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Senator Mechai Viravaidya and Thomas D’Agnes, address the economic and social challenges in southeast Asia through social entrepreneurism.
Senator Mechai Viravaidya serves in the national Senate of Thailand and is founder and Chairman of the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), one of Thailand’s largest private, nonـprofit development organizations. Since 1974, PDA has initiated community-based family planning services, rural development programs, and HIV/AIDS prevention activities throughout Thailand. The country has achieved enormous success in both family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention with programs that serve as a model for many other nations.
Senator Mechai was elected to the Thai Senate in 2000. Previously, he served as an appointed Senator and a Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister in 1991ـ92 where he helped establish a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS prevention program. He has also served as Government Spokesman, Deputy Minister of Industry, Governor of the Provincial Waterworks Authority, Chairman of the Krung Thai Bank Public Company Limited, and Chairman of the Telephone Organization of Thailand. He was appointed as the Ambassador for UNAIDS in 1999. He has received numerous awards including the 1997 United Nations Population Award and the United Nations Gold Peace Medal in 1981. He has been granted decorations from the Governments of Thailand, Australia, and the Federal Republic of Germany for his work in population control, poverty reduction and HIV/AIDS prevention.
Senator Mechai is a frequent speaker at international forums on the necessity for increasing efficiency and entrepreneurial activity among non-government organizations as they evolve to fill the role previously taken by governments in the alleviation of poverty and elimination of disease. He believes donors will increasingly direct their assistance towards world crises and that non-government organizations must therefore be prepared to use business enterprises to finance their ongoing programs.
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