Magdy Martínez-Solimán, UNDP Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, marked the 2015 International Day of Democracy with his thoughts on a “Space for Civil Society”, this year’s theme, reaffirming UNDP’s commitment to supporting free and vibrant civic spaces.
Considering the relevance of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, GIFE held a meeting in São Paulo in August with leaders from institutes, foundations and businesses for a debate on how the SGDs connect with private social investment.
Chris Delatorre (WINGS) reports on the International Conference on Social Media for Good, linking the Post-2015 Agenda and the concept of diffuse collaboration to a new framework for distributed social networking. “If diffuse reciprocity represents the exchange of items of nonequivalent value, then distributed social technology is the best substrate for realizing a system in which every contribution, large and small, is recognized within a greater ecosystem of social reality and practice, and met with gratitude.”
In this newly unlocked article from Alliance magazine, Jenny Hodgson (GFCF) and Barry Knight (CENTRIS) ask what role community philanthropy can play in development post-2015. Community foundation leaders in North America and Europe weigh in. “The post-2015 goals will apply universally, not just to developing countries, so this discussion is relevant everywhere.”
On 8th December, the 2014 FCAA AIDS Philanthropy Summit will kick off with the launch of the organization’s latest human rights resource tracking report. We asked Sarah Hamilton, FCAA program and communications director, to share how local context and collaboration are helping drive important data collection efforts for the network.
Brad Smith (Foundation Center) and Helena Monteiro (WINGS) led a recent session on data at the Ford Foundation that looked at how current projects like the Global Philanthropy Data Charter can help give an accurate picture of development progress. Angela Hariche, Foundation Center’s director of international data relations, reports.
Sunday’s historic People’s Climate March was a testament to the growing power and visibility of a global people’s movement for peace, justice and democracy, under the banner of climate change and sustainable and equitable development. Mafruza Khan reports.
In joining the push for meaningful Sustainable Development Goals, foundations need to prepare for a long-term give-and-take approach. In her latest for Stanford Social Innovation Review, Heather Grady (Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors) points to challenges for collaboration on global development goals, adding that now is the time for interested parties to join the fold. “If you want to try new approaches to collaboration on the Sustainable Development Goals and put diffuse reciprocity in action by putting some skin in the game, get in touch as our circle widens.”
Karolina Mzyk (UNDP) shares why philanthropy, specifically a global network like WINGS, plays a valuable role in facilitating cross-sector partnerships by engaging government, international bodies and other key players. “Philanthropy can be a powerful force in international development.” WINGS and UNDP will jointly host a webinar in August as a followup to the Istanbul meeting.
“Philanthropy can be the broker that brings disconnected parties and disparate entities together to create new bonds. Without the pressure of elections or markets, and by drawing on the insights and capacities of community foundations and global foundations, philanthropy has the potential to break down silos and connect local insights to global resources.” Rob Garris, Rockefeller Foundation
One of the best-attended sessions at the Council on Foundations conference this week was on foundation involvement in the global development agenda for the period 2015-30. The standing room only crowd was urged by panellists from the Hilton and Rockefeller Foundations, the Foundation Center and the World Bank to get involved both in the framing of the goals and in their execution over the coming decade and a half. Article by Peter Laugharn.
The Foundation Center, the leading source of information on philanthropy worldwide, became the 200th organization to publish information on development spending to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) in December.
Leading side by side is less about forging a hierarchy than about learning, sharing and drawing on unique strengths from within the group to achieve common goals.
Executive Director Helena Monteiro addresses the network on notable accomplishments in 2013 and forecasts WINGSForum 2014: The Power of Networks, including a report on philanthropy infrastructure slated for launch at the event.
The latest in our web series, Road to Istanbul: A journey through networked philanthropy, considers the WINGS global network as a complex system of stars, and how we might use this metaphor to think about new collaborations.
As priorities are redefined, the question of how philanthropic organisations can contribute to the advancement of the post-2015 agenda becomes an increasingly pressing issue. This webinar with the EFC, Ford Foundation, OECD netFWD, and UNDP follows up on current discussions about the role these organisations can play in supporting development efforts. Watch now.
As we look beyond the 2015 deadline for achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) the sector continues to refine its priorities accordingly. There are many ways to look at how individuals and organisations can contribute, one of which considers the growing urban landscape.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were at the heart of discussions on 27 September, as various stakeholders met at the Ford Foundation in New York to discuss how philanthropies and their civil society partners can contribute to the future development agenda, to be renewed in 2015.
What makes for the success of a side event to the UN General Assembly, at a time when world leaders are discussing the contours of a new development framework and are expected to sign an “outcome document” on post-2015? What do we, as representatives of the philanthropic sector, want out of this important event: high level attendance? Stimulating discussions? A sense that key challenges are being unfolded and dissected to help us walk the talk? Surely, all of the above would be good. Yet, this time, my metrics for success will be linked to our ability to redefine the way we look at the Milky Way of development. Article by Bathylle Missika
On Friday 27 September in New York, WINGS will join the United Nations Development Programme, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, OECD netFWD and the European Foundation Centre in a conversation on how civil society and foundations can influence the next global development agenda and spur coordinated action to advance new goals. See the agenda here.
Philanthropy in Focus 