PWRDF is proud to announce that it has received a 2014 Civil Society Effectiveness Award from the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC) for its bicycle ambulance program.  Executive Director Adele Finney accepted the award on behalf of the partners PWRDF works with in Mozambique, Burundi and Bangladesh to provide bicycle and boat ambulances to communities.

“In presenting the award,” Finney said, “CCIC noted that PWRDF connected with hard to reach rural areas.”  Thanks to the availability of bicycle ambulances, institutional deliveries have improved by 59% in Burundi, 9% in Bangladesh and 29% in Mozambique.  As well, villages in Mozambique that have access to bicycle ambulances reported a 14% drop in maternal deaths compared to villages without bicycle ambulances.

“Valerie Maier, Ottawa Diocesan Representative, ably and convincingly presented the PWRDF project and poster prepared by PWRDF staff Zaida Bastos and Christine Hills,” Finney continued.  “Both Valerie in her presentation, and I in my acceptance of the award, emphasized that PWRDF’s aim is to support vulnerable people to become agents of change in their own lives and in their communities.  It was people in northern Mozambique who imagined and created bicycle ambulances, and people in other countries who adapted the idea to their own context.”

“All of our work together, across four and more civil societies, made this possible.  Thank you!”