Last November WINGS held a discussion forum on Philanthropy Perspectives from Africa, Latin America and the Arab Region.

The global nature of philanthropy is hardly disputed – grantmaking organizations from North America and Europe have funded projects outside their home countries for years. Nevertheless, as the global economy and political attention shift towards the global South, this dynamic is changing. There is a growing interest in new forms of philanthropy and in the possibility of traditionally grant-recipient countries becoming grantmakers themselves. To address these issues and the challenges, as well as opportunities, they present to the philanthropic community, WINGS held an event in London in November attended by over 60 participants.

The current developments in Africa, Latin America and the Arab region, and the role of philanthropy in this new scenario, were discussed by three WINGS’ board members with extensive knowledge of the issues and the regions: Atallah Kuttab, Barry Smith and Fernando Rossetti. Topics discussed included the deeply entrenched traditions of giving and community help in Africa and the current significant growth in formal sector philanthropy; the shared ambitions brought about by the protests in the Arab region; and the rapid growth of the philanthropy sector in Latin America, especially in corporate philanthropy.

Following WINGS traditions of networking and building partnerships, the Global Philanthropy Panel was organized by the European Association for Philanthropy and Giving (EAPG) and hosted by investment firm BlackRock.

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