Speaking into the mike is Bill Austin, CEO of Starkey Laboratories and Founder of the Starkey Hearing Foundation

The Public-Private Alliance Foundation, along with the Rotary Club of New York and the Madagascar Mission to the United Nations, got the ball rolling with the Starkey Foundation in 2010.  The Madagascar Mission to the UN continued to stimulate and encourage the project and its achievement.  Foundation board members Ambassador Zina Andrianarivelo and Scott Wright, along with Senior Fellow John German, and staff of the Madagascar Mission worked hard to make this come about.

Kids with Hearing Aids with Rotary and Starkey Volunteers

The project started in Madagascar in November 2010 with a visit by Starkey Foundation staff and organizational work by the Rotary Clubs to screen potential recipients.  The Rotary Clubs continued screening in spring 2011 in advance of a ten-day visit by the Starkey team in October.

Malagasy children - All deserve to hear

The Public-Private Alliance Foundation is pleased to announce the first steps for a project to provide long-term hearing aid support to Madagascar.  It will involve government, business, non-profits and the community. To facilitate this, PPAF board members and a senior fellow have met with Starkey Hearing Foundation President and CEO, Bill Austin and its Executive Director Brady Forseth.  Discussions with Ambassador Zina Andrianarivelo-Razafy of the Madagascar Mission to the United Nations have led to follow-up by Rotary Clubs and the Government in Madagascar.  Information on Starkey, a well-known American NGO, can be found at:  www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org   It began in 1984 and works in countries around the world.   

Mr. Austin has recently sent a letter to the President of the Transitional Authority of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina and Mme. Rajoelina, offering assistance and outlining how the foundation would work.  The letter notes that Starkey is already working in the region, in Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana and Mozambique. 

Mr. Frederic Rondeau, International Director of Starkey, will visit Madagascar from November 25-30, for high-level meetings with the Government and Rotary, initial training of volunteers and identification of patients and other preparations toward implementation early next year.

In a meeting held in Antananarivo on November 10, representatives of Rotary Clubs, the Ministry of Health and other participants agreed to make “Aid for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing” as a Rotary program with Starkey Foundation.  Three Rotary Clubs in Antananarivo:  Ainga, Dean and Mahamasina, will take the lead.   A Memorandum of Understanding will be established between the Ministry of Health and Rotary.

The World Health Organization has estimated the number of deaf and hard-of-hearing in Madagascar to be approximately 1.8 million people.  Background information can be found in a very informative article and accompanying video from French TV:  Deafness in Madagascar    The video asserts that while about half of all Malagasy school-age children attend school, only about 1% of deaf children are in school.   Gallaudet University, the premier American university for the deaf, maintains a list of deaf organizations and schools by country, including in Madagascar.  The Public-Private Alliance Foundation previously facilitated donations of medical supplies and equipment to Madagascar through Project C.U.R.E., and corporate funders, which resulted in delivery of nine 40-foot shipping containers to several hospitals and clinics.

Raoul has asked PPAF to help raise $1,000 for solar panels to provide electricity for the village school in Ambalarondra.   This small school has been built with donations from within Madagascar and abroad, and with community labor.  Now, a canteen building has been added, for preparation and serving of meals for the children.  Providing a daily meal encourages families to send their children to school; it gives kids the nutrition they need and the opportunity to learn.  In the country as a whole, 42% of children under 5 are underweight for their age.  Education of children, and nutritious meals as part of their education, are their path to a better future. 

To help, follow this link  for donating on-line and in the remarks, designate Solar Power.  Or, you may send a check to PPAF, 166 Edgars Lane, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706.     

Schoolchildren at Ambalarondra

End of School Celebration in the Canteen

Raoul, un des membres du groupe Mahaleo, est actuellement Dr. Raosolosolofo RAZAFINDRANOA,  un médecin à Toamasina. Le Mahaleos sont connus pour leur passion pour leur pays, et pour l’esprit d’aider le peuple malgache.

Raoul a demandé a PPAF de lui aider à recueillir 1000 $ pour des panneaux solaires pour fournir l’électricité pour l’école du village Ambalarondra. Cette petite école a été construite grâce aux dons locaux et à l’étranger, et avec le travail communautaire. Maintenant, un bâtiment de cantine a été construit, pour préparer et servir des repas pour les enfants. Fournir un repas quotidien encourage les familles à envoyer leurs enfants à l’école, elle donne aux jeunes de la nutrition dont ils ont besoin et la possibilité d’apprendre. Dans le pays, 42% des enfants de moins de 5 ans présentent une insuffisance pondérale pour leur âge. L’éducation des enfants, et des repas nutritifs dans le cadre de leur formation, sont leur chemin vers un avenir meilleur.

Pour aider, suivez ce lien pour faire des dons en ligne et dans les remarques,  « panneaux solaires ». Ou, vous pouvez adresser un chèque à PPAF, 166 Edgars Lane, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706, Etats-Unis d’Amerique (USA).

The Ministry of Health has assured customs clearance and verification of the goods, while the Ambatovy Nickel Project is providing costs of shipping.   Mialy Razakandisa Rajoelina, wife of the transitional head of state of Madagascar, and Patrick Hickey, the CEO (President Director General) of the Ambatovy Project, received the supplies at a January 30 ceremony in Toamasina.  

The first container is being provided to the university hospital, Hopitaly Be.  Future containers will go to two basic health centers in Toamasina and to Moramanga, Brickaville and Ranomafana.  Information is available on the Madagate website.  

Working closely with the Madagascar Mission to the United Nations,  PPAF underwrote the initial needs assessment carried out by Project C.U.R.E., and helped make contacts with officials and potential funders for the shipping as well as for other arrangements.  The Madagate article also points to the value of such public-private partnerships.

The Ambassador writes that he is personally coordinating preparation of official ceremonies of arrival.  He notes that pictures speak for themselves of the success of our common actions.

Nikhil Seth, Director of the Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination introduced the report on UNPPA. E/2009/72    It is also available in Spanish and French.  He said that the promotion of rural development was essential to reducing poverty and for promoting better standards of living for much of the world’s population and for meeting the Millennium Development Goals.  The report provides updates to the 2003 declaration of promoting partnerships amongst stakeholders in support of rural development. It highlights the importance of rural development and the impact of the recent global financial and economic crisis on this. According to the report, the crisis can be expected to further impoverish people in many developing countries, and further compound their difficulties arising from food and energy crises and the climate change.

In the discussion among government representatives to ECOSOC, speakers said that partnerships among stakeholders were vital for rural development and in protecting local resources.  In particular the United States delegate encouraged the UN to foster partnerships focusing on sharing knowledge and expertise for development of rural communities and to promote partnerships for sustainable development.

The Report makes special note of the contributions of the Public-Private Alliance Foundation (PPAF) to the efforts of UNPPA by bringing together corporate sector, government, civil society, academia, and the United Nations, to facilitate linkages, promote partnerships, encourage capacity-building and mobilize resources, commerce and investment in support of development.  The report also highlights the PPAF role in two UNPPA countries – Madagascar and the Dominican Republic.

In May 2007, PPAF held its first Partners Against Poverty event at the United Nations, to connect policy-makers with local development initiatives. This led to organizing a conference on fish farming in the Dominican Republic, with collaboration from the Dominican Aquaculture Association (ADOA), the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, the UN South-South Unit, the FAO and others.  ADOA has since taken several further actions.  PPAF enabled Esperanza International, a microfinance organization in the D.R., to obtain a grant from Western Union Foundation.  PPAF provided funds to the Office of the First Lady of the D.R. for community efforts to rebuild housing after tropical storms.  PPAF also promoted the charitable work of the famous Madagascar singing group Mahaleo and the opening of a permanent exhibit on Madagascar at the Bronx Zoo.

At its second annual Partners Against Poverty event at the United Nations in July 2008, public, private and other representatives gathered to focus on promotion of health, agribusiness, renewable energy, sustainable tourism, microfinance and entrepreneurship in Madagascar and the Dominican Republic.  This led to PPAF collaboration with Project C.U.R.E. to deliver over $1.2 million in medical equipment and supplies to Madagascar. The Permanent Mission of Madagascar to the UN and Project C.U.R.E worked to raise $100,000 from private donors for shipment of the goods.

Building upon the 2008 meeting PPAF has worked with a Dominican growers’ nonprofit organization, GLOCAL, and with a Canadian buyer and investor, Oneel Corporation, to promote production and export of vegetables and fruits and related farmers’ capacity-building.  PPAF has also collaborated with New York representatives from the National Supermarkets Association, the distribution company Super-Produce, and the Centre for Export and Investment of the D.R., to promote Dominican exports to New York’s Hunts Point Market.

PPAF and business collaborators also explored issues of sugar-based ethanol and related bio-energy, leading to a partnership with ResearchPAYS, Inc. to develop further initiatives for stakeholder collaboration.

PPAF’s third annual Partners Against Poverty event (May 2009) brought together high-level Dominican, Brazilian, Haitian, U.S. and UN public and private participants to focus on ethanol, leading to further work in New York and the Dominican Republic on investment and commercial prospects of bioenergy.

PPAF continues to work with the United Nations and other stakeholders to promote development and alleviate poverty in developing countries. PPAF looks forward to building upon its collaborations in the Dominican Republic and Madagascar and expanding these to Haiti.