Financial Support
Donations help sustain protection today and build the next stage responsibly.
About IRC Africa Inc.
Built in the Field.
Led Locally.
Accountable in the United States.
Saving and Improving Women’s Lives.
IRC Africa Inc. is a U.S. 501(c)(3) public charity working in Ambovombe, Androy Region, in Southern Madagascar. We connect immediate protection from violence with locally led paths toward education, employment, leadership, and greater economic independence.
01 / Why we are here
A Field Visit Became a Long-Term Commitment
The work began with direct presence in Ambovombe. Listening to women, local leaders, public institutions, and community organizations made one reality impossible to ignore: women facing violence needed a safe place immediately, while many more women needed practical opportunities to reduce long-term dependence and vulnerability.
IRC Africa Inc. was built in response to that reality, not around a distant theory or a predetermined program.
02 / From personal commitment to an organization
We Began Before the Funding Arrived
Founder and CEO Eldad Garfunkel has spent more than 200 days in Madagascar, primarily working in Ambovombe and elsewhere in the Androy Region. During the early stages, he contributed approximately $20,000 from personal savings to support fieldwork, direct assistance, local relationships, and the development of the organization.
That personal commitment helped the work begin. Building a sustainable organization now requires a wider community of donors, professional partners, and institutions.
- 200+days in the field
- ~$20,000personally funded
- 501(c)(3)U.S. public charity
03 / Local leadership from the beginning
Built With TERATANY, Led on the Ground by Mamy Duata
The work in Ambovombe is carried out in partnership with TERATANY, an independent, women-led Malagasy organization founded and led by Mamy Duata.
Mamy and the local team manage the daily work, including the operation of Ny Trano Manga, relationships with women and families, staff management, community engagement, prevention and awareness activities, and situations that require local knowledge and judgment.
IRC Africa Inc. contributes international fundraising, strategic development, professional connections, and U.S. legal and financial accountability. The two organizations have distinct and complementary roles.
04 / Proof before promises
Ny Trano Manga Is Operating Now
In January 2025, IRC Africa Inc. and TERATANY established Ny Trano Manga (The Blue House) in Ambovombe. It is Madagascar’s first shelter providing residential accommodation and on-site support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for women and girls affected by violence and their children.
The shelter demonstrates what locally led cooperation can make possible. It also continues to teach us what women need after immediate safety: different pathways, practical choices, and support that does not end with one intervention.
05 / What we are building next
Protection Today. Opportunity Tomorrow.
Our next stage is Cyclone Valley, a planned Women’s Employment, Entrepreneurship & Leadership Center in Ambovombe. It will bring together two independent pathways for women with different starting points.
- Opportunity & Livelihood will focus on practical routes to income for women with little or no formal education.
- The Cyclone Valley Technology Campus will serve women who completed high school and are ready to build skills for a changing world of work.
Alongside this work, we are advancing a professional feasibility assessment for a Marine Research Center that we intend to have operating by 2030.
These initiatives are not presented as operating programs today. They are the next stage we are working to fund and build responsibly.
06 / How we work
Listen. Test. Learn. Adapt.
Our approach combines field presence, local leadership, research, professional standards, and continuous learning. We do not assume that one solution fits every woman or every community.
Technology is a tool, not a starting point. Local knowledge is essential. Quality comes before scale. Plans must be allowed to change when the field teaches us something new.
07 / Resources are more than money
Different Resources Can Move the Work Forward
Professional Expertise
Research, training, technology, communications, fundraising, and organizational knowledge can strengthen local capacity.
Connections and Partnerships
An introduction to a foundation, company, university, employer, researcher, or donor can open a door we could not open alone.
08 / Accountability and long-term direction
U.S. Accountability. Local Leadership.
Our ambition is not to manage programs across Africa from a distance. Our immediate responsibility is to build high-quality, locally led work in Ambovombe. Over time, we hope that lessons, tools, and principles developed there can be shared with others and adapted to different realities.
Saving and improving women’s lives requires more than one project. It requires protection, opportunity, trusted local leadership, and partners willing to build for the long term.