The world’s ‘developing states’ – primarily nations in the global South – should have their debt written off, according to an economic report commissioned by the Vatican. The Jubilee Report also recommends the restructuring of the global economic system to enable countries experiencing emergencies to access commonly held assets interest- and policy condition-free to stabilise their economies at difficult moments. The Vatican made the call to the UN on Monday (30 June 2025) at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, following its publication of the report just over a week earlier. It was commissioned by Pope Francis, as...

‘Thanks to books, I have weaved a better future.’ Elina Miorantsoa An MfM-sponsored school library programme is helping adults improve their incomes, and transform their lives. Money for Madagascar’s Education for Life programme works, through local organisations in Madagascar, to help young people access and gain the most from their education: as is their right and as they deserve. In doing so, we are working also to deliver the best for those children’s communities, as well-educated, engaged young people will improve the lives of all around them. But the programme also focuses on helping the communities’ adults, including to improve...

Malagasy representatives are today (Monday 30 June 2025) in Paris to meet French representatives, and begin talks regarding the status of the Scattered Islands (Iles Eparses). The five islets surround Madagascar, and were a part of the country during the French colonial period, 1897-1960. But they were broken away in advance of Malagasy independence. They are a total of 43km² in land area, and uninhabited. But they hold maritime, strategic and ecological importance, and their exclusive economic zone gives their owner control over 640,000km² of sea, which includes huge amounts of sea-life, as well as – possibly – natural gas...

More than 200 people, including more than 190 children, gathered last Saturday to celebrate Malagasy children’s rights, talents and care. Madagascar’s Children’s Month, held every June, is dedicated to highlighting and promoting children’s rights. Those rights, enshrined in the UN’s Declaration of the Rights of the Child, include the right to education, to heath, to protection, to a name and nationality, and the right to live in a family. And this year, the AAA-B Centre, two children’s homes on the outskirts of Malagasy capital Antananarivo supported by MfM, which care for boys and girls unable to live with their families,...

Today marks the start of the 66th year of the modern state of Madagascar. Malagasy people gained their full independence from France, officially, on 26 June 1960. Celebrations usually begin the night before, with celebrations including harendrina and tsipoapoaka (paper lanterns and firecrackers), to banish the ‘darkness of the past’ and welcome in (and commemorate the coming of) the ‘light of the future’. People parade lanterns around their neighbourhoods, singing a call for the light to come. Tsipoapoaka – firecrackers – were once commonly used, to symbolise the gunfire in the Malagasy struggle for independence, but are now more commonly substituted...

A huge thank you from us to everyone who helped to create the new dormitory at the AAB Centre, for boys unable to live with their families. A dormitory for boys unable to live with their families has been officially opened at a centre we support. The new dormitory at the AAB Centre, a service on the outskirts of Malagasy capital Antananarivo which provides the shelter, food, healthcare, education, clothes, care and attention they need and deserve, was officially inaugurated on Wednesday 18 June. The building, which has been constructed thanks to your donations, the work of MfM, and significant...

Our colleague, trustee and friend Theresa Haine, alongside another vital and valued ally Ony Rakotoarivelo, have been justly honoured with the Sir Mervyn Brown Award 2025. The award has been given for their outstanding work with and for Malagasy people and in protection of the country’s culture, its vital wilderness and the promotion and development of partnership between Madagascar and the UK. Developed and started last year, 2024, by the Anglo-Malagasy Society and the UK Embassy to Madagascar the award commemorates the life and work of Sir Mervyn Brown, twice UK ambassador to Madagascar and authority on Malagasy history, who...

Madagascar’s Catholic bishops have discussed US aid withdrawal, and care for both the poor and the island’s vital and vibrant environment, in a meeting with the Pope. The Malagasy bishops travelled to the Vatican in a ‘pilgrimage of hope’ to meet Pope Leo XIV – the first such meeting since the latter was elected in May. Bishop Marie-Fabien Raharilamboniaina, the Bishop of Morondava, led the bishops’ address to the Pope telling him about the poverty of Malagasy people, and amongst other things asking him to intercede with US president Donald Trump to reverse funding cuts to Madagascar and other states...

A NEW dormitory for boys who are unable to live with their families is set to be officially opened next Wednesday, 18 June. The construction of the new boys’ dormitory at the AAB centre began on 27 December 2024, and last Friday, 6 June, received technical pre-acceptance following an inspection by officials from the Federation of Protestant Churches in Madagascar (which owns the centre), the AAB director and staff, teams from UPBAT Mada, which constructed the building, and from Money for Madagascar. The final acceptance of the 18.5m x 9m x 2.7m, eight room building, which can accommodate 48 children,...

We all at Money for Madagascar extend our condolences to the entire family of Bebe Ravao, a distinguished, dedicated and loved member of the AAA-B children’s centres, who died aged 59, on Sunday 8 June. She was an extraordinary educator and carer who changed the lives of hundreds of children and young people. Bebe Ravao, full name Helisoa Ravaonirina, worked with children and young people at the AAA-B centres for 18 years, joining the AAA centre in 2007, and moving to AAB in 2021. Bebe was a very dedicated educator, and through her wholehearted work she became more than ‘just’...

A Money for Madagascar partnership initiative which gives nutritious meals to youngsters has won praise for its positive impact on education. A MALAGASY Mayor has praised the effects and impact of a Money for Madagascar-led project in schools and childcare centres, which he says have helped children in his area achieve the best exam results in their region. As part of our Education for Life (EfL) and Protecting and Enabling Vulnerable Children (PEVC) programmes, we work with the international organisation Mary’s Meals, to ensure every one of the children we work with and for receives at least one hot meal...

An astonishingly rare chameleon species has been discovered in a new location in Madagascar – both a cause for celebration and a reminder of the precarious nature of the world in which we live, and the creatures we share it with. A biological research team working in an area of spiny forest in southwestern Madagascar has recorded and reported a chameleon previously believed to live in just one, four km² (one square mile), area. One female and two male Furcifer belalandaensis chameleons, named for the closest village (Belalanda) to the four km² location previously thought to be the only place...