Maria Chertok (CAF) will take the role of WINGS Chairperson in January 2016, succeeding Dr. Atallah Kuttab of SAANED. We asked them to reflect on the evolution of WINGS and to share what’s in store for the network.
Dr. Atallah Kuttab is promoting a better understanding of local practices and philanthropy discourse — a trend he hopes will create a “truly global philanthropy enriched with its diversity”. We met with Kuttab to learn more about Arab philanthropy, its history, and how it fits into an “ecosystem of philanthropies around the world”.
In all the countries of the Arab region there is a longstanding tradition of social giving in a variety of forms and inclusive of all faiths, the best known being waqf.
This month marks the end of Caroline Hartnell’s tenure at Alliance magazine, and it brings us great pleasure to highlight her outstanding contributions to WINGS and to the field of philanthropy with a few words from our members and partners.
Following a recent meeting in Beijing, we asked WINGS board members for their thoughts on philanthropy in the Asia-Pacific region. “The implications of wider global developments around wealth generation and the digital era for grantmaking and social investment are challenging to predict for western economies, let alone for the Asian region, currently arguably the most dynamic in the world.”
WINGS chairman Atallah Kuttab reports on a recent meeting co-hosted by the China Foundation Centre in Beijing, explaining how Chinese foundations have continued to improve on a previous lack of transparency. “The China Foundation Centre has managed to increase the rate of data disclosure by foundations from less than 30 per cent in 2011 to more than 90 per cent in 2014.”
WINGS Chairman Atallah Kuttab is inviting members to read and comment on learnings from four recent focus group discussions in Colombia, and shares plans for similar consultations in other regions over the coming months. “Hopefully this will contribute to reinvent local discourses and reinvigorate local and global philanthropy.”
WINGS member AFE held four focus group discussions from 19 to 22 August in the four largest Colombian cities: Bogota, Barranquilla, Cali and Medellin. The purpose was to reflect upon the challenges in private social investment and philanthropy. This is part of a wider study in Latin America covering Colombia, Brazil and Argentina that is being carried out by GIFE, CEMEFI, GDFA and AFE, with the support of AVINA Foundation and the Inter American Bank Foundation, and the active participation of WINGS. Atallah Kuttab (SAANED) and Maria Carolina Suarez (AFE) recently shared key impressions ahead of a more detailed report.
WINGS Chairman Atallah Kuttab looks at how reinvigorating local traditions and learning from other regions relate to a diverse and more “strategic” global philanthropic landscape. “It is important to link new institutionalized forms of philanthropy with long-standing practices and traditions, and to support efforts to ensure that philanthropy is effectively organized and sustainable without destroying traditional giving motivations and practices.”
The new report, launched at WINGSForum 2014: The Power of Networks in Istanbul on 27 March, aims to enhance the knowledge of global philanthropy. Though we are diverse, we have a common platform through which to build and share many of the same values. We believe it is important to create a degree of commonality while encouraging the richness of diversity, build common understanding of terms within global and local contexts, and strengthen ownership of this knowledge-building by WINGS members.
In this article from Alliance magazine, WINGS Chairman Atallah Kuttab and Natasha Matic (King Khalid Foundation) share new insights into the state of philanthropy in Saudi Arabia, including new efforts to remedy low-impact giving. “Annual philanthropic giving to causes within the country by individuals, foundations, corporations and the government ranks among the highest in the world, [which] suggests vibrant social development, but this is lacking.”
Atallah Kuttab presides WINGS, a global network of humanitarian organisations, headquartered in Brazil. To him, facing the needs of youths is a great challenge in Brazil and the Arab world. Article by Aurea Santos.
The two-day workshop hosted by Arab Foundations Forum (AFF) in September addressed communication and fundraising methods, social investment as a source of funding, institutional philanthropy, and recent trends in online fundraising and using the internet and social networks to raise funds.
Philanthropy in Focus 