MVF was born 60 years ago by Marchioness of Valle Flôr, Maria do Carmo Constantino Ferreira Pinto, to preserve the memory of her late husband, the Marquis of Valle Flôr.
The first goal of the institution was to support research of health related issues (tropical diseases) and the provision of assistance to those in need, especially in S. Tomé and Príncipe. In the 1980s, with the entry of Portugal in the European Economic Community, IMVF started a new phase by following the new guidelines for Cooperation with Portuguese speaking African countries.
Working on new fields, it reaches new places within the CPLP community and takes as mission to develop actions in Portuguese speaking countries, working with people and for them to achieve global development in terms of Health, Education, Human Rights, Institutional Capacity Building, Food Security, Rehabilitation and Humanitarian Emergency Aid.
Now, with 60 years of work, IMVF seeks to respond to new challenges, very aware of how the economic crisis has created more hardship for the most vulnerable populations.
The IMVF - Instituto Marques de Valle Flor - is a Non Governmental Organization for Development (NGO) that believes in the joint effort of millions of people around the world seeking to promote the development with the poorest populations.
They focus their intervention in Portuguese-speaking countries (CPLP) and assume the mission of promoting socio-economic and cultural development.
The IMVF operates throughout the CPLP, whose main work areas are Cooperation and Development for Education; is innovative in decentralized cooperation with municipalities, and occasionally receives requests to intervene in humanitarian aid in countries where it continuously operates.
A dedicated team in Portugal and on the ground carries out initiatives in key sectors such as education, health and food security, focusing their way of working in partnership with organizations and institutions of each country, and with the beneficiaries of the projects, strengthening the idea behind all the activity, the IMVF believes that only through empowerment of populations is it possible to boost the sustainable development of communities.
The projects developed primarily within the CPLP, are as different as the needs of different problems encountered and which must be dealt with; they emerge from the needs felt and expressed on the ground, and the desires of communities with whom they work every day. The aim is common: to ensure that the lives of people most affected by development processes of their countries gain priority in the political and economic agenda, to improve the lives of people with fewer resources and to ensure sustainable human development.
In nine countries - Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, East Timor, which recently added the island of Flores, Indonesia - the IMVF is currently developing about 30 projects in an integrated logic, focusing on four major areas:
Education for Development
The IMVF promote projects for Education for Development (ED) since 1999 and this is now an essential field for the integrated work towards sustainable human development.
This is where the work of IMVF lies in Education for Development: more than a decade working in Europe, to foster partnerships with other non-state actors, local authorities and international policy makers, to exchange best practices in such diverse areas as gender equality or the coherence of development policies in all areas, to invest in awareness and advocacy. An aware and informed public is essential for policy development and cooperation is growing stronger.
Development Cooperation
The work of the IMVF in Portuguese-speaking developing countries aims to contribute to the eradication of poverty and seeks to achieve the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations with the initial goal of 2015.
In line coherent with the document "A Strategic Vision for Portuguese Cooperation" (2005), the mission also involves the IMVF to "contribute to the achievement of a better and more stable world, most particularly in Portuguese-speaking countries, characterized by economic and social development, and the consolidation and deepening of peace, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. "
There are several sectors within IMVF working for Cooperation for Development, seeking to respond to the complexities and local strategies in each country. Among the key sectors - Education, Health, Food Security, Integrated rural development and institutional strengthening and capacity building, but also environmental, human rights, promotion of income generating activities, infrastructure construction and technical assistance.
Decentralized Cooperation
In Portugal, the decentralized cooperation between municipalities is still in its early stages: moving from a perspective of fragmented aid or charitable relationships toward long-term cooperation. At the same time, awareness of the role that local authorities can play in global sustainable development is still poorly developed.
In this sector the IMVF has had a pioneering role, contacts with municipalities began almost a decade ago, recognizing the important role that these entities could play in international cooperation. More recently, it has sought to reinforce the action in this sector and provide the municipalities, in particular, and civil society in general, knowledge and potential of decentralized cooperation.
Humanitarian and Emergency Aid
The European Union considers humanitarian aid, in situations of war and catastrophe, as "the EU has a single goal: getting the aid to people in need as quickly as possible, without distinction of race, religion or political ideas, whether crisis is the result of human conflict or natural disaster. "
The presence of IMVF on the ground, 365 days a year, gives them the technological and human knowledge of local realities, allowing them to collaborate with humanitarian aid programs when requested. So it was in 2007 in Mozambique, devastated when Cyclone Flavio hit Mozambique and left thousands homeless.
