Articles

 

Limitations of a ‘purist’ approach to human rights
Ute Seela

Limitations of a ‘purist’ approach to human rights

Ute Seela and Remko Berkhout
01 December 2011
Alliance magazine

Rebecca Adamson’s critique in the June issue of Alliance of the traditional philanthropic paradigm (‘one gives, the other receives’) and the concomitant lack of agency on the part of the recipient may be relevant beyond the field of support to indigenous peoples. Cultural values and traditional mechanisms for decision-making play a role in matters of conflict and justice in many local communities, whether indigenous or not.

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From ‘walking dollar sign’ to inquiry and reflexivity
Bev Gatenby

From ‘walking dollar sign’ to inquiry and reflexivity

Bev Gatenby
16 November 2011
www.alliancemagazine.org

When I first took up my current role of chief executive of Trust Waikato, a foundation in New Zealand formed out of the community banking movement, a couple of things happened that encouraged and challenged me to think about how I would see myself as a funder and how I might occupy that position in a way that felt both safe for me and safe for the communities we serve through Trust Waikato. (I note that most people call both me and Trust Waikato a ‘funder’, so that is the term I am using here.) Click here to read ...


Belarus - testing ground for donors
Pavol Demes

Belarus - testing ground for donors

Pavol Demes
01 September 2011
Alliance magazine

There is a country in EU’s neighbourhood which could be called a donor desert. Belarus. Not a single independent western donor is allowed to have an office here (most donor representatives would not get even an entry visa). During the 17-year rule of dictator Alexander Lukashenko, donors have been viewed by the regime as either subversive or outright enemies. They have been expelled from Minsk and their activities are carefully monitored by secret services and law enforcement agencies. Click here to read ...


The importance of gender
Terry Odendahl

The importance of gender

Terry Odendahl
01 September 2011
Alliance magazine

Women are unduly affected by environmental degradation. They walk further when wells run dry or firewood is scarce. They work harder for less when extreme weather devastates crops. They tend to suffer more from climate change, other environmental disasters and resource-related migration. And yet, or perhaps as a result, women have proven themselves to be remarkable stewards and protectors of their environments. To me, the case for an environmental funder to introduce a specific grantmaking strand focused on women seems clear.

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Civil society more than the sum of CSOs
Andrew Firmin

Civil society more than the sum of CSOs

Andrew Firmin
01 September 2011
Alliance magazine

In trying to understand and grasp what civil society is and how it can be strengthened, those who seek to support the sector may have been looking in the wrong places. This is one of the startling conclusions suggested by the 2008-11 CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) project. This conclusion is endorsed by the events of the so-called Arab Spring, which suggest that the real strength of civil society lies not in civil society organizations (CSOs) but in more informal groups and in the emerging forms of online activism.

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Philanthropy Secretariat bringing funders to Liberia

O Natty B Davis II
01 September 2011
Alliance magazine

As reported in the March 2010 issue of Alliance, Liberia is the first country in the world to create a government office dedicated to facilitating the work of foundations and philanthropists. Founded in April 2009, the Liberia Philanthropy Secretariat helps foundations find key information that is difficult to access in Liberia and encourages information sharing among foundations supporting work in the country. How has the initiative fared? One question was always whether foundations would voluntarily interact with this government office.

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Leveraging passive capital for the benefit of the poorest

1 June 2011
Alliance magazine

Most people probably think that to provide economic opportunity to people in the developing world, you have to make some form of financial transaction which may or may not produce a financial return, or at least to relinquish temporary control over a portion of your assets. Not so. MicroCredit Enterprises (MCE) has devised a guarantee system that involves neither a donation nor an investment, not even the moving of money.

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Learning to see ‘invisible’ capacity
Rebecca Adamson

Learning to see ‘invisible’ capacity

Rebecca Adamson
1 June 2011
Alliance magazine

Despite the expenditure of millions of dollars of aid, Indigenous Peoples throughout the world are getting poorer. Many in the philanthropic community believe this is because of a lack of capacity among Indigenous communities, which they aim to address by funding intermediaries working on behalf of those communities. However, two recent developments turn this thinking on its head.

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JP Morgan has heralded impact investment as a distinct asset class – but is there a fly in the ointment?
Karl H Richter

JP Morgan has heralded impact investment as a distinct asset class – but is there a fly in the ointment?

Karl H Richter
21 April 2011
www.alliancemagazine.org

J P Morgan’s seminal report Impact Investments: An emerging asset class, published in November 2010, is the watershed proclamation that impact investment is going mainstream – so wherein lies the rub?

J P Morgan has drawn three primary conclusions from its research: Click here to read ...

  • Impact investment is being accepted by investors as an emerging and separate asset class.

The ‘Tunisami’: some insights into events in the Arab region two months later
Atallah Kuttab

The ‘Tunisami’: some insights into events in the Arab region two months later

Atallah Kuttab
04 April 2011
www.alliancemagazine.org

In my article in February 2011, I described the wave of protests triggered by events in Tunisia that was sweeping across the Arab region as a ‘Tunisami’. Then only Tunisian ruler Zein Ben Ali had bowed to the clamour for new freedoms and new opportunities. Now, almost two months later, Egypt has succumbed, and in other Arab countries rulers are either accepting reform or confronting demonstrators with brutal force – though it is buying time, no more. Click here to read ...


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