GFDD and FUNGLODE Participate in Partners Against Poverty Meeting Organized by PPAF

Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) participated in the meeting, “Partners Against Poverty – Awareness, Agreements and Action,” organized by the Public-Private Alliance Foundation (PPAF), on July 16, 2008, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

 

The objective of the meeting was to provide a
forum in which public and private sector institutions conducting work in the area of sustainable development could share success stories, forge new partnerships and establish plans for action. Prior to breaking into group discussions, David Stillman, Executive Director of the Public-Private Alliance Foundation; Zina Andrianarivelo-Razafy, Permanent Representative of Madagascar to the United Nations; and Francis Lorenzo, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, provided
participants with an overview of the types of initiatives being carried-out in the countries of the Dominican Republic and Madagascar to fulfill the United Nations Millennium Goals. Discussants highlighted gains in the fields of health, environment, infrastructure, tourism, education, information and communications technology, microfinance, international trade, social welfare, ethanol production; aquaculture, agribusiness and handicrafts.

 

Representatives from non-governmental and private sector institutions later divided into small  thematic groups – Tourism and Environment, Women and Microfinance, Health, Ethanol, and Agribusiness. GFDD and FUNGLODE formed part of the Tourism and Environment group. During the discussion session, representative Kerry Stefancyk informed group members of the work being implemented by the Foundations’ Coral Gardens Project in the areas of coral
preservation and regeneration, environmental management and community development. Group members demonstrated interest in the program and expressed their desire to collaborate with GFDD and FUNGLODE in developing programs related to biodiversity and environmental conservation.

 

The Public-Private Alliance Foundation works to establish partnerships between governments, non-governmental and civil society institutions and the private
sector to advance sustainable development and alleviate global poverty. PPAF currently implements projects in the Dominican Republic and Madagascar, nations selected as pilot countries by the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

 

The Coral Gardens Project is a public-private initiative to preserve and restore coral reefs and marine habitats in the protected areas of Punta Cana, Bayahíbe, Samaná and
Sosúa in the Dominican Republic. The Project is the product of a partnership between GFDD, FUNGLODE and Counterpart International. It works in association with the Dominican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Dominican Ministry of Tourism, the National Geographic Society, the Punta Cana Foundation, the Bayahíbe Hotels Association and the Ecological Foundation of Sosúa, among other entities.

 

Related link:
www.ppafoundation.org