The Gamelan Council – Asia-Pacific Public Health, Microfinance, and Development Centre (Gamelan Council) is an international non-governmental, non-profit initiative addressing the
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
,
microfinance, and
international development needs of communities in, on, and around the
Pacific Rim. For these purposes, the Gamelan Council views the
Asia-Pacific region quite broadly in line with
APEC
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. ; the jurisdictions covered are claimed to account for approximately 65% of the world's population. The Council's activities, which include conducting research, making investments, and providing education and advice, are centrally coordinated.
History
The Gamelan Council is an offshoot of the Global Consulting Group (GCG), a non-profit, non-partisan consulting firm created under the aegis of Global Student Response (GSR) and focused on supporting
international development efforts which has since been disbanded. As GCG's efforts became more geographically focused on the Asia-Pacific region and thematically focused on
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
and
microfinance developmental issues, the Gamelan Council formed to focus specifically on these areas.
The name of the organization is a combination of the Indonesian word referring to a music ensemble, '
Gamelan
Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...
', and an English word referring to a
Native American, community-fostering ritual, 'Council' (the same term used to refer commonly to a group of individuals providing advice and counsel). These two terms capture the Gamelan Council's goal of harmoniously unifying the arrays of forces and ideas affecting the areas on which the Gamelan Council focuses its efforts.
Jurisdictions addressed
The Gamelan Council operates predominantly in 73
states and
territories
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
on, near, and around the
Pacific Rim, including every jurisdiction with a coastline on the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
and several other, significant population centres adjacent to or closely linked to the Pacific Rim (e.g.,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...
, and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
). In 2010, the Gamelan Council also commenced pilot projects in both (a) Central Asia (i.e., Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) and (b) South America (i.e., Paraguay, Uruguay, Guyana, and Suriname) which complement its other activities centered on the Pacific Rim.
These jurisdictions are divided into three main geographic groups and are listed below, organized generally by geography (i.e., Americas from north to south;
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
from west to north and then south; and
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...
from west to east):
Key activities
The Gamelan Council focuses on three main sets of activities addressing
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
,
microfinance, and
international development issues. These include (a) research (e.g., conducting targeted studies of trends in the
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
,
microfinance, and
international development sectors); (b) investment (e.g., raising capital to support successful Asia-Pacific
microfinance providers and assisting entrepreneurs developing new technologies addressing public health needs throughout the Asia-Pacific region); and (c) education and advice (e.g., developing seminars, providing consulting services to social entrepreneurs, and coordinating conferences on
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
,
microfinance, and
international development in the Asia-Pacific region).
Gamelan Council website referencing ‘what we do’
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See also
* Microfinance
* International Development
* Epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evide ...
* Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
* Social entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of ...
* APEC
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Notes
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External links
Gamelan Council – Asia-Pacific Microfinance, Public Health & Development Centre
Organizations established in 2005
International economic organizations
International organizations based in Asia
International organizations based in Oceania
International organizations based in Laos
Microfinance organizations
International development agencies
International finance institutions
Public health organizations
International medical and health organizations