World leaders have gathered in Belem, Brasil under the ongoing shadow of the climate catastrophe, for the 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP30). The summit has begun with the world in an unprecedented level of risk from – and in the case of Madagascar experience of the impacts of – climate change, but serious questions must be asked about who is taking part, who is not in the room, and whether we can expect any of the urgent collaboration we need to address the crisis even to be agreed, let alone acted on. The deepening crisis Delegates from more than...

Malagasy president and colonel of the CAPSAT Malagasy army unit Michael Randrianirina has kept the first of his promises to Madagascar, by appointing a civilian prime minister. Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, an economist who worked at the World Bank, and has been chairman and ceo of the Malagasy National Industrial Bank since November 2020, was appointed to the role yesterday (Monday 20 October 2025). He had been a technical advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 14 months, from February 2019 to April 2020. His first major role will be to create a ‘civilian government’ to serve under Randrianirina and his...

We are delighted to announce the release of our special edition 2026 Calendar. We were founded in 1986 to provide funds and other assistance to Malagasy organisations and communities – our partners – so that Malagasy people could formulate and deliver the solutions to the challenges they face: Malagasy solutions to Malagasy problems. We have a large number of celebrations and activities planned to mark this very special year, and we invite you to participate in any way you choose in any of them you can. Our calendar for 2026 is, as always, a celebration of Madagascar, still packed with...

Colonel Michael Randrianirina of the Malagasy army unit CAPSAT has been sworn in as the new president of Madagascar, just days after carrying out a military takeover of the island. The change in leadership in Madagascar came as the result of three weeks of social unrest and widespread violence, after young Malagasy people staged a demonstration following increasingly regular cuts to power and water supplies across the country, blamed on the government-owned water and power supply company JIRAMA, which receives ten per cent of the total Malagasy state budget every year, but which was overseeing cuts lasting ten hours or...

A unit of the Malagasy army has claimed it has ‘taken power’ in Madagascar. The CAPSAT unit, which on Saturday (11 October 2025) announced it was joining protests against the Malagasy government and president Andry Rajoelina, saying it would not ‘follow illegal orders’ to ‘shoot our brothers and sisters’ (the demonstrators) made the announcement today. CAPSAT (Corps d’administration des personnels et des services administratifs et techniques) leader, Colonel Michael Randrianirina, announced to reporters in Antananarivo that the Malagasy military will form a ‘council’ of officers from the army, military police (gendarmerie) and police, which would take on the roles up...

Malagasy president Andry Rajoelina is strongly believed to have left Madagascar, following 18 days of protest against his rule and living standards in the island republic. Rajoelina has engaged in no presidential business since Friday (10th October 2025) but made a statement earlier today, issued by his office, in which he said a coup d’etat was being carried out – a claim strongly-denied by protestors, who say they are exercising their right to demonstrate, and said his failures, and what they regard as his excesses in response to the protests, mean he must resign. He had been scheduled to address...

A summertime pilot scheme run by a centre we helped create, and which is run by a Money for Madagascar partner, has celebrated the success of its first summer activity programme. From 7 July to 30 August, 140 children – 80 aged 4-11 and 60 aged 12-18 – took part in the Ankizy Gasy Mentoring Centre ‘summer sessions’, attending workshops and classes in subjects and classes the children requested, designed to complement their school education, as well as to give vulnerable families a safe space for their children to learn, and receive nutritious food to help combat hunger. The courses...

We are delighted to share a short poem by our Trustee Vaonarivo – Vao – Brown. Vao is a poet and artist, and has created the poem ‘Manga’ (‘blue’) – a meditation on and celebration of the colour blue – for performance and competition. Manga has powerful symbolism in Malagasy culture, traditionally linked to the sea – the Indian Ocean – and sky, representing serenity, tranquility and the horizon, stretching as if for ever, as far as the eye can see. Blue pigments are used in traditional Malagasy rituals and ceremonies, perhaps because of its association with the sky, the...

Malagasy President Andriy Rajoelina used his speech to the UN General Assembly to focus on the Malagasy economy, and its environment, noting both require and deserve help from beyond the Malagasy borders. Speaking at the UN General Assembly on Wednesday (24th September) Rajoelina said the African Growth and Opportunity Act, a deal with sub-Saharan African states which has run for the last 25 years, and ends on Tuesday (30th September), must be renewed or ‘serious social consequences’ could result across Africa. The deal offers states including Madagascar access to American markets on preferential bases, including duty-free access, and at least...

A newly-described species of gecko may have been saved from extinction by local fady – traditional taboos or cultural prohibitions – connected to the few places in which it lives. An international team of biologists has described and named the nocturnal gecko, with mottled brown skin and cream stripes, the Paragehyra tsaranoro, after discovering it in tiny patches of community-run forest in Tsaranoro, Ambatomainty and Iantaranomby, southeastern Madagascar. The gecko’s description increases to 150 the number of recognised Malagasy gecko species. The island has 439 native reptile species, 98 per cent of which are endemic, and around a third of...

The situation in Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo is calm at present, following widespread protests across the city and in other areas of Madagascar yesterday (Thursday 25 September). Five people have been confirmed killed in disturbances developing from the protests. Thousands of people defied a national ban on ‘large gatherings’ to unite in the capital city on Thursday in a pre-planned demonstration, primarily to protest against regular and long-lasting water and power supply cuts. The demonstration appears to have been largely organised on social media, bearing some similarity in that to recent protects in Nepal, led by the country’s ‘generation Z’, which...

A Money for Madagascar partner’s services are so popular it is having to hold activities outdoors because its inside spaces would be overfull. The Akany Hasina centre is a day centre in Ambohitrabiby, a rural area 25km from Madagascar’s capital Antananarivo. Every Saturday, it opens its doors to young people who would otherwise have little to no access to education and activities outside of school, providing sessions on Malagasy values, dance, music and the environment, as well as teaching English. It has a library, accessible to the whole community, and also runs ‘school support’ sessions on Wednesday afternoons for children...