European Foundation Centre AGA and Conference

Event  EFC 20th Annual General Assembly (AGA) and Conference
Date  14-16 May
Venue  Rome, Italy
Theme  Fighting Poverty, Creating Opportunities

‘The present economic crisis has yet again caught us off guard. Are we acting like mad people, continuing to apply things that haven't been working rather than developing better solutions?’ asked Sibongile Mkhabela of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund in her vivid and unsettling keynote address at the opening plenary of the EFC’s 2009 conference, which brought together around 700 delegates from more than 60 countries.

She went on to criticize donors and development agencies in forceful terms for their failure to deal with the ‘complex and a vicious beast’ that is poverty – for their short-term perspectives (‘donors ask where we will be in three years; we should ask where we will be in 15 years … the aim is not to feed kids when they’re hungry but to produce the next generation of leaders’) and above all for paying lipservice to partnership. ‘Donors assume the monopoly of intelligence that goes with a chequebook. Southern organizations must be given the chance to say how they want to tackle their problems. Philanthropy must recognize the knowledge and wisdom among those affected – not zombies who are acted for and spoken for but full participants in the humanizing process of development.’ She didn’t talk much about the financial crisis or failing resources but focused on power and equality and true partnership – the enduring issues of development that donors have simply failed to address.

Mkhabela was followed by EFC Chair Emilio Rui Vilar, and he did talk about the current crisis. He drew attention to the worsening situation in the developing world, where 750,000 more children could die before their first birthday owing to the crisis, and in Europe, where 19 per cent of children grow up in poverty. He cited the African proverb ‘poverty is slavery’. The fight against poverty should be as urgent as the movement against slavery, he said. ‘When the movement against slavery began, it was considered utopian. Today slavery is a crime and freedom a universally recognized human right. We should look at poverty in the same way.’ The world has the resources and food to deal with hunger, he maintained. ‘What is needed is more rational distribution.’ Thus he challenged European foundations to ‘make a difference alongside governments, business and others’.

Although there were some excellent sessions, judging from the scattering of sessions I attended, the conference did not live up to the promise and challenge of the opening plenary. A second plenary on poverty and migration asked the question ‘where are foundations when you need them?’ but the framing of the issues took so long that the panellists were barely able to address the question. The beginnings of a conversation about how to ensure migrants' voices can be heard rather than simply refining our own understanding of what integration means demonstrated the potential for a much more illuminating and constructive discussion.

Too many conference sessions still follow the time-honoured format of lining up a group of three or four speakers to speak for 15-20 minutes, each followed by a brief Q&A, with the chair often choosing to contribute their own lengthy ‘framing’ remarks. If we could have less description and more analysis and a sharper focus on issues, conferences could surely contribute more to the thinking of the philanthropic sector.

This lack of focus on issues is by no means a problem confined to the EFC. I have made similar comments about this year’s Skoll World Forum and about an earlier conference on funders and climate change – and it is undoubtedly more of a challenge for a membership organization than for conferences that are by their nature focused on a specific area like social entrepreneurship or climate change.

The financial crisis naturally came up throughout the conference – starting with Rui Vilar’s opening remarks. Two sessions focused specifically on how foundations earn their money and spend their money in a crisis. Interestingly, the spending session seemed more interested in the possibilities of making assets work harder towards a foundation’s mission than the earning session – perhaps a reflection of the divide between finance staff and programme staff that is undoubtedly one of the reasons why foundations everywhere are so slow to embrace mission related investing or social investment.

The conference ended on an optimistic note. Sixty-four per cent of European foundations are now working across borders, said Emilio Rui Vilar, on issues such as climate change, youth and poverty. And they are increasingly engaging with each other in their efforts to cope with the current crisis. He mentioned plans for a Foundation House in Brussels, which would provide a home for the European Venture Philanthropy Association and the Network of European Foundations as well as the EFC.

The closing session also witnessed its own collaborative action: enthusiastic endorsement of a conference statement encouraging the governments of all EU Member States to address migration ‘in ways that truly respect the dignity of all human beings as defined in the European Convention on Human Rights’. The President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, opening the conference, had spoken of the need to combine action against poverty with measures to tackle various forms of exclusion and warned of the dangers of intolerance and xenophobia – remarks that were widely reported in the Italian press, which placed them in the context of ongoing political debates around the treatment of asylum seekers and undocumented migrants. The statement reflected the strong agreement of conference participants with the sentiments expressed by President Napolitano.

The holding of philanthropic conferences in unduly opulent surroundings has long been an issue for the sector. This year’s EFC conference, focusing on poverty and taking place in Rome’s magnificent Cavalieri hotel, took the contradiction just one step further. It will therefore be welcome news that next year’s conference, which will be part of a ‘Foundations Week’ highlighting the role of foundations in the EU, will be held in a conference centre in Brussels. One suggestion for the future that I heard from several quarters: if the EFC meeting took place in early July, it could be held in universities. Foundation delegates in student bedrooms would send just the right message for a resource-constrained world.
 
For more information
www.efc.be/aga/AGA2009/diary.htm