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Association François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB International) is an international organization aimed at providing support for children affected by AIDS and poverty and was founded by Albina du Boisrouvray.

The strategies drawn up by FXB depend on the social, cultural, economic and political conditions of the regions in which the programs are implemented. All FXB programs aim to reduce the consequences of HIV and AIDS in societies in general and on vulnerable children in particular.

[edit] Name

FXB is named after a helicopter pilot François-Xavier Bagnoud who died in 1986 on a helicopter rescue mission. He became the youngest professional Instrument Flight Related (IFR) airplane and helicopter pilot in Europe at age 23. Bagnoud was involved in over 300 rescue missions as part of Sion, Switzerland's Air Glaciers.^[1]

In 1989, his mother Albina du Boisrouvray and family friends founded the Association FXB. As a reflection of the values of generosity and compassion that guided Francois’s life, the organization was created to support children affected by AIDS – some of the most destitute and helpless populations in the world.^[2]

[edit] FXB-Village

The FXB-Villages are community-based, sustainable responses to the AIDS orphans crisis and extreme poverty. Each Village supports 80-100 families, comprising approximately 500 individuals, mostly children. Over a three-year period, FXB provides communities with important life skills in the hope that they will ultimately become independent – physically, financially and socially.

The Villages’ three-year program is marked by a gradual transfer of responsibility from the FXB counselors and nurses to the participants themselves. Financially, FXB decreases its payment of educational and medical costs from 100% in the first year to 50% by the third year. At the same time, the organization collaborates with the heads of households to develop an income generating activity (IGA). At the end of four years, the majority of families are receiving a steady income and are able to support themselves. A 2007 study of Rwanda participants found by the end of the program 86% of families earned enough to boost them above that country's poverty level--$1.25 per person a day.^[2]

[edit] Additional Programs

In 2006 FXB joined with a Chinese counterpart in Yunnan to launch two innovative projects providing holistic support to AIDS orphans and vulnerable children and the families committed to their care.^[3]

In 2002, FXB established World AIDS Orphans Day, an annual campaign and day of recognition to persuade governments around the world to devote 10% of the money they spend on the disease to help the children left vulnerable in the wake of the epidemic.^[4]

[edit] Countries of operation

FXB has projects in China, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Burundi, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Brazil, Colombia, Uraguay and Switzerland.

FXB has administrative offices in Geneva, Switzerland, Paris, France and New York, NY, USA.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• FXB website
• World AIDS Orphans' Day