Internet Portal Helps Fight Extreme
Poverty Online
New York City, January 27, 2000 - The
Netaid.org Foundation, formed by an historic partnership between the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Cisco Systems and the entertainment
community, today announced that it has selected thirteen non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) to receive its first grants totaling $1.7 million
towards the fight against extreme poverty. The initial grants will support
eighteen projects across Africa and in Kosovo that are committed to ending
extreme poverty, a problem that affects 1.3 billion people worldwide.
Netaid.org's mission is to use the power of the Internet to promote human development and change the way we help each other. Since United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan invited world leaders President Clinton (United States), Nelson Mandela (South Africa) and Prime Minister Tony Blair (United Kingdom) and to be the first to click on www.netaid.org last fall, it has become the world's largest global Internet portal dedicated to fighting poverty through education and resource sharing. Anyone can log onto www.netaid.org to learn about people in need and help make a difference in the fight against poverty by connecting with a person, a community or a charitable organization via the Internet.
Kosovo:
Partnership for Growth: Rural Community Building Renovation Project - supports reconstruction; $32,000
Refugee Trust: Roma - Serb Refugee Assistance - provides emergency refugee relief; $80,035
Rise Phoenix: Mine Awareness Project - educates children on land mine dangers; $31,900
Doctors of the World: Maternal and Infant Health Care - increases access to medical care; $73,600
War Child: Nutrition Program - brings food to children with special needs; $12,500
War Child: Playground Rehabilitation - including demining and reconstruction of playgrounds; $72,000
Africa:
CARE: Sudan - Nuba Mountain Initiative - develops water and sanitation projects; $300,000
CARE: Somalia Partnership Programme - supports community projects with an emphasis on women, human rights; $200,000
IRC-USA: Congo-Brazzaville - provides care for malnourished children and adults; $295,000. Combats sexual and gender-based violence through education; $145,000
Rainforest Foundation UK: Madagascar - Community Development and Forest Conservation in Ambohamahimasina - focuses on self-help initiatives to conserve the rainforest; $66,259
Doctors of the World: South Africa-Community Based Partnership Project - supports cure/prevention of Tuberculosis and Tuberculosis/HIV co-infection; $60,000
Save the Children: Ethiopia - Drought Emergency/Famine Relief - targets needs of children; $75,000.
Save the Children: Angola-Mine Awareness - teaches mine awareness to children; $33,044
Save the Children: Malawi-Rehabilitation of AIDS Orphans - addresses needs of children orphaned by AIDS; $42,000
International Centre for Development: Kenya - Human Rights Training - promotes participation in governance; $24,527.
The Mother's Union: Tanzania-Mawengi-Makonde Environmental Management Project - teaches environmentally-sound ways of preventing erosion; $75,000
Project Concern International-USA: Zambia-Support to Orphans and Refugee Children -- provides shelter, food, education, medical care to street children; $100,000
"We chose Africa and Kosovo for these initial grants because of their desperate needs," said David Morrison, president of the Netaid.org Foundation. "In Africa, 220 million people live in extreme poverty, and those living in war-torn Kosovo are facing a battle every day to rebuild and survive." Today, more than 1.3 billion people around the world live in extreme poverty on the equivalent of less than $1 per day.
"By giving freely of their expert service, Doctors of the World is helping open the doors of peace," said Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.
NGO recipients expressed their immense gratitude.
"Save the Children is proud to be one of the first beneficiaries of the Netaid.org concert and ongoing fundraising activities. This innovative method of inspiring people to take action to fight extreme poverty will result in improved conditions for millions of children and their families in developing countries around the world," said Charles MacCormack, President, Save the Children.
"Today's grants are only the beginning of our efforts to raise social consciousness about the plight of the world's poorest people. The Internet is uniquely suited to fight poverty because it brings people together regardless of traditional boundaries of space and time. We will continually enhance our Internet presence to offer new ways for people to connect, learn and share information about this important cause," Morrison said.
More than 2,800 NGOs have registered to participate in the campaign. The October 9, 1999 NetAid concert program, which featured 39 world class artists, will have aired in 70 countries on television and 130 countries on radio by March 2000. The webcast of the concerts also set a record for the most simultaneous live streams with 2.49 million.
So far, the Netaid.org Foundation has received donations of $12 million to support the needs of communities living in extreme poverty. The Foundation's board will meet in February after which it will announce guidelines for future grants. The board includes Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator, UNDP; Quincy Jones, NetAid producer; and Don Listwin, Executive Vice President, Cisco Systems.
Among other recipients who expressed their thanks to NetAid.org are:
CARE USA
Peter Bell, President and CEO
"The issue of persistent poverty in Africa -- exacerbated, in many
countries, by violent conflict -- demands our sustained attention and resources.
NetAid's support will enable vital action in some of the poorest and most
vulnerable parts of Africa. We at CARE are privileged to be part of this
unique, collaborative effort."
DOCTORS OF THE WORLD
Robert Kushen, Executive Director "Doctors of the World is immensely
grateful to the NetAid Foundation for its support of our Maternal and Infant
Heath Project in Kosovo. The NetAid grant will enable us to address a fundamental
gap in existing health services. This grant will help to provide emergency
medical care and transport to ensure that minority Serb and Roma infants
and pregnant women have access to the same health care that Doctors of
World has been able to offer the Kosovar Albanian majority."
DOCTORS OF THE WORLD
Robert Kushen, Executive Director
"The NetAid Foundation's generous grant will help Doctors of the World
provide crucial services to combat tuberculosis and TB/HIV co-infections
devastating South Africa. Through health care, we can help move the country
further toward peace, reconciliation, and improve the rights and well-being
of all South Africans."
DOCTORS OF THE WORLD
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
"By giving freely of their expert service, Doctors of the World is
helping open the doors of peace."
INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT
Ms. Salome Omanya, Country Director
"The challenges facing communities today are the creation and sustenance
of social, economic and political systems that serve all members and in
a global environment. The Centre undertakes this challenge within communities
by recognizing the right of the community to decide the most urgent of
its needs and helps it overcome the hurdles that limited resources place
on that community' aspirations. We look forward to partnering with the
NetAid Foundation in employing unique resources towards achieving this
noble goal."
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE
Reynold Levy, president
"We're grateful to the NetAid Foundation for its exercise of leadership
on behalf of the world's poorest people," said Reynold Levy, president
of the International Rescue Committee. "The Foundation has performed
a remarkable service in forging cooperative relationships with the corporate
community and in enlisting the support of individuals around the world.
Its funding of the IRC's work in Congo-Brazzaville will save many, many
lives."
PARTNERSHIP FOR GROWTH
Mark Shipperlee, Charity Director
"NetAid has made it possible - a real tangible difference for some
rural communities of Kosovo."
PROJECT CONCERN INTERNATIONAL
Paul B. Thompson, President
"NetAid, and all of its supporters, has a new and exciting opportunity
to make a profound difference in the lives of the world's most vulnerable
people. Project Concern International is honored to be part of this opportunity,
partnering with NetAid on behalf of African children living on the streets,
many of whom have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS, civil unrest and
poverty."
RAINFOREST FOUNDATION
Simon Counsell, Director
"The innovative nature of NetAid illustrates how ordinary people from
around the world now have the power to join together as a global community
to actively promote change and make a difference. We are very pleased to
have been chosen as one of the very first beneficiaries of the NetAid Foundation'
s funding for anti-poverty projects in Africa, this donation will enable
us to continue our community development and forest conservation work in
south-eastern Madagascar."
REFUGEE TRUST
Vincent O'Reilly, Chief Executive
"On behalf of the Executive Board and Management of Refugee Trust
and our field operations, Refugee Trust is extremely grateful to Net Aid
for their most generous and timely grant for our programmes in Montenegro/Yugoslavia
on behalf of Serb and Roma civilian refugees. At a time when the spotlight
of publicity has faded and when donor attention has been diverted elsewhere,
the grant from Net Aid to Refugee Trust represents an improved opportunity
for us to assist innocent civilian victims and for this we remain most
grateful and appreciative. The fact that Net Aid responds at this time
reminds the world that although the hot war may have ended in Kosovo, a
deep-ending humanitarian crisis faces many vulnerable Serb and Roma families
in Yugoslavia/Montenegro."
RISE PHOENIX
Dragan Matijevic, Director
"Thanks to the wonderful support of NetAid, Rise Phoenix theatre will
travel out to Kosovo this February to help raise mine awareness and share
some happiness with children and their families in the most dangerous areas.
The Rise Phoenix crew is very excited about the amazing prospect of having
near-to-live Internet reports from the field as the project progresses.
This radical new approach will give us an opportunity to really connect
with our supporters on almost a day-to-day basis."
SAVE THE CHILDREN
Charles MacCormack, president
"Save the Children is proud to be one of the first beneficiaries of
the NetAid concert and ongoing fundraising activities. This innovative
method of inspiring people to take action to fight extreme poverty will
result in improved conditions for millions of children and their families
in developing countries around the world."
WAR CHILD
Nicola Jenns, Project Director
"War Child and the children of Kosovo thank Net Aid for its generous
support. We believe that children are the key to reconciliation and we
hope that by providing safe play areas for children in Kosovo we are assisting
in this reconciliation process." .