Please be informed that the ComMark programme came to an end on 31 December 2009. Should you have any queries or need further assistance , please contact the relevant sector staff member(s):
- Agribusiness Sector Specialist - Lucille Gavera (+27 83 290 1260) or Mike De Klerk (+27 82 452 7749)
- Textiles & Apparel Sector Specialist - Andy Salm (+353 8623 88523)
- Tourism Sector Specialist - Wouter Schalken (+264 8120 89650) or click here for information on ongoing tourism projects in Southern Africa
ALAFA wins prestigious regional Drivers of Change Award
The Apparel Lesotho Alliance to Fight AIDS (ALAFA) has received the regional Drivers of Change Award for 2008 in the business section for the work it is doing in the apparel industry in Lesotho.
The Drivers of Change Award, organised by the Southern Africa Trust, is a prestigious non-monetary award that recognises individuals and organisations from across the southern Africa region that are making a difference, especially in developing effective public policies and strategies to overcome poverty. It is awarded in three categories: civil society, government and business.
This year, 60 nominations were received from 11 southern African countries.
In presenting the award at a ceremony in Johannesburg on October 23, the judges said that ALAFA had been chosen "for its innovative sector wide public-privatecommunity partnership that is showing how possible it is to protect key productive economic sectors in poor countries from the ravages of HIV and AIDS".
A delegation from Lesotho went to Johannesburg to receive the award, including Bart Vander Plaetse, the ALAFA CEO and Jennifer Chen, the president of the Lesotho Textile Exporters’ Association.
On the significance of winning the award, Jennifer Chen said: "Such positive support encourages us to carry on with what we are doing. With ALAFA I have seen that nothing is impossible once we put enough effort in and work hard together. With this we can have success."
For a copy of the press release announcement released by the Southern Africa Trust, click here: http://www.southernafricatrust.org/news34.html.
Visit www.southernafricatrust.org for more information about the Southern Africa Trust and Drivers of Change Award.
For more information please contact: Dr Bart Vander Plaetse, CEO ALAFA, 22 326512, b...@alafa.info Jennifer Chen, president of the Lesotho Textile Exporters’ Association, 22 321823, jenn...@carrywealth.com
ALAFA was launched in May 2006. As its names implies, it is an alliance. The project is hosted by the Lesotho Textile Exporters’ Association, with government, industrialists, labour, brands and retailers, funders, donors and multinational organisations working together to combat the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Gap Inc., American speciality retailer, provided the seed money to pilot the programme at one of its approved vendors, and has continued to support the roll-out to the entire industry. Other international brands and retailers supporting ALAFA are the Levi Strauss Foundation, the Wal-Mart Foundation and US retail chain Nordstrom. Other international donors are Irish Aid and the European Union. ALAFA is also receiving funds from the ONE campaign, a partnership between clothing company Edun and ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History. See www.alafa.info
