From the Executive Director

Welcome to the PPAF newsletter for the 1st quarter of 2008. If this is the first time you are viewing our newsletter, be sure to look at earlier ones on our website for work in policy development and pro-poor business, including the recent conference on fish farming in the Dominican Republic. The PPAF revamped website is now up and running, and gives more opportunities for interaction. Kudos to Marc Perry, a volunteer with experience in web design and social networking websites, who has made the new look possible. We welcome your feedback. Also, many thanks to volunteer Jason Amado, who has taken over formatting the newsletter and will prepare other communications tools. PPAF gives many opportunities for you to become involved. See the article below about volunteering as well as cash and in-kind support. We are also seeking contacts for financing, investments and partnerships for specific projects. I would be happy to discuss any of these opportunities with you.

David Stillman,
ppafoundation@gmail.com

April 2008

Fish Farming

According to Maximo Nicolas, President of the Asociacion Dominicana de Acuacultores (ADOA), the December Aquaculture Conference opened the doors to many new opportunities.  (See PPAF December newsletter.)  The core group of organizers of the conference now meets periodically to sustain the resulting initiatives.  ADOA has created a website (http://www.adoard.com ), established a newsletter, submitted two project proposals to the UN food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), prepared an agreement for a "Red Seal of Quality" with the National Hotel and Restaurant Association, and participated in meetings with producers and sources of support. They also have met with the Dominican Center for Livestock Research (CIMPA), which will collaborate in a training course for small producers in late April. 

ADOA is preparing necessary documentation to be registered as a "cluster" with the National Council for Competitiveness. This will enable the association to enter into contracts and receive business support.  Next steps will include drafting business plans for larger-scale financing.   Also ADOA is organizing a Tilapia intensive practical and theoretical course, with the support of the American Soy Association (ASA) and the US Department of Agriculture, to be held in August.

Growing tilapia	Fish Conference follow-up meeting

Upcoming - June-July 2008

Madagascar! at the Bronx Zoo

On June 19, the former Lion House at the Bronx Zoo, New York City, will reopen its doors as the site of the new permanent exhibit Madagascar!  As stated in the publicity, the exhibit will transport visitors to a one-of-a-kind island nation that teems with wildlife found nowhere else on our planet. It will recreate the rainforest, limestone caves, spiny desert, and other habitats of this wondrous land of extremes, and will include lemurs, hissing cockroaches and other fauna of the “8th continent.”

PPAF is assisting the Madagascar Mission to the UN and The Bronx Zoo to identify performers and materials for special events that will showcase the culture of Madagascar. These activities will take place on the weekends of June 21–22 & 28–29 and July 4–6 & 12–13.  More information will be available on the PPAF website and through the Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx Zoo website.


Photographer: Adrian Pingstone,
in August 2003; placed in the public domain.

Ongoing

Microfinance Collaboration

PPAF has arranged for innovative efforts in support of microfinance institutions in the Dominican Republic and Madagascar through reaching out to the Columbia University School for International and Public Affairs. In one case, a former high official in the Madagascar government requested assistance in locating funding sources to establish a new lending body for micro-enterprises. Graduate student Natalie Unwin-Kuruneri is providing comments on the business plan and exploring potential funding. For the Dominican Republic, graduate students May Bend and Omaira Soriano are preparing a funding proposal for assistance in financial literacy training and cash support to microenterprise lending through the foundation Esperanza International. PPAF is working with the national counterparts and mentoring the students.

Spring 2008

Madagascar Handicrafts

Thanks to recent matchmaking by PPAF, and work done in 2005 on marketing of Madagascar handicrafts in the U.S., a buyer from California has placed an order for 6,100 baskets to sell in the U.S. The potential buyer asked PPAF for information on Madagascar producer organizations which could supply a quantity of baskets, custom-made. PPAF put the buyer in touch with a producers association, which made the deal. According to the buyer, "I am very proud to show these items; they are expertly crafted and authentic."

April 4, 2008

ECOSOC NGO Forum

Ms. Lila Andrianantoandro (Counselor, Madagascar Mission to the UN) and Ambassador Francis Lorenzo (Dominican Republic) spoke at the ECOSOC NGO Forum on the role of civil society in promoting sustainable development. The representative of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Ms. Xenia von Lillian-Waldau, also focused on Madagascar in a presentation on "the bottom billion." She stressed that three-fourths of that number live in rural areas and she used slides from Madagascar to illustrate her points. The NGO forum helped prepare for the 2008 High-Level Segment of ECOSOC that will start at the end of June. Madagascar and the Dominican Republic are pilot countries of the UN Public-Private Alliance for Rural Development and focus countries of PPAF.

Ms. Andrianantoandro spoke of the linkages between the promotion for "Madagascar, Naturally!" and the 2007-2012 Madagascar Action Plan (MAP). The aim of the MAP is to fight poverty and improve the economy so as to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The MAP focuses on eight commitments: Responsible governance; Connected infrastructure; Educational transformation; Rural development and a Green Revolution; Health, family planning, and the fight against HIV/AIDS; A high-growth economy; Cherishing the environment; and National solidarity

Ambassador Lorenzo focused on the Dominican Republic's plans to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and presented a video called "The Dominican Model." This was based on a sector by sector national needs assessment coordinated by the Presidential Commission on the MDGs (COPDES) and undertaken with support from the UN Millennium Project and the Country Team of UN agencies. This was followed by highlighting the MDGs in thenational budget. Noting that to achieve each of the MDGs requires action on all, the Ambassador emphasized the importance of partnerships. PAF Board member Scott Wright, Executive Director David Stillman and interns Kimie Shigyo (Japan) and Liliana Bucur (Romania) also attended the event.

Scott Wright, Ambassador Lorenzo, Lila Andrianantoandro	Lila Andrianantoandro and members of the Madagascar Mission to the UN

March 29 - April 4, 2008

Dominican Youth Leader attends Three Dot Dash "Just Peace Summit"

Cristian Hernandez, nominated by PPAF and the UN Association of the Dominican Republic, joined 27 other youth in a week-long workshop organized by Three Dot Dash and led by four-time Grammy nominee Nile Rodgers (founder of the We Are Family Foundation) and Susan Hunt (Foundation President).  At the opening event Jenni Stepanek, a noted child and patient advocate, spoke of her son Matt’s activism before his early death, and former child soldier Ishmael Beah and AP war correspondent Ian Stewart spoke of their experiences and Ian’s near fatality in Sierra Leone.  Each Global Teen Ambassador will develop a program to carry out in his or her home country, with support from a mentor.  

March 6, 2008

ECOSOC Preparatory Meeting

The Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) is a new function of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) mandated at the 2005 World Summit. It assesses the progress made towards the MDGs and the implementation of other agreements reached at the major UN conferences and summits of the past 15 years, which constitute the United Nations Development Agenda. In 2008, the AMR will focus on the theme of sustainable development, which is MDG 7.

The meeting had a twofold focus -- delivering on implementation, and the role of ECOSOC in achieving sustainable development. The President of ECOSOC and the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs led the deliberations, with policy experts as panelists. Participants agreed on the value of ECOSOC in bringing diverse actors together and encouraging partnerships. They also recognized that actions for "sustainable development" go well beyond ministries of environment and require attention from ministries of finance and the highest government authorities.  

Particularly relevant to PPAF and its sister organization, the UN Public-Private Alliance for Rural Development (UNPPA), was discussion on how ECOSOC can foster the integration of sustainable development principles into policy-making and development cooperation, and how to secure broader participation from the private sector and civil .

March 5 and 7, 2008

Meetings with Angolan Officials

At the request of Ambassador Ismael Gaspar Martins, Permanent Representative of Angola to the UN, a delegation from Angola, staff of the Mission of Angola to the UN, members of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Office for ECOSOC Support and Coordination and representatives of PPAF met to discuss UN Public-Private Alliance for Rural Development (UNPPA) support for Angola. Angola has become the third pilot country of UNPPA.

The Angola delegation included representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, vice-governors of five provinces, and two parliamentarians. The vice-governors briefed the meeting on the challenges and opportunities in their provinces of this post-conflict nation. The delegation requested assistance to help support the national anti-poverty program. Next steps are expected to include a visit by UNPPARD and PPAF staff to Angola, to develop initiatives there.

Volunteers, Interns and Teams

PPAF benefits from the talent and enthusiasm of volunteers, interns and graduate student teams. In the first quarter of 2008, they have included the following

Volunteers - Herb Oringel has become an unpaid staff member specializing in strategic planning, marketing and management (see staff bios). Marc Perry, whose experience includes financial market research and entrepreneurship, has redesigned our website and will work on other aspects of PPAF.

Jason Amado, also experienced in web design, is working on the newsletter and special communications projects including in Spanish and French; he has previously worked in Quebec and Burkina Faso. Natalie Unwin-Kuruneri, a graduate student at Columbia School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), is working on microfinance in Madagascar.

Interns - Liliana Bucur, a graduate student at Hunter College, is researching background information on PPAF countries and has drafted notes on a preparatory meeting for ECOSOC. Kimie Shigyo, a CPA and a student with the EF International Language School, is researching Japanese foreign assistance and corporate involvement in PPAF pilot countries and assisting with PPAF financial records.

Two interns have held joint assignments with PPAF and the UN. Madgalena Dormal, a student at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina, spent her "summer" break jointly with the UN Department of Public Information and with PPAF. She translated material into Spanish for the new UN Works Programme website, and assisted PPAF with other translations. Jenny Hasselsten, a graduate student at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, worked with the UN Public-Private Alliance for Rural Development and PPAF on expansion of the program into Angola and helped prepare for an Economic and Social Council special event on Corporate Philanthropy.

Team - May Bend and Omaira Soriano, graduate students at Columbia SIPA, are preparing a project proposal for foundation support to microfinance in the Dominican Republic.

Volunteering with PPAF

PPAF is seeking a few volunteers - do you fit the profile? We need:

• Experienced project managers to work on agribusiness (mainly Spanish language), remittances, water and sanitation, and research on these issues. Recently retired UN staff and business people are especially welcome. This is a great way to "give back."
• Translators for public administration training materials on e-governance from English into French and Spanish. This work can be done on a part-time and "virtual" basis, with occasional meetings.

Contributions

We thank all who contributed in 2007. The First International Conference on Investment, Education and Transfer of Technology for Development of Aquaculture in the Dominican Republic, held in December, benefited from cash grants from the UN Special Unit for South-South Cooperation and personal contributions from individual donors. Over half of the total costs of the conference were met through in-kind contributions of co-sponsors, including the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, the Dominican Aquaculture Association, the Dominican Institute for Agribusiness and Forestry Research, a provincial senator, the Office of the President, a private investor, FAO, and the animal feed company Alltech, Inc.

Please consider a gift to help PPAF develop partnerships, especially in Madagascar and the Dominican Republic, to build pro-poor business opportunities. If your company will match your gift, please let us know.

Until we obtain our 501(c)3 status, the World Federation of former UN Internes and Fellows (WAFUNIF) serves as our fiscal sponsor. Our EIN is 71-1016293. Donations to PPAF may be made payable to WAFUNIF and should be earmarked for the Public-Private Alliance Foundation. Donations are welcome in any amount and will be tax-exempt to the extent of the law..

Please send your contribution to:

PPAF c/o WAFUNIF
United Nations, Room FF-646
304 East 45th Street
New York, NY 10017

We would be happy to talk with you about contributions to the work of PPAF and for details on electronic deposits. Please call 914-924-0108 or e-mail ppafoundation@gmail.com.

Jeanne Betsock Stillman, Editor
Jason J. Amado, Graphic and newsletter design
http://www.ppafoundation.org