AwF has new international leadership

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AwF has new international leadership

Category:News Releases

During the Board meeting of the international charity Aquaculture without Frontiers (AwF), held on 26 September 2009 during the World Aquaculture Society conference in Veracruz, Mexico and attended by the AwF Founder Michael New, OBE, Dr. Kevin Fitzsimmons announced that he was stepping down and that a new international leadership partnership would be replacing him.

The new co-chairs of AwF are Dr. M.C. Nandeesha of the Centre for Aquaculture Research and Development, St. Xavier’s Bishramganj, Tripura, India and Dr. Barry Costa-Pierce of the University of Rhode Island, USA. Drs. Nandeesha and Costa-Pierce have known one another for over 20 years, having worked extensively in smallholder aquaculture projects throughout developing countries. At the board meeting Dr. Nandeesha stated that, “I hope that with this opportunity we’ll be able to help the poor of the world with technologies to break the poverty cycle.” Dr. Costa‐Pierce expressed enthusiasm for the opportunity to work with Dr. Nandeesha and stated that he will “work to develop AwF as a globally important charity that plays a critical role in helping meet the challenge of Goal #1 of the Millennium Development Initiative, that of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.”

The top priority of the new leadership will be to generate additional resources by releasing a new document summarizing the impcts of its first 5 years of project investments. AwF will also release a new invitation for proposals for additional projects, utilizing funds that it already has available. In addition, AwF is planning to launch a new fund‐raising strategy at the World Aquaculture Society meeting in San Diego, California in March 2010. On this occasion, people will come together for a charity dinner entitled “An Evening for the Poor”, whose centrepiece for guests will be a very modest serving of the food that is typically eaten by the majority of the world’s oor today (e.g. fish, rice, bread and vegetables).

For more information see the AwF website or contact AwF co-chairs Dr. Nandeesha or Dr. Costa-Pierce.


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