devan_covenant_emergencyrelief_final

VANUATU South Pacific Island Nation

ABSTRACT Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale told CNN that the cyclone's

destruction was the worst his country had ever experienced. He

described the storm as a "monster." "Decimation is the only

word for what has happened here."

Tony Hosea Wokeke

“Plea of Ni-Vanuatu”

Lazaro

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A Letter from DEVAN - VANUATU (a Vanuatu Registered NGO) to Covenant Development

Statement of Work for , Vanuatu South Pacific � March 19, 2015 1

Agreement to Perform Emergency Disaster Relief Services

And

Establish a permanent Economic Development in Vanuatu

This letter was prepared by DEVAN-Vanuatu (Vanuatu NGO) urging Covenant to support a supplemental

services request for the assistance in the reconstruction of Vanuatu post Cyclone Pam.

Dear Covenant Development: Attention Lazaro Sanchez

The Cyclone CAT5 Pam that struck Vanuatu on March 12th 2015 was the worst natural disaster to

occur in this Hemisphere’s modern history. Initial estimates indicate that at least 200,000 people are affected

in some way. The response in the immediate aftermath of the Cyclone CAT5 Pam, from the international

community has been good. Even while continuing to carry out substantial efforts to provide life-saving relief to

thousands of Ni-Vanuatu, the international community must support a massive, Ni-Vanuatu led reconstruction

and transformation plan designed to support their goal of a democratic, equitable and productive

society. Although assessments of the extent of the damage are still being conducted, the United Nations, the

World Bank and others, initial estimates are of total devastation. A transformative reconstruction for the

island nation will require a long-term financial commitment from many sources. Vanuatu must be rebuilt in a

way that reverses the poverty and environmental degradation that has made it so vulnerable to natural

disasters. A return to Vanuatu as it was on prior to Pam is not advisable.

Given the scope of the task ahead, a letter was sent by some of the undersigned individuals and their

respective departments and organizations to Covenant executives Lazaro A Sanchez CTO/CSO, Larry McNeill

CEO/COO and Michael Carmine Romano Investor/Partner Agricultural Biomimicry SME, asking them to

request an emergency supplemental establishment of a Covenant Economic Agricultural & Industrial

Development entity in Vanuatu to meet the immediate and long-term needs in Vanuatu for relief,

reconstruction and development. In a testament to the urgent need for additional services than just “relief”.

Unless additional international aid funding and private investments are made available soon, humanitarian

assistance will have little to no long term impact. This is especially true of workforce creation, healthcare and

training for self-sustainability of the individual in the Vanuatu Island Nation. We are also mindful of the need

for Vanuatu reconstruction aid not to reduce the already limited development and humanitarian assistance to

this Hemisphere.

For these reasons, we respectfully urge you to support a supplemental appropriations and services

request. Furthermore, any supplemental services, goods, investments and funding should not be taken from

other regular budgets designated for humanitarian or development purposes. We also ask you to guarantee

that aid be allocated and disbursed within the framework of the principles below in order to avert similar

disasters in the future. This is the precursor to us and your associates to form a true covenant legally binding

under UN International Business Standards.

I am Tony Hosea Wokeke, I was nominated by my island, community and people for the following duties:

Lazaro

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1- President of Torba Provincial Community.

2- Secretary of Technical Advisory Group for our Provincial Government.

3- President of Motalava island Community.

4- Chief of Motalava Community.

The duties above are voluntarily basis without any given allowance but is quite challenging since we involve in

Government our people and their welfare. DEVAN-NGO is the outlet of my services to my people Ni-Vanuatu. I

am also a full time employee of Telecom Vanuatu Ltd working as a Telecom Engineer. I am representing the

Ni-Vanuatu with DEVAN as the vehicle. Please see below for DEVAN’s description and charter.

Immediate Relief Requests

The initial efforts as Covenant states on the communications, website and crowdfunding platforms is

“Phase-1”. That effort phase should be no more than 30-days (thirty) to establish a base of operations, the

immediate relief scope of work and asses the next phase efforts. This first phase is the disaster relief

sponsored donation aid effort referenced.

We wish to convey that private funding of your small non-government and non-not-for profit status is

as in any nation, your responsibility as a business. However, we will make concessions and form specific

Purchase Order Requests to Covenant vis-à-vis the DEVAN-VANUATU (Registered Vanuatu NGO).

Covenant Development will have a “Board of Directors & Advisors” and on this board will sit either

DEVAN-Vanuatu or Proxies that will represent the voice of the people and what type of direction and funding

this organization will receive outside of any private humanitarian or philanthropic initial funding.

A revised reconstruction plan for Vanuatu will require financial resources and time. We strongly urge

you to make a long-term commitment to Vanuatu by supporting this emergency supplemental request and

consider provisions that allow for a two-five year window to designate and disburse funds based on the

revised development plan created mutually. As more information becomes available, we will provide further

recommendations on the type of fund that should be created with oversight mechanisms for the long term.

We appreciate the immediate bipartisan concern that the Covenant executive management and all its

associates have demonstrated towards the immense scope of the natural disaster in Vanuatu. It will take the

efforts of a great many people and a great many resources, to fully recover and in the manner that we need to.

We understand that every little bit counts, and we are appreciative as always. However, this effort will be

used as a Model by which to work with private, small and nimble business and organizations throughout the

globe.

Statement of Work and Direct Impact

1. Establish a “new” “Emergency Disaster Communications System”, a Local Area and Wide Area

Network for the use of Vanuatu NGOs and Government Ministries on Efate and outlying rural

islands. This network will be an “Intranet” for our Disaster Relief and long term permanent private

network for Ni-Vanuatu support and self-reliability.

Lazaro

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a. At this moment and current time, the Government is using 60% of TVL Network, 45% of

Digicel Network and EGOV which hosted by Huawei from the Chinese Government has got

the rest. This has proven to be complex and costly, and after Pam…a mess to restore and

use applicably for Government & NGO purposes.

2. Establish clean water purification systems or desalination systems. This is one of the most

important things other NGOs are not doing at this time. We do not want more bottled water. We

wish self-sustainability with new equipment and training.

3. We ask for your Project Management and Consulting capabilities to asses and establish our needs

for “Cyclone-Resilient or Hurricane-Proof” housing and other structures. We wish to start a new

facility that will create a great many jobs to fabricate, build and install these low cost structures.

a. Immediately needed are over 3300 new homes on Efate alone and an unknown amount

throughout the Island Nation. Estimates are all over the place and not yet reliable.

However, everyone agrees that the numbers are staggering.

4. Solar PV and other off-grid micro-grid technologies at low cost need be established immediately.

We need 4kW -8kW DC systems for small homes and small business, village centers, etc. Please

bring sample systems for relief, which we can use in our long term restoration and ongoing self-

sustainability. Currently we pay approximately AU$0.35-AU$0.39 per kilowatt-hour of electricity. It

is not stable and it is not available on any rural islands throughout over 70% of our Nation. This is a

plea of help to stop the cycle of International gouging of Ni-Vanuatu by Utility and Telecom owners.

5. Please help us help ourselves. Covenant and all its scientific and engineering can be a great help to

our Vanuatu Island Nation. We applaud all the efforts of all the UN and International aides. But we

want to stand up for ourselves. We will help you at any capacity once you have arrived on our

sovereign soil.

Thank you.

FOUNDER of DEVAN-Vanuatu

Tony Hosea Wokeke

the Republic of Vanuatu

Port Vila, Vanuatu

gÉÇç [Éáxt jÉ~x~x ;=xÄxvàÜÉÇ|v á|zÇtàâÜx<

Lazaro

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About Us – A Vanuatu NGO

The government and development partners recognize the importance of Non-Governmental

Organizations (NGOs) for improving the well-being of human society. While they acknowledge the expertise of

several NGOs in improving the socioeconomic conditions of disadvantaged people in Vanuatu, however, they

are concerned over the capabilities of these NGOs to implement development projects.

There is a growing recognition among development partners that it is almost impossible to lead a

development project to realistic and sustainable success without a capable partner. In order to fulfill this

emerging demand, we have established DEVAN VANUATU, a Vanuatu-based NGO, in bringing project benefits

closer to communities and mobilizing people’s participation. The establishment of DEVAN VANUATU is in

direct response to the need for a dynamic and resourceful organization to deliver high-quality services to meet

the emerging needs of disadvantaged people of Vanuatu.

We have assembled a core team of excellent and competent professionals with the capacity of

producing outputs that add value to our clients and partners operations. They are drawn from a variety of

disciplines including health, education, water supply and sanitation, engineering, information technology,

environmental management, community development, marketing, accounting and finance. Our

multidisciplinary professionals are committed to assist our clients and partners to achieve their short- and

long-term goals and objectives. We are trying to establish a network of cooperation among DEVAN VANUATU

and universities, educational establishments, research organizations, consulting firms and NGOs. We believe

that if provided an opportunity, we have the capacity and capability to develop innovative, efficient and cost-

effective solutions for improving the socioeconomic conditions of disadvantaged people in Vanuatu.

Our Main Areas of Work

• Health

• Disaster and Humanitarian Relief

• Education

• Economic Empowerment

• Environment

• Good Governance

• Water Supply and Sanitation

• Information Technology

• Community Development

Our Vision

Our vision is to become a leading Vanuatu Non-Governmental Organization acknowledged for our

contribution to make Vanuatu a happiest country in the League of Nations by providing health, education and

employment to every citizen of Vanuatu.

Our Mission

Our mission is to work with clients and partners for improving the socioeconomic conditions of disadvantaged

people in Vanuatu.

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We exist to provide high-quality services consistent with the needs and priorities of disadvantage people of

Vanuatu.

We shall conduct our activities in accordance with the highest professional and ethical standards, providing

services that add value to our clients and partners operations.

Our Core Values

Our core values are embodied in our commitment to build hope, respect and trust among disadvantage

people of Vanuatu. We accordingly offer efficient and quality services on terms that are cost-effective with

fidelity.

Our Approach

Consistent with our values and philosophy, our approach to service delivery involves:

• Responding to the varied but specific needs and expectations of disadvantaged people of Vanuatu

• Working systematically with our clients and partners to identify and correct procedures and practices

that inhibit performance improvement

• Upholding firmly the principles of partnership in all our relations with clients, partners, employees

and volunteers

FOUNDER of DEVAN-Vanuatu

Tony Hosea Wokeke

the Republic of Vanuatu

Port Vila, Vanuatu

gÉÇç [Éáxt jÉ~x~x ;=xÄxvàÜÉÇ|v á|zÇtàâÜx<

Lazaro

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Doing Business in Vanuatu

Vanuatu is better known as the region’s foremost financial center. However it also offers many local business

opportunities and a favorable business environment for local investment.

What are the advantages of investing in Vanuatu?

For a start how about the following reasons:

• No Income taxes,

• No corporate taxes on local and offshore income,

• No withholding taxes,

• No Capital Gains taxes (except on some real estate transactions),

• No Death Duties,

• No burdensome filing of audited account filings for companies with annual income of under

VT25, 000,000. (Fantastic for holding companies, i.e. in real estate etc.)

1. All this means minimal bureaucracy, less annoying office paperwork, filings etc. No ‘friendly’ tax collectors

to deal with. More time to run and develop your business and to enjoy the unique life style Vanuatu has

to offer.

2. Every elected Government of Vanuatu have always encouraged and promoted local investment. The

government is pro-active in taking initiatives in conjuncture with the private sector to streamline

bureaucracy and fast track overseas investments in Vanuatu.

3. The Government is particularly interested in encouraging investment in tourism, agriculture, fishing,

forestry and timber products. However, there are restrictions to ensure that natural resources are not

over exploited. The thrust of Government thinking is to encourage labor intensive industries, using local

products which will lead to import substitution.

4. The cost of labor in Vanuatu is inexpensive. The minimal wage is VT26, 000 (approximately A$260.00) at

the current exchange rate. Even though there are 3 official languages, English is the main business

language used.

5. Vanuatu has excellent international communication facilities, with its own earth satellite stations and

twenty four hour telephone and data transmission facilities. Broadband internet is available. Currently a

huge project is underway to deploy Vanuatu’s first international submarine fiber optics system linking

Vanuatu to the rest of the world.

6. There is extensive financial and legal expertise available. The Supreme Court of Vanuatu has jurisdiction to

determine all matters. Commercial law is based on English law.

7. Vanuatu Covenant Economic Development Project(s) & Disaster Relief Efforts

Vanuatu is a small South Pacific Island nation that gained independence in 1980. It is now known for a number

of economically productive industries including tourism, agriculture, financial services and retirement living.

THW

Lazaro

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devan_covenant_emergencyrelief_final

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