ has reported that its plans are well advanced. Institutions and public and private agencies linked to national and international production and marketing of fish, shrimp and other seafood in our country have been invited to participate in this important event.

The workshop will be held on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 March in the Conference Room of the Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Research (IDIAF), whose Executive Director, Dr. Rafael Perez Duvergé, has expressed the commitment of this institution to strengthen the development of aquaculture through efforts for training, research and evaluation and technology transfer.

The Organizing Committee is composed of a representative from each of the following institutions and agencies: IDIAF, CONAPROPE, ADOA, CODOPESCA, FAO-RD, University ISA and the TAIWAN Mission.

This unique event will bring together more than 45 professionals from government institutions, local and international universities, international cooperation agencies, consultants, importers and exporters, in hotel and restaurants, supermarkets, congressmen and producers, who will debate the way forward for the next five years, and update the 2007 Plan.

Kentucky State University (KSU) has confirmed the participation of Dr. James Tidwell, Director of the Department of Aquaculture and past president of the World Aquaculture Society (WAS).  He will give a lecture on global aquaculture and strategies for success.  Also Dr. Darryl Jory, a professional with the American Soybean Society (ASA-IM) will give a lecture.  ASA-IM has concluded support arrangements for 2010 with the Dominican Association of aquaculturists, Inc. (ADOA).  

Agriculture Minister Salvador Jimenez is scheduled to give the keynote address, and a paper will be presented by the Deputy Minister of Planning.

Dr. David Stillman, Executive Director of the Public-Private Alliance Foundation (PPAF), will also participate.  PPAF is linked to the United Nations.  Since 2007 PPAF has supported numerous events and activities of  ADOA and the aquaculture sub-sector in the Dominican Republic.  Through the efforts of PPAF, Mr. Aurelio Monreal will make a presentation on alternative energy use in aquaculture.

Discussion and debate will begin in mid-afternoon the first day and continue on the final day of the event, concluding with the presentation of the draft new strategies for 2010-2015.

PARTE DE PRENSA

La Comisión Organizadora del Taller “ESTRATEGIAS PARA EL DESARROLLO DE LA ACUICULTURA DOMINICANA 2010-2015”, informó, que los trabajos para la realización del mismo se encuentran muy avanzados. A este relevante evento han sido invitados a participar, instituciones y organismos públicos y privados nacionales e internacionales vinculados a la producción y comercialización de pescados, camarones y otros mariscos en nuestro país.

 El Taller se realizará los días miércoles 24 y jueves 25 de este mes de marzo, en el Salón de Conferencias del Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Forestales (IDIAF), cuyo Director Ejecutivo, el Dr. Rafael Pérez Duvergé, ha expresado el compromiso de esa institución con el desarrollo acuícola, a través del esfuerzo que se realiza en la capacitación, las investigaciones y validaciones y la transferencia tecnológica para consolidar el mismo.

 La  Comisión Organizadora está compuesta por un representante de cada una de las siguientes instituciones y organismos: IDIAF, CONAPROPE, ADOA, CODOPESCA, FAO-RD, Universidad ISA y MISION TAIWAN.

 Este evento único, reúne a más de 45 profesionales de instituciones del gobierno, universidades locales e internacionales, organismos de cooperación internacional, consultores, importadores y exportadores, sector hotelero y restaurantes, supermercados, congresistas y productores, quienes debatirán sobre el camino a seguir durante los próximos cinco años, y la actualización del Plan 2007.

De la Universidad del Estado de Kentucky (KSU), ha confirmado su participación, el Dr. James Tidwell, Director del Departamento de Acuicultura y pasado Presidente de la Sociedad Mundial de Acuicultura (WAS), quien dictará una conferencia sobre la acuicultura mundial y estrategias para el éxito. También el Dr. Darryl Jory,  profesional de la Sociedad Americana de Soya (ASA-IM), como parte de los acuerdos de apoyo para este año, concertados con la Asociación Dominicana de Acuacultores, Inc. (ADOA). El Dr. Jory tendrá a su cargo una Conferencia Magistral.

Se ha programado un discurso principal que realizaría el Ministro de Agricultura Salvador Jiménez, así como una ponencia la cual estaría a cargo del Viceministro de Planificación.

En adición, participará en el Taller, el Dr. David Stillman, Presidente de la Fundación para la Alianza Pública-Privada (PPAF), enlazada a la ONU, quien desde el año 2007 ha apoyado en numerosos eventos y actividades a la ADOA y a todo el sub-sector acuicultura en la República Dominicana. Por gestiones de la PPAF el profesional Aurelio Monreal hará una presentación sobre la utilización de energía alternativa en la acuicultura.

Las discusiones y debates se iniciarán a media tarde del primer día y continuarán en el día final del evento, concluyendo con la presentación del borrador de las nuevas estrategias 2010-2015.

Haiti:  Building Back Better was the underlying theme of three meetings held at the United Nations on February 24.  UN Webcasts are available for all three — click on the blue titles below.  

David Stillman spoke at the morning session – the Communications Workshop.  A group of PPAF and related colleagues attended, including Scott Wright and Jeanne Betsock Stillman, board members; John L. German, Senior Fellow; Rosario Rodriguez, Associate; and colleagues Rodney Leon and Renan X. Pierre, Haiti Initiative for Building, Infrastructure and Sustainable Communities (HIBISCUS), Alex Krutansky (businessman) and Dr. Leo Slutsky.  Stillman’s remarks can be found at:   39′42″ and Q&A at 1:12′ 53″ and 1: 35′

UN Department of Public Information/NGO Communications Workshop on “NGOs responding to crisis: Meeting new challenges – The case of Haiti“.  1 hr 49 min. Ambassador Jean-Wesley Cazeau, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Mission of Haiti to the UN, gave opening remarks on the situation in Haiti.  Speakers included: Nicholas Reader, Deputy Spokesperson of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA); Patrick McCormick, Senior Emergency Communications Specialist and Deputy Chief of Media Relations at UNICEF HQ; Jocelyn McCalla, Senior Advisor to the Special Envoy of Haiti for the United Nations; David Stillman, Executive Director of the Public-Private Alliance Foundation (PPAF); and Patricia Sacristan, past Chair of the Young Professionals for International Cooperation, United Nations Association of the USA, Southern New York State Division.  The Moderator was Gail Bindley-Taylor Sainté, Information Officer, NGO Relations, UN Department of Public Information.

Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General focused on the Situation in Haiti.  1 hr. 4 min. Anthony Banbury, Acting Principal Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) briefed journalists on the situation in Haiti.

Special Event: “Haiti Re-Building Against All Odds: Fostering Partnerships”.  1 hr. 41 min. Organized by the United Nations Association of Haiti in Collaboration with the Permanent Mission of Haiti to the United Nations.   The event was opened by Harvey Dupiton, new Secretary-General of the United Nations Association of Haiti.   Ambassador Francis Lorenzo, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the UN, co-founder of the UN Association of the Dominican Republic, and Vice-Chair of the PPAF Board, gave welcoming remarks.   Ambassador Leo Merores, Permanent Representative of Haiti to the United Nations, gave the keynote address.   Panels included ”Community Level Participation in Education and Health,” “Partnerships in Microfinance and a Diaspora-originated Investment Fund for Haiti” and ”How Can Haiti’s Dynamic Music and Art Culture Boost Development?”

Currently all United Nations Webcasts on Haiti are being grouped at the following site:  http://www.un.org/webcast/haiti.html

At a meeting to be held by the UN Department of Public Information on Wednesday, February 24, PPAF Executive Director David Stillman will join speakers from UNICEF, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN Peacekeeping Force in Haiti (MINUSTAH),  and others knowledgeable about Haiti and disaster recovery.

The morning session will focus on the immense and shocking crisis in Haiti immediately following the earthquake that occurred on 12 January 2010, which has affected an estimated 3 million people. The discussion will assess specific and new challenges arising from this  event.  An afternoon session will focus on social networking mechanisms that spread the news of the disaster around the world, and how these relate to NGOs.

At a separately sponsored conference in the afternoon, the Mission of Haiti to the UN will join the United Nations Association of Haiti and others  for presentations on the subject “Haiti Rebuilding Againsit All Odds:  Fostering Partnerships.”

The work of PPAF in renewable energy, in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere,  has become even more critical because of the earthquake in Haiti.  The Dominican involvement in relief and reconstruction and the Haitian and international concern to “build back better” have put renewable energy into the forefront.  PPAF has established an Advisory Group on Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development to guide its strategy and program, with a major focus on the island of Hispaniola.     

Members of the Advisory Group have a breadth of knowledge and experience, in government, business, academia, finance and non-profit management.  The broad work of PPAF aims toward achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, especially those aimed toward poverty reduction, environmental sustainability and building global partnerships.

Members of the Group may work together on areas of common interest, and also provide guidance individually. 

The first two topics the Group will address are:

(1)  Renewable Energy in the Dominican Response to the Haiti Earthquake Crisis;  

(2)  Renewable Energy in Haitian Post-Earthquake Reconstruction and Development

Members of the group are: 

Philippe Barjon, MS EE, Product Manager Energy Solutions at OpenLink Financial; Energy Director of BioTek Solutions, Inc.

Antonio Bento, PhD, Associate Professor, Applied Economics & Management, Cornell University

Marty Borruso, BS Forensic Chemistry; Chief Executive Officer, Fuel Bio Holdings, LLC

Gerónimo A. Chotin, BS Finance, Manager of Operations and Finance, Dominican Renewables, Inc.

Johanna Mendelson Forman, JD, PhD, Senior Associate, Center for Strategic & International Studies and Executive Director, Jatropha Foundation

Virgilio Malagon, PhD, Adviser to the President, National Energy Commission of the Dominican.Republic

Pablo Reyes, MA, International Policy; Director, Centro de Estudios Estratégicos Latinoamericanos

Robin van Puyenbroeck,  Master of Law/ Lic. Jur.; LLM International Law; Treasurer, UN Association of New York; Member, Carnegie New Leaders Program; international banker

Jean-Marie Wolff, MBA, MA Real Estate; President, SImACT Mining Holding, Inc.; CFO, SImACT, Inc. (Société Immobilière d’Agriculture, de Commerce, et de Tourisme)

Ex-Officio members of the Advisory Group are:

V. Judith Bowman, MBA, PPAF Senior Fellow.  Consultant in finance

Nazia Habib-Mintz, PPAF Fellow, Renewable Energy Program.  Doctoral candidate, Cambridge University. Consultant in renewable energy

Herb Oringel, MBA, PPAF Board Member.  Chair, Energy Advisory Panel, Town of Somers, NY

Amar Shibli, MBA (2011) - Dartmouth, PPAF Associate.