Asia-Pacific Impact Award Recipients at London Ceremony

Asia-Pacific Impact Award Recipients Receive Prestigious Accolade at London Ceremony

The STARS Foundation has selected organisations from Pakistan, Philippines, Timor-Leste as this year’s recipients of the 2012 Asia-Pacific STARS Impact Award and an organisation from Cambodia as this year’s Rising Star. The organisations were selected for their work in supporting some of the region’s most vulnerable children. The organisations received the respected accolade at a ceremony in Kensington Palace, in London on 15 December 2012, as well US$100,000 of unrestricted funding and tailored consultancy support.

On Saturday 15 December, 150 global and business leaders – including former Irish President Mary Robinson, former Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Paul Polman from Unilever, James Turley from Ernst & Young and Cynthia Carroll from Anglo-American amongst many others – attended a gala dinner and award ceremony hosted at Kensington Palace to mark the tenth anniversary of STARS Foundation.

STARS Foundation is the global philanthropic arm of Al-Dabbagh Group. The group was founded in 1962 by former Minister of Agriculture of Saudi Arabia, His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah Al-Dabbagh. Al-Dabbagh Group works in 40 countries in the areas of food, housing services, auto service and packaging.

Asia-Pacific Region Recipients

Education Award: Developments in Literacy, Pakistan
Developments in Literacy believe that no child in Pakistan should be denied access to quality education. The organisation educates and empowers underprivileged students, especially girls, by operating student-centred model schools in rural areas (including in the northern area controlled by the Taliban), where government schools are lacking, instilling independent thinking, and confidence in students. Developments in Literacy also provide high-quality professional development to teachers and principals across Pakistan to ensure the best quality of education is provided to students.

Protection Award: Laura Vicuña Foundation, Philippines
Laura Vicuña Foundation provides children in crisis with immediate interventions and access to basic services, building their capacity through education, skills training and job placement assistance. The organisation also prevents vulnerable children from becoming street children, and facilitates children’s removal from the street environment through re-integration in their own homes, foster placement or residential care for abused girls. Laura Vicuña Foundation stimulates public awareness and draws attention to the needs and problems of children and young people across the Philippines.

Health: Fundasaun Alola, Timor-Leste
Fundasaun Alola seeks to address the needs of women and children in post-conflict Timor-Leste and support access to their rights. One particular focus of the organisation is on Maternal and Child Health. The Maternal and Child Health programme aims to reduce the country’s alarming under-five mortality rate, one of the highest in Asia-Pacific, and fight malnutrition. To do so, Fundasaun Alola’s project staff provides health education and support to mothers and women’s groups, both in urban and rural areas, on issues such as breastfeeding and balanced nutrition.

STARS Founding Chairman Amr A. Al-Dabbagh said: “At the STARS Foundation, we are developing a new and ambitious way forward for our next ten years in which we will scale up the numbers of children we are able to help by building on best practice and the valuable lessons learned in our first decade.”

Muna Wehbe, Chief Executive of the STARS Foundation said: “Eradicating poverty, helping the world’s disadvantaged children is not easy. It is complex and requires different approaches from many sectors of society. That is why gatherings like this one are so valuable; we believe that local organisations are best placed to meet the needs of the communities they serve and to decide how funding should be allocated to achieve the maximum impact. A STARS Foundation Impact Award often leads to organisations expanding their work, becoming more resilient and ultimately reaching more children.”

ENDS

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