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| Non-profit_type = [[Charitable trust]]
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| founder = President [[Bill Clinton]], Rajat Gupta, Victor Menezes<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.synergos.org/globalgivingmatters/features/0201aif.htm | title= Long Distance Philanthropy Brings Donors Closer to Home | accessdate=2008-20-11}}</ref>
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Revision as of 17:03, 20 November 2008

American India Foundation
FounderPresident Bill Clinton, Rajat Gupta, Victor Menezes[1]
TypeCharitable trust
FocusEducation, Livelihood, Public Health
Location
Area served
India
Website[1]

The American India Foundation (AIF, founded 2001) is a nonprofit American development organization "charged with the mission of accelerating social and economic change in India." The AIF has invested in over 100 Indian non-governmental organizations while raising over $46 million since its inception. It is one of the largest American organizations supporting development work in India.

AIF awards grants to education, livelihood, and public health projects in India – with emphases on elementary education, women’s empowerment, and HIV/AIDS, respectively.[2] AIF has a program called Digital Equalizer which attempts to bridge the digital divide by providing computers, internet access and training to under-resourced Indian schools.[3] It also funds the Service Corps Fellowship, which sends skilled young Americans to work with NGOs in India for a ten month period. The fellowship helps exchange technical skills, intellectual resources and helps increase the capacity of Indian NGOs to continue their work while giving American leaders a good understanding of India.[4]

The American India Foundation was founded by a group of Indian-Americans responding to the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. Former United States President Bill Clinton serves as the Honorary Chair, and has been involved in a number of AIF events; he was asked to get involved with the group by Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the wake of the earthquake.[2]

AIF's Emergency Response

In cases of major national disasters in India, AIF has been involved in relief and rehabilitation efforts. It has undertaken three campaigns for relief and rehabilitation:

  1. In 2001, after the Gujarat Earthquake
  2. In 2004, after the Tsunami
  3. In 2005, after the Kashmir Earthquake

AIF takes a multi-phased approach to disaster relief: relief, reconstruction and rehabilitation. AIF's focus is the long-term rehabilitation of communities, and it dedicates most of its resources to this phase. In Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, AIF funded organizations in the affected communities for up to three years following the earthquake so that our NGO partners could identify long-term solutions to improve the lives of people affected by disaster.

References

  1. ^ "Long Distance Philanthropy Brings Donors Closer to Home". Retrieved 2008-20-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ "AIF- Who We Are". Retrieved 2008-20-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ "Accelerating Change in India by Inspiring Entrepreneurial Philanthropy in the U.S". Retrieved 2008-20-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ "AIF Service Corps Fellowship". Retrieved 2008-20-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)