Monaco humanitarian project helps 320 children

Members of Monaco Collectif Humanitaire ©Manuel Vitali/Direction de la Communication
Members of Monaco Collectif Humanitaire ©Manuel Vitali/Direction de la Communication

On Monday, February 6, members of the Monaco Collectif Humanitaire, comprising the Monaco Government, associations, health centres and the Monegasque Red Cross, met for their annual meeting.

The results of the Collective are very positive: since the start of the project in 2008, 320 children, the majority from the African continent, have undergone operations in Monaco, mainly cardiac procedures that could not be performed in their countries of origin.

In 2016 alone, this involved 48 children, thanks to the Monaco Collectif Humanitaire (MCH).

Among the very active members of this chain of solidarity are the three partner care centres: the Cardio-Thoracic Centre of Monaco, the Princess Grace Hospital and the Institute of Medicine and Sports Surgery, alongside voluntary organisations including Rencontres Africaines, the Monegasque Red Cross, Chaîne de l’Espoir, and the association Aviation Sans Frontières, which provides transport for the children.

The Directorate of International Cooperation, which pilots the project, thanked the generous and faithful donors to the MCH, including: Children & Future, AMADE Monaco, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, Caritas Monaco, the Pagani Elia association and numerous associations and individual donors who contributed over €430,000 to the Collective in 2016.

Lastly, the outstanding support of footballer Olivier Giroud, Ambassador of the MCH, was acknowledged during the meeting and, in particular, his involvement in the second crowdfunding campaign that rescued two children.

The year 2017 will be marked by the laying of the foundation stone of the catheterisation room in Bamako, Mali. This project of the Monaco Collectif Humanitaire will take care of more children suffering from cardiac pathologies, who will be able to be have operations in their own country.

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New York office announces “Forbidden City in Monaco”

To help celebrate the Chinese New Year, the New York office of Monaco’s Tourism and Convention Bureau held a private dinner announcing the Grimaldi Forum summer exhibition: “The Forbidden City in Monaco. Life of the Court of Emperors and Empresses of China,” which will take place from July 14 to September 10.

The event, attended by 25 journalists, was held on January 25 at the Chinese Hakkasan gourmet restaurant in New York, founded by renowned chef Alan Yau, who is also the creator of the Song Qi restaurant in Monaco.

As a follow-up to the Grimaldi Forum’s 2001 exhibit “China of the First Emperor”, the 2017 summer exhibition will focus on the last imperial Chinese dynasty (1644–1911), jointly curated by Jean-Paul Desroches, Honorary General Curator, and Wang Yuegong, Director of the Imperial Court Life Department at the Forbidden City.

More than 250 remarkable artefacts will be on display, from the Emperors’ former palace, as well as from major European and American collections, including the Musée Cernuschi and Musée du Louvre in Paris, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

The Forbidden City has 10 million visitors annually. Pre-sale tickets to “The Forbidden City in Monaco” are available for €5 from the online ticket office.

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Monaco marine transporter reports better year

Scorpio tanker
Photo: Scorpio Bulkers
Photo: Scorpio Bulkers

Monaco-based Scorpio Bulkers has announced its financial results for 2016, showing a much-reduced loss compared to the previous year.

For the year ended December 31, 2016, the shipping company’s adjusted net loss was $99.9 million, or $1.78 adjusted loss per diluted share. This excludes a loss/write-off of vessels and assets held for sale of $12.4 million, the write off of deferred financing costs on credit facilities that will no longer be used of $2.5 million and a charter hire contract termination fee of $10.0 million. These adjustments total a $0.44 loss per diluted share.

For comparison, in the year ended December 31, 2015, the company had a GAAP net loss of $510.8 million, or $23.86 loss per diluted share. The company’s adjusted net loss was $71.8 million or $3.36 adjusted loss per diluted share. This excludes a write down on assets held for sale of $422.9 million and the write off of deferred financing costs on credit facilities that will no longer be used of $16.1 million, or $20.50 loss per share.

As of February 3, 2017, the company had approximately $141.9 million in cash and cash equivalents.

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Roadwork and newborns in Monaco

babycarseat

As of Monday, the Department of Urban Development is undertaking major work on the sewerage network at the busy intersection of Avenue de la Madone and Avenue des Spélugues, which is scheduled to last for seven weeks.

Due to the scale of the work, alternate traffic has been set up for the duration of the operation. In order to limit waiting times for vehicles, traffic flows will be operated manually during the day and by traffic lights at night.

Information worth updating in your GPS should you need to make a quick trip to the delivery room.

A total of 938 babies were born in Monaco in 2016, 474 girls and 464 boys. The figure was a little lower than 2015, when a total of 1,067 births were recorded. Almost all of last year’s 936 births were at the Princess Grace Hospital.

Most of the new arrivals (682) were to parents living outside the Principality while 256 of the families live in Monaco. The favourite name for boys was Gabriel, and for girls, Sofia.

The State recorded 503 deaths during the year and a total of 193 weddings.

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