As of the beginning of April, there were no new cases of Ebola reported in Liberia, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since the outbreak started, WHO has reported more than 9,712 confirmed Ebola cases and 4,332 deaths from the virus in the country. Across Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ghana, more than 800 healthcare personnel have been infected with Ebola and nearly 500 have died since the epidemic began. The WHO has noted that this will have devastating implications for the long-term health of these countries.

Before schools officially reopened in Liberia, Salesian missionaries provided Ebola prevention information and teacher training in preparation for the return to school. School buildings and classrooms were thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. A team of educators with the National Catholic Task Force led by Sister Evelina of the St. Teresa’s Convent school in collaboration with the Catholic Education Secretariat, conducted two separate trainings for 528 teachers from 28 Catholic schools located in Montserrado, Bomi, Gbarpolu, Margibi and Grand Bassa Counties.

The first training, conducted during the emergency phase of the response, focused on basic facts and awareness surrounding Ebola prevention. The second training was for select groups of teachers to become Ebola trainers. These teacher trainers provided Ebola prevention workshops and awareness programs for students and other teachers once the schools reopened in February. A guide on Ebola prevention which will serve as a reference for Ebola prevention in schools was circulated among Catholic schools, including Salesian schools in the country.

Now that schools are open and classes have resumed, Salesian missionaries are getting back to the important work of establishing a regular routine for their students. The recent shipment of food aid resulting from the partnership between Salesian Missions and Stop Hunger Now is providing nutritious meals to students each day to help them focus on their studies and improve their overall health. In addition, Salesian programs are helping children get back to school by providing financial assistance to more than 100 families to help them pay school fees.

“Feeding programs like the one in Liberia are helping to meet the needs of the massive number of children around the globe who are hungry today,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Meals children receive at Salesian schools may be their only meals. This food not only encourages them to attend school, it allows them to focus on getting the education they need without worrying about where their next meal will come from. Children cannot learn on an empty stomach.”

Through ongoing partnerships like the ones with Feed My Starving Children and Stop Hunger Now, Salesian Missions is able to deliver life-saving food aid and other supplies to those most in need.

“Salesian missionaries are an integral part of the existing infrastructure in many countries and Salesian Missions plays an important role in making sure aid from the United States reaches its destination country and gets into the hands of those who need it most,” adds. Fr Hyde.

Salesian missionaries have also turned their attention to helping Ebola orphans. Missionaries in Liberia report close to 530 children who have lost both of their parents to Ebola and another 153 who have lost either their father or mother to the virus across the three West African countries affected. Salesian programs are working to unite orphans with relatives or educational programs and orphanages that will help to provide ongoing care and education. Other Salesian programs are already in the process of providing food, medical care and education to Ebola orphans.

Headquartered in New Rochelle, New York, Salesian Missions has launched an Ebola Emergency Fund to assist Salesian missionaries in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone who are working to help contain the deadly outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa. To raise money for the fund, the Catholic nonprofit aid organization has launched an emergency fundraising campaign and is issuing an urgent appeal for donations. Go to www.SalesianMissions.org/ebola to give.

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Sources:

World Health Organization Ebola Crisis

The post LIBERIA: Food Aid Provides Returning Students Nutritious Meals Thanks to Salesian Missions Partnership with Feed My Starving Children first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Haiti’s educational system is continuing to rebuild after a January 2010 earthquake destroyed 90 percent of schools and 60 percent of hospitals, killed thousands of people and left more than 350,000 injured. In 2012, more than 3 million children were able to return to school with more than 200,000 students educated in Salesian-run institutions.

Despite ongoing reconstruction and infrastructure improvements, Haiti remains the poorest country in the Americas and one of the poorest in the world. According to the World Bank, over half of the country’s population of 10 million lives on less than $1 per day and approximately 80 percent live on less than $2 per day. The majority of Haitians lack adequate access to education, healthcare and nutritious food.

Salesian schools in Haiti fulfill an important socio-economic mission by providing poor youth a foundation for lifelong learning through education and training in skills and trades to help them escape poverty and establish a sustainable livelihood.

The donated meals from Stop Hunger Now are helping to enhance the educational environment for poor youth at three Salesian centers in Haiti. Students in elementary, technical and vocational schools in Lakay, Lakou and Cap-Haïtien were among the recipients as well as many others from surrounding communities.

“Access to nutritious meals allows youth to be better prepared to take part in school activities and focus on their education,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Prepared students are more likely to learn valuable skills that will help them gain employment, break the cycle of poverty in their lives and enable them to give back to their communities.”

For some students, the meals they receive at Salesian-run centers are the only meals they have each day. The meals are provided to students during the school day as well as to their families at a monthly meeting. This food aid serves as an incentive for families to send their children to school and as a result of the donation, school enrollment has increased and students are thriving. Many have gained weight, suffer fewer illnesses and are more focused on their studies. Teachers are noting better student performance in class as well as less conflict among students.

With programs in more than 130 countries around the globe and extensive knowledge and experience with aid shipments, Salesian Missions has one of the largest networks currently working with Stop Hunger Now. Salesian Missions’ programs make up an integral part of the existing infrastructure in many countries and the organization plays an important role in making sure aid from the United States reaches its destination country and gets into the hands of those who need it most.

Salesian Missions’ partnership with Stop Hunger Now was developed in 2011 and since that time, 58 40-foot shipping containers including more than 16 million rice meals have been delivered to locations in 19 countries helping to nourish poor youth in Salesian schools and those in need of emergency aid during times of war, natural disasters and health crises.

“The partnership with Stop Hunger Now allows Salesian Missions to expand its scope of services to youth in need,” explains Jessica O’Connor, property and logistics officer at the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs. “Stop Hunger Now is one of our favorite partners to work with because they are very flexible. They actively seek out opportunities to enhance shipments with additional donated items that the beneficiaries need, and they go the extra mile to help Salesian Missions meet any additional emergency requests for food that it receives.”

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PHOTO: Hannah Gregory / MissionNewswire

Sources

World Bank – Haiti

The post HAITI: Stop Hunger Now Meals Arrive at Salesian Centers, Helping More than 1,100 first appeared on MissionNewswire.

“When our husbands and the village youth went to check the village some time after the shooting had stopped, they came across the bodies of soldiers and civilians strewn across our cassava fields and in the streams from which we drew our water,” recalls Hawa Ladu,* a mother of six.

The tiny village lies 25 kilometres from the South Sudanese capital, Juba, and – luckily for the inhabitants – only three kilometres from Gorom Refugee Settlement, home to 2,500 Ethiopian refugees. It was to prove a safe haven when Amadi village got caught up in the violence that erupted in the country last December.

As Hawa recounts it, for a while the villagers tolerated looting of their food by opposition forces, who stole even “the stew in our pots.” Sometimes the soldiers brazenly ordered villagers to carry the looted food to their makeshift camps.

But when warfare engulfed the village in mid-January, it was time to run. “Bullets whizzed through the air and some landed in our walls as soldiers advanced on Amadi,” says Hawa. She, her husband, their children and their neighbours fled to nearby Gorom Refugee Settlement.

They regarded Gorom as the safest place to seek refuge “because it is where UNHCR is,” she says. More than 730 women and children from the village moved into the settlement’s primary school. “When we fled to the settlement, the refugees were generally very supportive and accommodating because they knew what was happening,” says Hawa.

Becky Ben Ondoa, UNHCR’s community services associate says that even though “Amadi village had become a ‘no-go’ area, we knew that the school would have to be vacated for the start of the new school year.” Once the fighting ended in Amadi, the villagers were told it was safe for them to return home.

But how could they go back when there was no clean water in their village? A UNHCR monitoring mission confirmed what the villagers had already discovered – decomposing human remains were polluting the only source of water.

“It was imperative that we act quickly,” says Ondoa. “To encourage the Amadi community to return to their village, alternative water points for the local community had to be found as a matter of priority.”

A UNHCR partner, ACROSS, located a water drilling company and in two weeks the village had two functioning boreholes – ready to meet the needs in Amadi. The men came first to check on the safety, then their families followed.

“I cannot tell you how grateful we are for the boreholes UNHCR has provided us – and embarrassed that we continue asking for more assistance,” says Hawa. “However, under the circumstances, we have no choice,” since their farming implements had been looted along with their food and grain.

The villagers are busy harvesting the last cassava tubers still in the ground – a modest provision to see them through the long seasonal rains.

“Life as we know it has changed for the worse,” sighs Hawa. “Even our husbands have become like women – helpless and fearful – as we all wait for the situation in our country to resolve itself. As to how long that will be, only God and this country’s decision-makers know.”

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PHOTO:  UNHCR/P.Rulashe

Hawa, points to a bullet hole in the wall of her hut. She discovered it when she returned home to inspect the damage to her home. Hawa and her entire community fled Amadi village for the safety of Gorom Refugee Settlement in mid-January.

*Name changed for protection reasons.

By Pumla Rulashe in Amadi, South Sudan.

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While all schools in the capital  have been closed since early December 2013, UNICEF and partners are setting up more than 100 temporary learning spaces at displacement sites in Bangui. More than 40 are already functioning and 160 teachers have received early childhood development training from UNICEF to give classes to children from 3 – 5 years of age.

In Bossangoa and surrounding areas in the north-west of the country, UNICEF will set up more temporary learning spaces in communities where families are returning and finding schools that are damaged.

“If the displaced children cannot go back to schools, classrooms should come to them,” said UNICEF Deputy Representative in Central African Republic Judith Léveillée. “This is the idea behind the temporary learning spaces,” she added.  “As soon as security allows it, the safe and permanent return of all teachers and students to schools is a crucial step on the road to peace and reconciliation.”

Temporary classrooms are a short-term solution and UNICEF will support the Ministry of Education in re-opening formal schools as soon as the security situation permits.

UNICEF is providing more than 500 kits for education and recreation at 20 displacement sites in Bangui. These kits include teaching materials, books and stationary, sports equipment and art supplies.

“Children have lost several months of schooling since the crisis started,” Ms Léveillée said. “It’s urgent for them to get access to a place where they can learn safely. Returning to class gives children a sense of a return to normalcy, stability, and hope for the future.”

In addition to the temporary learning spaces, UNICEF supports child-friendly spaces, which provide displaced children with psychosocial support and recreational activities.

“I want the children in my class to forget the bad things they have seen. I want to make sure that they don’t turn to violence and retribution, but learn honesty and gentleness,” said Antoinette, one of the teachers at the UNICEF training. “A country without education has no future,” she added.

UNICEF says the basic right to education is most at risk during times of crisis, but schools not only provide children with a safe place to learn, they are also an important part of the recovery process.

Nearly half of Bangui’s residents who fled the violent clashes remain living in makeshift displacement camps.  Over the past year, 65 percent of 176 schools inspected across the country have been looted, according to UNICEF.

UNICEF is working with 11 NGO implementing partners in establishing the temporary learning spaces.

UNICEF’s appeal for emergency operations in Central African Republic this year is for $62 million. The current funding shortfall is $59 million.

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Photo: IRIN/Hannah McNeish

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“Violations must come to an end now,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in the report, which was released yesterday to the Security Council. “I therefore urge all parties to the conflict to take, without delay, all measures to protect and uphold the rights of all children in Syria.”

The report, covering the period from 1 March 2011 to 15 November 2013, lists a raft of horrors that Syria’s children have suffered since the opposition first sought to oust President Bashar al-Assad, ranging from direct commission of abuse, including sexual violence, to more general violation of their rights from school closures and denial of access to humanitarian aid.

“The present report highlights that use of weaponry and military tactics that are disproportionate and indiscriminate by Government forces and associated militias has resulted in countless killings and the maiming of children, and has obstructed children’s access to education and health services,” Mr. Ban writes.

“Government forces have also been responsible for the arrest, arbitrary detention, ill treatment and torture of children. Armed opposition groups have been responsible for the recruitment and use of children both in combat and support roles, as well as for conducting military operations, including using terror tactics, in civilian-populated areas, leading to civilian casualties, including children.”

The report spotlights the disappearance of many children, notes that all parties to the conflict have seriously hampered the delivery of humanitarian assistance in areas most affected by the fighting, and warns that children have experienced a high level of distress as a result of witnessing the killing and injuring of members of their families and peers, or of being separated from their family and/or displaced.

Detailing the detention of children as young as 11 years old for alleged association with armed groups by Government forces in large-scale arrest campaigns, the reports says they were ill-treated and tortured to extract confessions or humiliate them or pressure a relative to surrender or confess.

“Ill treatment and acts tantamount to torture reportedly included beatings with metal cables, whips and wooden and metal batons; electric shock, including to the genitals; the ripping out of fingernails and toenails; sexual violence, including rape or threats of rape; mock executions; cigarette burns; sleep deprivation; solitary confinement; and exposure to the torture of relatives,” the report says.

“Reports indicate that children were also suspended from walls or ceilings by their wrists or other limbs, were forced to put their head, neck and legs through a tire while being beaten, and were tied to a board and beaten.

The report cites a 16-year-old boy as saying he witnessed his 14-year-old male friend being sexually assaulted and then killed, and notes other allegations that boys and in a few instances girls were raped. The 16-year-old said children and adults were beaten with metal bars, their fingernails pulled out, their fingers cut. “Or they were beaten with a hammer in the back, sometimes until death,” he added.

Allegations of sexual violence by opposition groups were also received, but the UN was unable to further investigate them due to lack of access, the report says.

It adds that opposition forces recruited and used both in support roles and for combat, while Government forces used children as human shields. It notes that during the first two years of the conflict, most killings and maiming of children were attributed to Government forces, but mainly due to increased access to heavy weapons and the use of terror tactics opposition groups increasingly engaged in such acts in 2013.

“Armed opposition groups also engaged in the summary execution of children,” it says, reporting that lack of access, including for security reasons, prevented the UN from systematic documentation.

Schools and hospitals have been disproportionally targeted by all parties, with indications that Government forces were the main perpetrators of attacks against hospitals and other health-care infrastructure, mainly opposition-run makeshift health facilities and of threats and attacks against medical personnel, according to the report.

“Injured opposition fighters and civilians, including children, admitted to Government hospitals in perceived pro-opposition areas in Aleppo, Dar’a, Homs and Idlib governorates were reportedly exposed to arrest, detention, ill treatment and acts tantamount to torture by civilian doctors, and/or elements of Government forces,” it says.

The UN also received reports on instances where opposition groups denied medical treatment to injured pro-Government fighters, or misused ambulances, including to cross Government checkpoints.

In his list of recommendations, Mr. Ban calls on all sides to stop all grave violations against children cited in the report, end all indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilian areas, including terror tactics, airstrikes, chemical weapons and heavy artillery, allow unimpeded humanitarian access, and immediately release abducted women and children.

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Photo: Syrian children shelter in the doorway of a house, amid gunfire and shelling, in a city affected by the conflict. UNICEF/NYHQ2012-0218/Alessio Romenzi

The post SYRIA: First United Nations Report on Children in Syria’s Civil War Paints Picture of ‘Unspeakable’ Horrors first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Evangeline’s husband, like all farmers in this small village in Leyte Province, central Philippines, does not own land and earns 50 pesos (a little over $1) a day. Usually, they get paid in rice and forage near their home for vegetables to eat. In between the harvest and the next planting season, he has no job.

“We don’t have any income after harvest. Farming is the only skill he has,” said the 36-year-old mother of two, cradling her two-year-old son outside her tarpaulin-roofed home.

Her 13-year-old son is still in Grade 3, which is usually for eight-year-olds, because financial struggles mean he had to keep dropping out of school.

Then Haiyan, the strongest storm on record to ever make landfall, struck central Philippines on Nov. 8. The family lost their roof, livestock and most of the few belongings they had.

Still, the temporary arrival of relief goods eased long-standing problems of malnutrition and food insecurity in the village where most have been living hand-to-mouth for years.

Now that the Alohas receive rice from the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP), the husband, who went back to work in December, is getting cash for his labour, which they save or use to buy meat or dried fish.

“We can now eat three meals a day instead of two,” Evangeline told Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Fellow villager, Elena Andita, 28, said WFP’s high-energy biscuits and peanut-based fortified food helped her malnourished one year-old son to become stronger.

Yet existing inequalities, including lack of land ownership and entrenched poverty, are impossible to tackle through short-term emergency relief. Questions on how the government can or will address these remain, as the Philippines embarks on possibly the most ambitious reconstruction program in Southeast Asia since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

NUTRITION PROBLEMS

Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, left nearly 8,000 people dead or missing and some 4 million displaced from their homes. Evangeline said they survived by holding onto a tree, their two-year-old son tied to his father with a rope.

The storm also destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares of planted crops, mainly rice – the main staple food in the Philippines – and the livelihoods of almost 6 million workers. Of these, 2.6 million were already in vulnerable employment and living on or near the poverty line even before the deadly storm, said the ILO.

Almost three months on, the 100-odd families in Cabrasan Guti, part of Tanauan Municipality in Leyte Province, are attempting to rebuild their livelihoods in whatever way they can. But they also say they will need external aid until they can begin to feed themselves again. Situated inland, the villagers cannot catch fish for sustenance, unlike their coastal neighbours.

Many typhoon-affected villages are in a similar position.

Stormy weather brought about by Tropical Depression Agaton in mid-January worsened the situation in parts of Haiyan-affected areas, destroying crops, forcing the displaced to move again, and further exacerbating the food security situation of typhoon-hit farmers.

In San Fernando district in Samar Province, half of what Angeles Grefiel planted was washed away by Agaton. The family had to use rice seeds provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which they had hoped to save till the next planting season.

Samir Wanmali, emergency coordinator with WFP, told Thomson Reuters Foundation access to nutritious food had always been a problem in the Philippines, especially in poor provinces such as Leyte and Samar.

“We’re talking about the fact that we have generations of children that have grown up without having proper access to the right types of food. Food that are high in protein and micronutrients, which allow them to grow properly,” he said.

“A natural disaster like this sort of exposes them further and so for us it’s really important that the focus goes from emergency to household food security and household livelihoods,” he added.

Evangeline said the last time she ate meat was on New Year’s Eve. If the aid stops or her husband gets paid in rice again, she will be forced to go back to foraging for food and, if need be, buying things on credit.

What if her children get sick, this correspondent asked.

“They don’t get sick,” she said firmly, shaking her head.

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Writing by Thin Lei Win on Mon, 3 Feb 2014 – Reuters / Trust.org

Photo: Evangeline Aloha, carrying her two-year-old son, walks to her home at the edge of Cabrasan Guti in the municipality of Tanauan, Leyte Province, Philippines, through coconut trees that fell over or were snapped in half by Typhoon Haiyan’s ferocious winds, January 23, 2014. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/Thin Lei Win

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“We thought that we would find schools and that universities would be organized,” the 25-year-old told UNHCR in Mole Refugee Camp, which is located 35 kilometres from the nearest big town – Zongo– and provides shelter to more than 9,000 refugees. That includes about 1,000 young people who were in secondary school or tertiary education back home.

There is a primary school in the Mole camp, where the Central African Republic syllabus is studied by 650 children. The school is currently being extended to host a further 650 children who have arrived since December 5, when fresh inter-communal violence flared in Central African Republic. But there is no secondary school.

Yesson was perhaps a bit naïve in expecting a network of schools, colleges and universities in this isolated, undeveloped and deprived region of DRC’s Equateur province, but his concern about the provision of education for teenagers and young adults living in Mole or elsewhere is a valid and real one, shared by UNHCR and its partners.

Stefano Severe, UNHCR’s Kinshasa-based regional representative, said that finding ways for the refugees in Mole and other camps to continue their education was a priority for the agency. “It is important to help them build their future in a constructive way,” he added, while noting that education was important not just for gaining knowledge, but for keeping the young occupied constructively.

“We have learned from past experiences in refugee camps and we are aware that youth without any activity can have a negative impact on the atmosphere in the camp. If they are bored they are also at risk of manipulation and could be tempted to join armed groups in the Central African Republic,” he warned.

Clearly many of the refugees, with plenty of time on their hands, are missing their education. “We can’t stand it. It’s serious if we don’t study, for us and for our country. We are stagnating,” stressed Yesson, who was studying accountancy and management at a private college in the nearby Central African Republic capital, Bangui, before fleeing across the Oubangui River to Zongo last October. “I get up in the morning and I do nothing until evening,” he revealed.

Most of the students in Mole come from urban areas, mainly Bangui, and the older ones find it difficult to live in a rural area with no – or limited – education or employment opportunities.

Lamine Diop, head of UNHCR’s field office in Zongo, acknowledged that providing access to secondary and tertiary education was a challenge. “We are exploring ways to enable some 700 secondary school students to continue their studies,” he said, while calling on partners to help. In Boyabu Refugee Camp, also in Equateur, UNHCR is looking at ways to admit refugees to a nearby secondary school.

As it looks for solutions, UNHCR is building a cyber café so that the knowledge-thirsty students at least have access to information in Mole Camp. It’s a positive move and welcomed by the students, but they want more.

“It would be even better to find ways to register students in universities,” said 23-year-old art student, Cedrick. “Long-distance learning is a solution as well. When you have [Internet] connection, you have an opening to the world.”

He and others also called for the creation of a cultural centre with library, but above all they dream of being allowed to leave Mole to study in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, or abroad. Instead, said Emmanuel Kouzouaki Yondo, president of the refugee committee in Mole, many of those with qualifications “are the victims of youth unemployment.”

Most of the young refugees, at heart, wish that the conflict will end soon and allow them to go back and resume their studies and eventually start careers in their own country. “I am asking myself when this nightmare will finish,” said a pessimistic and depressed Cedrick.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is hosting nearly 60,000 refugees from Central African Republic, with about half of them living in four refugee camps. The others are with host families. With the new influx since December 5, the refugee population has increased significantly in some camps. In Mole, it has jumped from 4,000 to 9,000 in just over a month.

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By Céline Schmitt in Mole Camp, Democratic Republic of the Congo / UNHCR

Photo: © UNHCR/C. Schmitt

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Touch and Nouv are both reaping the benefits of the market connections and training they received as part of Feed the Future’s work in Cambodia to build the capacity of local businesses to support the country’s growing agriculture sector. Input suppliers – who sell things like seeds, farming tools, and fertilizers – are vital in the process of getting crops from farms to markets to tables, providing smallholder farmers with the means to grow enough food to feed their families and generate income.

But in Cambodia, many rural inhabitants – who comprise over 80 percent of the population – lack access to technical services, modern technologies, and affordable working capital, all of which are critical to a thriving agriculture sector. Most input suppliers inherit their businesses from their families and operate informally, lacking the business management skills and technical expertise to expand the products and services that can support farmers in their communities.

That’s why Feed the Future is training rural Cambodian input dealers in basic business operation and agricultural production skills, empowering them to become not only better entrepreneurs, but also mentors and technical advisers in local agricultural markets. With access to hundreds of smallholder farmers who regularly buy their products, input suppliers are ideally positioned to improve local agriculture by disseminating the knowledge and skills they acquire in training. Since their advice typically leads to better crop yields and more income for farmers, the training is a win-win for rural communities as agricultural businesses grow their client base and farmers get better access to critical tools and services.

Feed the Future also trains smallholder farmers, processers and other agricultural enterprises in Cambodia to improve their chances of securing long-term, small- and medium-size loans from banks and microfinance institutions, which traditionally have been extremely conservative in their lending and require rigorous management standards. With assistance from Feed the Future, rice miller An Sina became eligible for and received a $10,000 loan to upgrade the aging equipment in his mill. He also has purchased more rice from local farmers, which in turn has improved their cash flow and helped them expand their own businesses.

As part of its efforts to improve food security by expanding access to finance, Feed the Future also supported USAID’s Development Credit Authority to guarantee Thaneakea Phum Cambodia, a local microfinance institution, $2.71 million for loans to farmers and small businesses. These loans are larger and have longer repayment schedules and, to date, 80 percent of the borrowers are women.

With better access to working capital, Cambodian smallholder farmers and micro and small business owners are gaining the flexibility to increase their profits over the long term. Feed the Future also trains credit officers in microfinance institutions on agricultural production so they can better understand the risks, costs and production cycles involved in their clients’ work. By building understanding and trust between lenders and borrowers in the agriculture sector, Feed the Future is supporting the design of financial products that are uniquely suited to rural entrepreneurs in Cambodia.

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See this Feed the Future article at its original location >

Posted on the Feed the Future Newsletter on January 30, 2014

Photo credit: HARVEST

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“In the situations of both South Sudan and CAR, we are extremely concerned about the safety of refugees and displaced people, particularly with access being affected by the fighting and insecurity,” UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Adrian Edwards told a news briefing in Geneva.

“Today’s appeals reflect the worsening situations in both cases, with hundreds of thousands of people now affected.”

Of the new funding, $59 million are targeted for South Sudan, where well over 1,000 people have been killed and some 300,000 others driven from their home since fighting erupted between Government and opposition forces less than a month ago.

The remaining $40.2 million is destined for CAR, where thousands of people are estimated to have been killed, nearly 1 million driven from their homes, and 2.2 million, about half the population, need humanitarian aid in a conflict which erupted when mainly Muslim rebels launched attacks a year ago and has taken on increasingly sectarian overtones as mainly Christian militias take up arms.

Both requests by UNHCR, which are for the period to the end of March, follow appeals launched by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on 31 and 24 December respectively on behalf of all UN agencies for $209 million for South Sudan and $152.2 million in immediate support for a 100-day plan for CAR.

Mr. Edwards said the situation has continued to deteriorate in South Sudan, where the number of people fleeing to neighboring countries has quickly increased to some 43,000 people, and Uganda now seeing between 4,000 and 5,000 arriving every day. Inside the country some 232,000 people have been driven from their homes, including 60,500 sheltering at 10 UN bases.

He said the appeal included projections of additional displacement between now and April. “It anticipates that refugee numbers could rise to 125,000 and that the number of people displaced within South Sudan could reach 400,000″, he noted. UNHCR emergency operations include

Today’s supplementary appeal for CAR aims to support more than 1 million people, including 86,400 refugees in neighboring countries and 958,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs).

In both countries, the crises have displaced tens of thousands more people over the past three weeks and “insecurity makes assisting them more expensive, having to resort to airlifts for example when roads are not safe,” Mr. Edwards stressed.

UNHCR emergency operations include registering, sheltering and protecting refugees, providing supplies to displaced people, designing and managing camps for them, and protecting the most vulnerable among them.

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See this United Nations article at its original location >

Photo: Displaced civilians of Bangui take shelter in the shell of an aircraft at the city’s airport. UNHCR/S. Phelps

The post UNITED NATIONS: As Crises Worsen, UN Weeks $99 Million More for Refugees in Central African Republic, South Sudan first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Each year, Oct. 16th marks the observance of World Food Day aimed at bringing attention to the plight of the world’s hungry and undernourished while providing an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the complex solutions. This year’s theme is “Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition.”

Many Salesian programs are dedicated to developing sustainable food systems and providing agricultural education. Working in more than 130 countries—operating primary schools, technical training centers, youth centers, orphanages and programs for street children—Salesian missionaries are on the front lines of the battle against hunger.

“The work has to be done to ensure better local, sustainable food supplies in the future,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “But foreign aid and feeding programs are also a necessity to feed the massive numbers of children who are hungry today and trying desperately to seek an education at our many schools around the globe.”

To achieve this, Salesian Missions develops and maintains vital partnerships with key organizations to deliver food to those most in need, with a focus on school children.

“Meals children receive at our schools may be their only meals,” says Father Hyde. “This food not only encourages them to attend school, it allows them to get the education they need because one cannot learn on an empty stomach.”

This World Food Day, Salesian Missions is proud to highlight some of its partnerships with other U.S. nonprofit organizations that make the delivery of life-saving and life-changing meals possible.

STOP HUNGER NOW

Stop Hunger Now is an international relief organization that provides food and life‐saving aid to the world’s most vulnerable. The nonprofit provides more than just food aid. It also provides significant in-kind aid (such as food, medicines and other supplies) that support education and vocational training programs which are proven to have long-term sustainability—like those run by Salesian NGOs around the globe. Stop Hunger Now partners with Salesian Missions (in New Rochelle, N.Y.) which works to identify needs and coordinates the delivery of 40-foot shipping containers of the meals, supplemented with additional supplies when available. Recently, a shipment was successfully delivered to people in need in the Philippines. Here, more than 28 Salesian programs shared 660 boxes of fortified rice-soy meals. More than 3,100 poor children and families benefitted from this food assistance. This ongoing partnership continues to grow and so far Stop Hunger Now shipments have been received in Haiti, South Africa, Zambia and Sierra Leone where the meals are shared among various Salesian programs located in those countries. The Stop Hunger Now meal packaging program was created to give dedicated individuals the opportunity to participate in a hands-on international hunger relief program and to become educated, engaged advocates for the world’s poor and hungry. See all MissionNewswire stories about Stop Hunger Now >

FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN

Feed My Starving Children is a non-profit Christian organization committed to feeding God’s children hungry in body and spirit. Children and adults hand-pack meals specifically formulated for malnourished children, which are then shipped to nearly 70 countries around the world.  Salesian Mission is a distribution partner to Feed My Starving Children. The Salesians receive much needed shipments of meals for youth in need at various Salesian-run centers across the globe and help Feed My Starving Children meet their mission of feeding malnourished children. Recently, the mountainous area of La Tinta, Guatemala, was affected by devastating floods. A food delivery arrived before the floods thanks to the partnership with Feed My Starving Children, so the Salesians were able to respond to the emergency immediately with a large quantity of protein-enriched rice. This partnership was also essential in the delivery of meals to Haiti following the devastating earthquake. See all MissionNewswire stories about Feed My Starving Children >

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Some 5.2 million teachers need to be hired worldwide to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of achieving universal primary education by 2015, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported today, in a study to coincide with the Day. That figure includes 1.58 million new recruits and 3.66 million to replace those leaving the profession.

“The challenge goes beyond numbers – more teachers must mean better quality learning, through appropriate training and support,” the heads of four major UN agencies and a partner organization said in a joint message for World Teachers’ Day.

“Far too often, teachers remain under-qualified and poorly paid, with low status, and excluded from education policy matters and decisions that concern and affect them,” the officials added, calling for effective international action in support of national efforts to bolster teachers and education institutions, and improve education opportunities.

The joint message was issued by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova; UN International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General, Guy Ryder; UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator, Helen Clark; UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director, Anthony Lake; and Fred van Leeuwen, the General Secretary of Education International (EI), which represents teachers’ organizations across the globe.

Fifty-seven million children of primary school age are absent from classrooms, according to UN figures. At the current rate, nearly half of those children will never enrol in school, and more than a quarter will start school late.

Many of those children who do enter school are failing to learn to read and write by the time they reach fourth grade, the officials noted.

“Learning is not possible without professional, well trained, well supported, accountable and valued teachers,” they stressed highlighting this year’s theme of World Teachers’ Day, “A call for teachers.”

According to the UNESCO study, about 58 per cent of countries currently do not have enough teachers in classrooms to achieve universal primary education, with the problems particularly bad in Sub-Saharan Africa and Arab States where by 2030, some 4.7 million teachers and 1.9 million, respectively.

This recruitment challenge was the focus of two parallel events held at UN offices the eve of World Teachers’ Day, one in Paris and another in New York, which brought together representatives of the UN, professional organizations, experts and researchers to launch a ‘Global Year of Action’ for quality education.

Addressing participants at the event hosted by UNICEF in New York and organized by EI, UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, cautioned that “unless we are able to hire more teachers, we will have generations of people who are unemployed and unemployable.”

As the UN Special Envoy, Mr. Brown has been working with partners to galvanize support for the Global Education First Initiative, which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched last September, with the aim of putting every child in school, improving the quality of learning, and fostering global citizenship. The Initiative is hosted by UNESCO.

Mr. Brown said that two big changes happened in the past one to two years which make it imperative that the international community works collectively to focus on education – countries are realizing that they will not be successful unless they invest in education, and young boys and girls are standing up to demand education.

“Education is not only the way to unlock individual opportunity. It is not only the only way to break the cycle of poverty. But it is also the way that individual nations can become prosperous,” Mr. Brown said, calling for mobilization of the private sector, faith groups, civil society, young people and others to pressure domestic governments into further prioritizing education.

Participants also heard from Vibeke Jensen, Director of the Global Education First Initiative, who spoke on behalf of UNESCO, and stressed the importance of education in the post-2015 development agenda which was the focus of the high-level General Assembly debate which wrapped up earlier this week.

The Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Kishore Singh, is due to brief the UN General Assembly on education and the post-2015 agenda “soon”, he said in his remarks in New York.

In his speech, Mr. Singh stressed the importance of education for global citizenship. He noted that it is “the fundamental right of every boy and girl as an entitlement.”

Other speakers included Susan Hopgood, President of EI, who held a Maori tokotoko stick while addressing the audience to stress that she was speaking on behalf of a collective strength of 30 million educators.

She noted that quality education is based on quality teaching, quality tools for teaching and learning, and quality teaching and learning environments. With that aim, technology is not a threat to future education, but a means by which teaching can be improved, she said.

EI had announced last week an agreement with UN and other partners, to use technology to aid student curricula and teacher training. The announcement was made in a meeting with Mr. Ban and Mr. Brown on the sidelines of the General Assembly high-level debate.

Participants also heard from Josephine Bourne, Associate Director for Education at UNICEF, who shared the UN agency’s support for the new agreement on technology.

Earlier that day, Ms. Bokova and Mr. van Leeuwen had hosted a parallel event at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Princess Firyal of Jordan, and Assistant Director-General for Education, Qian Tang, were among the participants.

World Teachers’ Day, held annually since 1994, commemorates the anniversary of the signing in 1966 of the UNESCO-ILO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers, which essentially serves as a charter of rights for teachers. The Day also celebrates the essential role of teachers in providing quality education at all levels.

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PHOTO: A teacher and student at a school in India. UNESCO/GMR Akash

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Close to 823 million people do not have enough to eat and nearly half of them are children, according to Stop Hunger Now, an international relief organization that provides food and life‐saving aid to the world’s most vulnerable. Of those who go hungry daily, 98 percent reside in developing countries where there is not only a shortage of food, but major challenges for aid to reach its destination. Working with Salesian Missions to ensure delivery and distribution, more than 10 countries have already received shipments of food this year, and will receive several more in the coming months.

Stop Hunger Now provides more than just food aid. It also provides significant in-kind aid (such as food, medicines and other supplies) that support education and vocational training programs which are proven to have long-term sustainability—like those run by Salesian Missions. These programs promote education, encourage children to attend school, improve the health and nutrition of students, address gender inequalities, combat child labor, spur economic growth and create a platform to address global issues.

“Salesian programs are a good match for our mission to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-saving aid while creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources,” says Chessney Barrick, director of communications and cause marketing at Stop Hunger Now.

The Stop Hunger Now meal packaging program was created to give dedicated individuals the opportunity to participate in a hands-on international hunger relief program and to become educated, engaged advocates for the world’s poor and hungry. It is volunteer-based and coordinates the streamlined packaging of highly nutritious dehydrated meals comprised of rice, soy, vegetables, flavoring, and 21 essential vitamins and minerals.

Founded in 1998, Stop Hunger Now has delivered aid and disaster relief supplies in the form of food, medicines, medical supplies, medical equipment, clothing, school supplies and more to thousands of disaster victims and other hungry and vulnerable people in 65 countries.

More than 300,000 volunteers have participated in the organization’s fun, exciting and rewarding activites. Stop Hunger Now meal packaging provides volunteers the opportunity to have an exponential and sustainable international impact right from their own communities.

The organization operates meal packaging locations in 17 cities throughout the U.S. and international locations in South Africa and Malaysia. Late in 2013, it plans to initiate the meal packaging program in new locations including Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth and Bologna, Italy.

This year Stop Hunger Now shipments have already reached the Salesian Society of St. John Bosco in the Philippines. Here, more than 28 Salesian programs shared 660 boxes of fortified rice-soy meals. More than 3,100 poor children and families benefitted from this food assistance.

“The shipment of packaged meals helps us to improve the nutrition of orphans and other vulnerable children and operate feeding programs for children in Salesian schools whose families cannot afford to feed them,” explains Jessica O’Connor, property and logistics officer at the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs.

Other Stop Hunger Now shipments have been received in Haiti, South Africa, Zambia and Sierra Leone where the meals will be shared among various Salesian programs located in those countries.

“The partnership with Stop Hunger Now allows Salesian Missions to expand its scope of services to youth in need,” adds O’Connor. “Stop Hunger Now is one of our favorite partners to work with because they are very flexible. They actively seek out opportunities to enhance shipments with additional donated items that the beneficiaries need, and they go the extra mile to help Salesian Missions meet any additional emergency requests for food that we receive.”

Partnerships, like those with Salesian Missions, drive Stop Hunger Now’s major distribution channels. According to Barrick, the organization looks for those who are able to work with Stop Hunger Now effectively and efficiently while adding value to each other’s work. Partners are chosen based on the quality of their programs, the need in their country, their ability to ensure the food is used as intended and the expected impact of the partner’s programs.

With programs in more than 130 countries around the globe, Salesian Missions has one of the largest networks that Stop Hunger Now works with and they have extensive knowledge and experience when it comes to aid shipments. The Salesians are an integral part of the existing infrastructure in many countries and Salesian Missions plays an important role in making sure aid from the United States reaches its destination country and gets into the hands of those who need it most.

“Partnering with Salesian Missions has been a great experience and their vast network around the globe provides an opportunity to extend our partnership beyond just one country,” says Barrick. “Their experience in logistics, communications and program facilitation has proven to be a huge asset in effectively donating Stop Hunger Now meals to their organization.”

Barrick also praises Salesian Missions’ staff who she says are very thorough, responsive and excellent at communicating the progress of projects and the state of the beneficiaries. She notes that receiving letters, photos and videos from those who actually receive the food has tremendous impact on the donors they rely on to package the food.

“Feeding hungry children is often the first step in providing an education,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Hungry and malnourished youth cannot focus on learning. Our programs work to educate and meet the basic needs of poor youth.”

At every Salesian program serving youth around the globe, children receive educational opportunities and the support of caring adults. Humanitarian partnerships like the one with Stop Hunger Now make a real difference.

“In order to build the movement to end hunger in our lifetime,” says Barrick. “We will have to work together as partners to share the stories from the field that create champions for our causes.”

ABOUT STOP HUNGER NOW

This year, Stop Hunger Now is celebrating its 15^th anniversary in its ongoing work to create a movement to end hunger. More than 100,000,000 meals have been packaged and distributed with other life-saving aid to 65 countries, impacting millions of lives. The organization is driven by a vision of a world without hunger and a mission to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-saving aid to the world’s most vulnerable and by creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources.

In its efforts to respond to emergency needs around the world Stop Hunger Now receives and distributes significant donations of in-kind aid. These donations are large quantities of food, medicines, medical supplies and other such items as may be of use in fighting hunger and providing relief in a crisis. For more information visit www.stophungernow.org.

ABOUT SALESIAN MISSIONS

Salesian Missions is headquartered in New Rochelle, NY, and is part of the Don Bosco Network—a worldwide federation of Salesian NGOs. The mission of the U.S.-based nonprofit Catholic organization is to raise funds for international programs that serve youth and families in poor communities around the globe. The Salesian missionaries are made up of priests, brothers and sisters, as well as laypeople—all dedicated to caring for poor children throughout the world in more than 130 countries and helping young people become self-sufficient by learning a trade that will help them gain employment. To date, more than 3 million youth have received services funded by Salesian Missions. These services and programs are provided to children regardless of race or religion. For more information, go to SalesianMissions.org.

The post Stop Hunger Now, Salesian Missions Partnership Feeds Poor Youth around the Globe first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Salesians in the country have been providing programs to help residents recover and rebuild in the wake of the devastating civil war that claimed countless lives, decimated entire communities and resulted in living conditions that are among the worst in the world. Now that the violence has subsided, efforts are focused on helping the needy, restoring hope and providing new opportunities for the future.

Recently, a new breakfast program for Salesian-run schools in Fatumaca, East Timor was made possible by an on-going partnership between Salesian Missions and Stop Hunger Now, an international relief organization that provides food and life‐saving aid to the world’s most vulnerable.

Many youth in Fatumaca must travel great distances to attend Salesian elementary, secondary and technical schools, some walking more than two hours just to get to class. Students leave home in the early morning hours without any breakfast and often arrive at school exhausted and unable to focus. Thanks to the new breakfast program, youth in Salesian schools are starting their educational experience with a nutritious meal every morning.

“Feeding hungry children is often the first step to providing an education,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Once children have their most basic needs met, they are then able to concentrate on their studies and further their education.”

Since the free breakfast program was implemented, students’ health has significantly improved, including their physical appearance and weight gain. The overall standard of living has improved, academic performance is up 30 percent, enrollment has increased to 35 percent and graduation rates are approaching 100 percent.

Access to nutritious meals allows youth to be better prepared to take part in school activities and focus on their education. Prepared students are more likely to learn valuable skills that will help them gain employment, break the cycle of poverty in their lives and give back to their communities.

“The partnership with Stop Hunger Now allows Salesian Missions to expand the scope of services to youth in need,” says Jessica O’Connor, property and logistics officer at the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs. “Operating feeding programs for youth in Salesian schools whose families cannot afford to feed them is very important and integral to the success of our students and their ability to gain an education.”

Stop Hunger Now’s goals are to provide as food and life-saving aid to support sustainable education and development programs, and to create a movement of educated volunteer advocates that are actively involved with poverty and hunger related issues.

“SalesianMissions is a good match for our mission to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-saving aid while creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources,” says Chessney Barrick, director of marketing and communications at Stop Hunger Now.

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Sources:

Salesian Missions – East Timor: Feeding Children … and the Future

World Bank – Timor-Leste Data

Stop Hunger Now

The post EAST TIMOR: Partership between Salesian Missions and Stop Hunger Now Feeds School Children, Improves Education first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Shipments are already on the ground in Haiti, Guatemala, Madagascar, Philippines, Sierra Leone and Zambia. Salesian-run orphanages and youth centers are able to utilize the aid for the homeless children and at-risk youth they serve. From primary and secondary schools to vocational and technical training centers, students are able to get more out of the educational opportunities the Salesians provide, knowing they will not go hungry.

Stop Hunger Now operates meal packaging locations in 17 cities throughout the U.S. and in international locations in South Africa and Malaysia. Later this year, the organization plans to initiate the meal packaging program in new locations including Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth and Bologna, Italy.

Stop Hunger Now helps break the cycle of poverty for meal recipients through education, skills development and health care, while providing much-needed nutrition. The majority of meals go to support school feeding, vocational training, early childhood development programs, orphanages and medical clinics.

Stop Hunger Now’s goals are to provide food and life-saving aid to support sustainable education and development programs and to create a movement of educated volunteer advocates that are actively involved in poverty and hunger related issues.

“Salesian Missions is a good match for our mission to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-saving aid while creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources,” says Chessney Barrick, director of marketing and communications at Stop Hunger Now.

Salesian programs operate in more than 130 countries around the globe. Salesian Missions helps support programs that promote education, encourage children to attend school, improve the health and nutrition of students, address gender inequalities, combat child labor, spur economic growth and create a platform to address global issues.

Because of the partnership and its resulting shipments, Salesians in the Philippines were able to help feed 3,155 poor youth and their families with the 660 boxes of fortified rice-soy meals they received. The shipment also included shampoo and eyeglasses, helping close to 700 people in need. Twenty-eight Salesian organizations throughout the Philippines were supported through the shipment which was coordinated by Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

The fortified rice-soy meals not only feed hungry children, they give them the energy to participate fully in educational programs and activities.

“Feeding hungry children is often the first step in providing an education,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions. “When children have their most basic needs met, they are then able to concentrate on their studies and further their education.”

For Keisha Mae, a wood and furniture technology trainee in the Philippines, the fortified meals make a significant difference to the quality of her educational experience.

“I often go to school with an empty stomach as there is no food available in the house. During snack time some of my classmates share whatever they have,” explains Keisha Mae, “But since this Rice-Soy Casserole was donated, the training center served it to the trainees during snack time. Its vegetable ingredients make it look so nutritious and satisfy our starving stomachs.”

For parents of those enrolled in programs run by the Salesians of Don Bosco in Freetown, Sierra Leone, this critical food aid gives them peace of mind knowing that despite living in poverty, they are able to give a nutritious meal to their children. Many parents allow their children to attend school simply because they know they will be fed there. Offering just one plate of food, Salesian staff managed to persuade one mother living in poverty to allow her young son to attend activities at the informal school in the youth center and enter the first level of pre-school. Nineteen pallets of rice meals were delivered to programs in Sierra Leone, benefitting close to 1,200 youth.

In another shipment, the City of Hope in Zambia was able to provide for 4,320 people ranging from infants to the elderly. The Salesian center there includes an orphanage and vocational training programs as well as a primary and secondary school. The meals provided by Stop Hunger Now allow the organization to divert money previously used on food to other critical program needs. Money saved was also used to increase the size of the programs provided and number of students admitted.

The Salesian Sisters who run the City of Hope reported that the children receiving the meals are much healthier and have less headaches and hunger pains. In addition, they are better able to focus on their school work and their grades are improving.

“Stop Hunger Now is one of our favorite partners to work with because they are very flexible. They actively seek out opportunities to enhance shipments with additional donated items that the beneficiaries need, and they go the extra mile to help Salesian Missions meet any additional emergency requests for food that we receive,” explains Jessica O’Connor, property and logistics officer at the Salesian Missions Office for International Programs.

With programs in more than 130 countries around the globe, Salesian Missions has one of the largest networks that Stop Hunger Now works with. They also have extensive knowledge and experience when it comes to aid shipments. The Salesians are an integral part of the existing infrastructure in many countries and Salesian Missions plays an important role in making sure aid from the United States reaches its destination country and gets into the hands of those who need it most.

“The partnership with Stop Hunger Now allows Salesian Missions to expand its scope of services to youth in need,” adds O’Connor. “The shipment of packaged meals helps us to improve the nutrition of orphans and other vulnerable children. Operating feeding programs for youth in Salesian schools whose families cannot afford to feed them is very important and integral to the success of our students and their ability to gain an education.”

ABOUT STOP HUNGER NOW

This year, Stop Hunger Now is celebrating its 15^th anniversary in its ongoing work to create a movement to end hunger. More than 100,000,000 meals have been packaged and distributed with other life-saving aid to 65 countries, impacting millions of lives. The organization is driven by a vision of a world without hunger and a mission to end hunger in our lifetime by providing food and life-saving aid to the world’s most vulnerable and by creating a global commitment to mobilize the necessary resources.

In its efforts to respond to emergency needs around the world Stop Hunger Now receives and distributes significant donations of in-kind aid. These donations are large quantities of food, medicines, medical supplies and other such items as may be of use in fighting hunger and providing relief in a crisis. For more information visit www.stophungernow.org.

ABOUT SALESIAN MISSIONS

Salesian Missions is headquartered in New Rochelle, NY, and is part of the Don Bosco Network—a worldwide federation of Salesian NGOs. The mission of the U.S.-based nonprofit Catholic organization is to raise funds for international programs that serve youth and families in poor communities around the globe. The Salesian missionaries are made up of priests, brothers and sisters, as well as laypeople—all dedicated to caring for poor children throughout the world in more than 130 countries and helping young people become self-sufficient by learning a trade that will help them gain employment. To date, more than 3 million youth have received services funded by Salesian Missions. These services and programs are provided to children regardless of race or religion. For more information, go to SalesianMissions.org.

The post Salesian Missions, Stop Hunger Now Partner to Deliver Critical Food Aid in More Than 10 Countries first appeared on MissionNewswire.

“IRN donations have furnished Salesian schools and development offices in Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia,” explains Jessica O’Connor, property and logistics officer for Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “We plan to continue working with IRN because they are a reliable partner who is eager to assist in our mission and provide quality donations to our programs.”

The Salesians are known for their education programs for youth around the globe. With countless elementary, secondary and university level educational centers as well as youth training and certification programs, the Salesians help to provide a direct path out of poverty for many youth and their families. Programs rely on donations such as those provided by IRN to keep facilities functional for students and staff.

The Institution Recycling Network was started in 1999 to match surplus items that need to be recycled with organizations and people who need them. Every education, commercial, and healthcare organization in the U.S. has surplus furniture and equipment they need to get rid of. Hundreds of millions of people living in poverty or recovering from natural disasters worldwide are in desperate need of the kinds of surplus goods these very organizations are discarding. IRN makes the match and facilitates the distribution of the surplus into the hands of the organizations and people who need it most.

“There was a clear match between Salesian Missions’ need for furniture and equipment for their worldwide projects, and the supplies of surplus to which IRN has access,” says Mark Lennon, principal of the Institution Recycling Network. “Salesian Missions has been an excellent partner.”

IRN partners with nonprofits who are known to be reputable and effective providers of relief and development assistance, and who are able to use the types of surplus that IRN can provide. The organization has a “wish list” from each of its nonprofit partners of the types and quantities of surplus they can use.

When a project comes to IRN, it makes a match against these wish lists and offers the surplus to the most appropriate nonprofits. At this point it is first-come-first-served; the first nonprofit(s) to express interest in the surplus project is the one to receive it. In many cases a single nonprofit will claim the entire project but in some cases, the surplus will be split among two or more nonprofits.

“There is almost infinite demand in the U.S. and worldwide for good quality surplus so IRN’s surplus program will continue to grow,” says Lennon. “The school or company that supplies the surplus pays IRN for the service of matching their surplus with our nonprofit network. In almost all cases they pay IRN much less than they would pay to bring in dumpsters and throw the surplus away.”

There is a three pronged benefit to the work that IRN does. The generating organizations profit by disposing of their surplus for less than the cost of throwing it away, while the recipient organizations profit from a very low cost source of quality furniture and equipment. Impoverished and disaster-stricken people benefit from furniture and equipment they otherwise would have no access to. And finally, the planet benefits from reuse of important resources.

“We know of no other organization in the country other than IRN that is able to match large quantities of surplus with qualified recipients, and then manage the entire project to remove and load the surplus for shipment,” adds Lennon.

About Institution Recycling Network (IRN)

IRN is headquartered in Concord, NH and is a cooperative recycling organization that works with more than 350 colleges and universities, hospitals, K-12 schools and private companies to improve the performance and economics of recycling. IRN negotiates transportation, processing and marketing of recycled commodities and provides a single point of contact to recycle dozens of different materials. IRN handles over 75 commodities – everything from cardboard and fluorescent lamps to concrete and Astroturf. IRN is known particularly for its effective recycling of unusual and complex commodities such as electronic equipment, construction and demolition wastes and surplus property. For more information about IRN, visit www.IRNSurplus.com.

About Salesian Missions

Salesian Missions is headquartered in New Rochelle, NY. The mission of the U.S.-based nonprofit Catholic organization is to raise funds for its international programs that serve youth and families in poor communities around the globe. The Salesian missionaries are made up of priests, brothers and sisters, as well as laypeople – all dedicated to caring for poor youth throughout the world in more than 130 countries, helping them become self-sufficient by learning a trade that will help them gain employment. To date, more than 3 million young people have received services funded by Salesian Missions. To learn more visit www.salesianmissions.org.

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