DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
P R E S S  R E L E A S E
www.dfa.gov.ph                                                                             2330 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, Philippines                                                                        Tel. No. 834-4000 
SFA-AGR-492-07                                                                                                                                                       26 June 2007

RP ngo WINS 2ND pRIZE IN bRITISH eNVIRONMENT aWARDS  

26 June 2007 — Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom Edgardo B. Espiritu reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc. (AIDFI), a Negros-based NGO dedicated to organic agriculture and appropriate technologies, was awarded Second Prize for the Education and Welfare Award of the 2007 Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy.  

AIDFI won the award for its pioneering project that uses ram pump technology to bring clean water to over 15,000 people in the villages of Negros , who previously had to undertake difficult and dangerous journeys just to collect clean water.  Apart from ample clean water, the use of the technology that replaced electric or diesel pumps has saved its beneficiaries from PhP7,500 to PhP9,000 a mont h in running costs and also helps avoid carbon dioxide emissions. (Please see Press Release SFA-AGR-406-07, dated 1 June 2007, for the background information)  

The awarding ceremony was held on 21 June 2007 at the Roy al Geographical Society in London .  Former US Vice President Al Gore presented the award.  The event was also graced by HRH The Prince of Wales.  

AIDFI was represented at the awarding ceremony by Mr. Auke Idzenga, a Dutch national married to a Filipino.  

Five international awards were given in recognition of the way in which sustainable energy has been used to improve access to 1) Light and Po wer; 2) Food; 3) Education and Welfare; 4) Promote Enterprise; and 5) Address the challenges of lack of access to essential energy sources in Africa.  

The First Prizes were won by renewable energy pioneers from Bangladesh , China , Ind ia , Laos and Tanzania , while other Second Prize winners included renewable energy projects from Ghana , Ind ia , Nepal and Peru .  

The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy was founded in 2001 by the Ashden Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts (SFCT).  It was subsequently established as a separate charity.  The Sainsbury family owns one of UK 's most successful supermarket chains, Sainsbury, known as an advocate of green technology and fair trade.  END

/jay

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