Quotes and sayings from experts

“All children, no matter where they live, have the right to education and a safe and secure environment in which to grow. The FXB Villages help children orphaned and affected by AIDS, and their guardian families, to enjoy these rights”. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations. 2002

“Your action is undoubtedly helping to alleviate the suffering of thousands of innocent victims hit by the consequences of the spread of the AIDS pandemic.” Micheline Calmy-Rey, Federal Councillor and President of Switzerland. World AIDS Orphans’ Day (WAOD) 2007

“Albina has been a strong advocate of children orphaned by AIDS since the early days of the pandemic, at a time when few people had the understanding, courage and determination to make their voices heard”. Dr. Peter Piot, Former Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). 2002

“In my capacity as the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, I saw, first hand, Albina’s work in the field, teaching communities to achieve self-reliance. I came to understand her vision and philosophy. Her organization, FXB, has made an enormous difference in the lives of the people it has touched. Albina has shown us that responsibility lies within each of us individually; it is our choice for us to make.” Nafis Sadik, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV and AIDS in Asia and the Pacific; and Former Executive Director of UNFPA. 2000

“FXB’s well-established model of poverty alleviation and supporting AIDS orphans in Rwanda and Uganda is a grassroots solution that turns despair into hope”. Mr Stephen Lewis, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV and AIDS in Africa. 2002

“Local Authorities united to address the world’s major issues”. Jean-Marie Bockel, Senator of Haut-Rhin, France. World AIDS Orphans Day 2005

“FXB is a generous, sustainable and effective organisation, an extraordinary lever to make all problems go away.” Matthieu Zeller, Managing Director of Kiehl’s. 2004

“One is not an orphan for having lost father and mother but for having lost hope.” Robert del Picchia, Senator for French citizens living outside France. 2005

“FXB is an association in which we recognize ourselves, on May 7th we will be there! » Les Yamakasi 2007

“At FXB, the response to the growing number of destitute children is to work with families and communities as a whole. For this reason, FXB works to reintegrate orphans into stable households and to rebuild the overall social fabric of families and communities so that the work of social workers with these children – and all vulnerable children trapped in poverty – can be effective in the long term. I quote Albina du Boisrouvray because I believe that the philosophy of her struggle is the right one, and that we have all been inspired by it for a long time.” Extract from the speech of Daniel Rondeau, Ambassador of France to Malta. International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Conference in Valletta, 17 October 2008.

« Albina has been one of the most inspiring person I have come to know. She has dedicated herself to social causes, distinguishing herself as a leading social entrepreneur. She has achieved special distinction and outstanding success in her work with orphans and vulnerable children affected by AIDS. Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Managing Director, Grameen Bank. 2006

“One of the organizations that I think is doing extraordinarily good work which deserves better recognition is FXB.” “And I think, one of the things that FXB, as an approach, intended to do is to concentrate on the building of the capabilities of the families and, through that, their ability to help their children, and so much so that then, of course, when the children grow up, they have their individual capabilities to pursue their own life.” In addition to offering families the tools to develop their own capabilities in order to escape poverty, Sen points out that FXB also encourages its previous benficiaries to become role models for others in their communities: “I think one of the interesting things in the FXB approach is the building up of the capability of people on the basis of past experience. So for example, if you get help from FXB and overcome your own deprivation, then not only do you overcome the deprivation, you also acquire something, a certain knowledge about how to deal with the deprivation. Then you are in a position to help others,” Sen states. Amartya Sen, Indian economist and philosopher, Nobel Prize in Economics 1998, Professor at Harvard. 2010.

“[…], an organisation like the Association François-Xavier Bagnoud, which fights poverty and AIDS in Africa, works in perfect harmony with the communities it helps.” Edgar Morin, from his book “La Voie”. 2011

“The strength of this programme is that it is fully integrated into the local culture (…) Such an experience (FXBVillage) should be applicable in Afghanistan. There is an urgent need to move away from conventional models and invent more effective development aid.” Patricia Lalonde, MEP, extract from her book “Abdullah, Abdullah, the Afghan who says no to the Taliban”. 2011

“I am happy to add my voice to those of Amartya Sen and others… we at BRAC are highly appreciative of FXB’s longstanding commitment to helping the poorest… “ Sir Fazle Hasab Abed, BRAC Founder and Chairperson. 2015

“The FXBVillages are a model that many should emulate to promote the sustainable development of the poor, children and families.” Lincoln Chen, President of BRAC USA. 2015

“At 7pm, ceremony at the Quai d’Orsay where Albina du Boisrouvray was made an officer of the Legion of Honour by Jean-Marc Ayrault. I like proper names when they are gathered in a bouquet to embrace the panorama of a life. Albina’s life, in its dramas and its lights, is like the kaleidoscopic compression of a society that includes several. There was the golden youth, the lyrical illusion of the beautiful left, the cinematographic production, and then the tragic death of her son to whom, she says, Albina would have liked to dedicate the rest of her life. Under the acronym FXB, like François-Xavier Bagnoud, she will have globalised her resolution, fomented hope in the midst of the worst misery, and become a missionary order and a UNICEF of micro-growth.” Marc Lambron, in his book “L’année du Coq de Feu”, Edition Grasset. 2022

Harvey Fineberg, President of the Institute of Medicine USA, Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health 1997-2001

Sir James Wolfensohn, Sir James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank 1995-2005

Dr Paul Farmer, Co-founder of Partners in Health, Professor at Harvard University