Decomplexing the World's most pressing Problems
Welcome to the Vihara Foundation (VF), a scientific and educational non-government organization (NGO) with a mission of researching, designing, and implementing new and innovative sustainable strategies for addressing poverty, climate mitigation, and financing for development issues (globally). Our areas of focus are global, with particular emphasis at present in India, Caribbean, Central America and Africa.
VF aims to decomplex, redesign and deliver sustainable livelihoods for the poverty stricken, and at the same time, do the same to drive strategies for positive climate action. We are also pushing innovation for creative financing mechanisms to support these two challenges.
Recognizing poverty is a complex socio-economic-environmental-cultural issue which contributes negative impacts to the environment and climate change, VF's mission is to decomplex the problems at hand and provide sustainable solutions that are practical and adoptable. These are in the areas of agriculture, water and resource management and conservation, green and appropriate renewable energy, direct access and control of markets, education, healthcare, women's upliftment, youth engagement and other major development parameters. Here, innovation is driven to pursue a master planning approach to aiding poverty and climate issues using a combination of “creativity through sustainability”, and “creativity in thinking” - two pillars for poverty alleviation and climate mitigation that augment and support present and important efforts by others already underway.
Founded by a team of very experienced and out-of-the-box-thinking sustainable development practitioners and scientists (positioned around the globe), and partnering with other highly professional Non-Government Organizations, academic and industry institutions, VF converges many years practical training and experience in the fields of energy and environment, natural resource management, human resource and business management, health, economics, social planning, and other areas of specialties in support of poverty alleviation and climate mitigation. It is also the strategic aim of VF to support the 2015 United Nations Millenium Development Goals as it carries out its mission and implementation of goals and objectives.
Addressing Poverty Alleviation
Our flagship poverty project is The Vihar Project, a macro-scale-intent, macro-economic, integrated, sustainable development undertaking that has developed (through intense grassroot level community based intervention) a "sustainable business model for addressing poverty alleviation".
Rural villages within 500 square kilometers/50,000 hectares of gangiatic plains farmland in Ballia, (Eastern) Uttar Pradesh - (one of the most poverty stricken regions of the world despite being some of the most fertlile lands globally) - are earmarked for deployment of the Vihar Project model. Collection of field data and economic research evaluates a sustainable economic turnover of one billion USD annually (achievable through sustainable intervention with an optimization increase of 66 percent target from present base measures).
The lessons being learned through the Vihar Project are also intended for replication throughout India and elsewhere to other poverty stricken locations globally (in Africa, Latin America and Caribbean, and impoverished Republic of Haiti). Already, intervention is being made in Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to aid small and maginalized farmers there.
Addressing Climate Mitigation Action
In recognition of the threat posed by Climate Change to the farming regions of India and globally, VF is also concurrently advancing parallel macro-scale-intent strategies to support climate mitigation. These are proposed with broad global applicability aimed at re-diverting energy inefficiency losses in the global building sector (40 percent of carbon emissions) into positive climate finance investments, implementation of new energy efficient and renewable energy technologies, and greater sequestions of carbon through optimized agriculture and land use management.
Sustainable Innovation in Development Financing
Both the Poverty and Climate Action proposals are represented by a creative financing methodology termed Total Life Cycle Valuing (TLCv). In fighting poverty, TLCv aims to free farmers and agrarian communities from dependence on development donors. With respect to the later, TLCv aims to turn energy-economic-carbon inefficiency into a global mechanism for financing action on carbon reduction. Furthermore, the VF is exploring the establishment of Diaspora Development Banks to better manage the process of remittances and its hidden potential as a finance mechanism.
Addressing Creative Development Fundraising
VF recognizes that in order to address (at-scale) these two of the world's biggest challenges (poverty and climate change), a sound funding base is necessitated. The aim to complete the implementation of programs and projects in these areas will require a platform for innovative thinking to muster critical resource mobilization. For this, VF lauched the Rock against Poverty (RaP) Fundraising Campaign in 2010, and have steadily outgrown it over the years. As part of the recent 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, VF recently teamed with UNESCO Center for Peace New York and launched a jointly branded RaP/VF-UNESCO(NYS).
Launch of Rock against Poverty Campaign by VF-UNESCO(USA/NYS) at the 68th Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly Side Event, New York City, September 24, 2013. In Picture is Dr. Joe Profit, President NFL Alumni Atlanta, and Keynote.
We also encourage you to understand how you (too) can play a vital role in supporting this initiative, by putting the smiles back onto the faces of the poor and destitute, and a face of "quality-of-life" and equality back into humanity, and helping our planet out of Climate crisis. We, along with the people of this development project, would be delighted if you would find the passion to loan your help and/or expertise to this important initiative, and/or, make a small contribution towards this humanitarian and environmental effort. Presently, many (like you) have stepped forward to support this cause.
Thanking you for your support,
Ambassador Byron Blake
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and, Former Senior Advisor to the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations & the G77 and China