WINGS - WINGS 2009 peer learning events

Based on the priorities of network participants, expressed in a recent survey, WINGS peer learning activities for 2009 will focus on engaging corporations and on sustainability at this time of global economic crisis. The insights and experiences of participants will serve as inputs to develop a toolkit and/or reference materials on these topics.

Forum for Funders on Climate Change and International Development

Event  Forum for Funders on Climate Change and International Development
Date 9-11 February
Venue Wilton Park, Sussex, UK

It is a common perception that foundations and NGOs spend an inordinate amount of time not very productively in conferences and seminars and roundtables. The Forum for Funders on Climate Change and International Development held at Wilton Park in the UK on 9-11 February suggests that, in the area of climate change at least, they are not spending enough time talking, despite a general consensus that this is the biggest and most important thing on our collective agenda. Click here to read ...

GuideStar International Assembly

Event  GuideStar International Assembly
Date 2-3 December 2008
Venue London, UK
Theme From Local to Global: The importance of CSO information

This year’s GuideStar International (GSI) Assembly, entitled ‘From Local to Global: The importance of CSO information’, brought together 90 delegates from 19 countries. The theme of the Assembly was the importance of civil society organization (CSO) information for effective policy-making and for social action at all levels, but the most interesting thing for me was the GuideStar project itself. Click here to read ...

IFC supports growing role for private sector in African health care

According to a report from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), spending on health in Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to double over the next ten years. Investments of $25 billion to $30 billion will be needed, says The Business of Health in Africa, with about 60 per cent of this provided by the private sector, which already plays a significant role in delivering and financing health care in Africa. However, there are impediments to developing a productive private health sector, which the IFC aims to address.

Salzburg initiative to shake up philanthropic practice

Urgent need, global wealth and rapid innovation have created a unique opportunity for institutional philanthropy to become a powerful force for change and progress across the globe, but that promise is not currently being realized. This is the context in which the Salzburg Global Seminar has launched a new initiative on Optimizing Institutional Philanthropy for the 21st Century.

New findings from the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies

Did you know…

A recent congress of the world's official labour statisticians has just approved the adoption by the International Labour Organization of a set of guidelines for measuring volunteer work for the first time using official labour force and other household surveys. The guidelines were formulated by the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies. This will greatly boost the visibility and credibility of volunteer work around the world and encourage policies to support it.

Improving the transparency of international aid

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation are jointly supporting efforts to improve access to information on how international aid resources are being spent. Unless aid can be traced all the way down the chain to its intended beneficiaries, it is difficult to monitor the impact it is having. Ensuring that we can get transaction-level data (ie data on who is actually getting the funds) is thus a first step towards increasing the impact of aid on poverty reduction.

Local Mission – Global Vision: Community foundations in the 21st century - Peter deCourcy Hero and Peter Walkenhorst

For those of us who work with community foundations, particularly in emerging countries, moments of reflection are rare. We are so busy performing the ‘balancing act’, as Dorothy Reynolds puts it, that we rarely have a chance to think about the broader issues for our field.

That is why this book is so precious. It puts together a historical record of the emergence and development of community foundations around the world, with descriptions of practical experiences of community foundations working in different contexts, and provides technical guidance on governance and planning.

New momentum on sustainability standards

Curbing deforestation, reversing the global decline of fisheries stocks, making a real contribution to poverty alleviation or halting climate change: the sustainability challenges we are facing today are many and complex. As market-based tools to link sustainable production and consumption, social and environmental standards are poised to make a significant contribution to addressing these challenges.
 

Not the will lacking, but the means

I was very surprised and disappointed to read the letter from David Bonbright in the December issue of Alliance. He has no grounds at all for his assumption about my ‘mental model’ of philanthropy. In my mind, the ultimate ‘beneficiaries’ are always just that – the ‘end-users’ whose lives will, it is hoped, be changed, whether they are people with HIV/AIDS, poor farmers, or homeless and unemployed young people in the UK. I specifically refer to the fact that ‘voices close to the ground’ (a term used by Rory Tolentino in the June issue of Alliance) are often translated, not always effectively, by large international NGOs.