Community development fund begins operation in Hong Kong

Following the government’s establishment of the Community Investment and Inclusion Fund (CIIF), community-building organizations in Hong Kong were invited to submit applications to the new funding body in early September 2002. These were to be for community development projects whose aims were broadly in line with the government’s declared aim for the Fund of building ‘social capital and a compassionate, cohesive and vital society’.

The Fund, worth some US$43 million, provides seed money to support projects initiated by grassroots organizations, NGOs and/or the private sector for promoting collaborative efforts between different community sectors and the government.

So far, 14 projects have been approved for funding with grants to individual projects ranging from $25,600 to $256,000.

For more information
http://www.hwfb.gov.hk/ciif/index.htm

Linking worlds to engage

The Philippine launch of a campaign called ENGAGE which aims to increase the quality and extent of company-supported employee engagement worldwide took place on 19 November in Makati City. Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), as part of its Linking Worlds Program, is partnering the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) in the campaign. ENGAGE has set a target of 1 million man-hours of employee volunteerism during the three-year campaign period.

For more information
http://www.pbsp.org.ph

Public-private partnerships to upgrade Metro Manila’s slums

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will partner the Philippine Business for Social Progress, a corporate-led non-profit promoting social development, and local government units in a programme to provide a US$3.6 million grant to improve slum areas in Metro Manila, Philippines. The grant is from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, financed by the Government of Japan, and will finance revolving funds for housing improvements; micro-enterprises to promote livelihood opportunities; and a programme to prevent, and prepare for, fires, floods and typhoons. It is anticipated that some 35,000 poor people in Metro Manila will benefit.

For more information
Matthew Westfall at mwestfall@adb.org.

Association of Foundations sets up the Philippine Foundation Centre

On 25 November, the Philippine Foundation Centre (PFC) opened as the country’s first resource centre for the non-profit sector. PFC will have the latest
information on local and global trends in the non-profit sector. It will also enable easier links to donors’ databases in repositories like the Foundation Center in New York, the European Foundation Centre and the Japan Foundation Centre. The Centre was established by the Association of Foundations, with the help of an initial grant from the Ford Foundation.

For more information
Vickie Pagsanghan at afnational@edsamail.com.ph

Forum debates UN/NGO Partnership for Democratic Governance

Organized by CONGO, the Conference of NGOs working in consultation with the United Nations (UN), the Asian Civil Society Forum in Bangkok in December 2002 brought together 500 Asian civil society representatives to discuss ways of engaging the UN.

The overall goal of the Forum is to raise awareness of the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals and to assess the contribution of Asian NGOs to the achievement of the MDG targets. Affirming that ‘democratic global governance begins at home’, a final statement ratified by participants called on Asian and UN member governments to be more open to partnership with NGOs in pursuing the ideals of democratic governance, sustainable development and gender equality, and to increase resources for such cooperation.

The statement also called on NGOs to be more active in making use of UN instruments in pursuit of development goals and in building coalitions and alliances across sectors for democratic global governance, and to be more vigilant about its own values, practices and behaviour.

For more information
http://www.acsf.net

Publications

Rules of the Road: A guide to the law of charities in the United States
Betsy Adler China NPO Network RMB25 +p&p
Now available in Chinese.
To order, contact Zhang Ping at npo@npo.com.cn

Online resources

APPC/APPIN website provides comprehensive information about philanthropy and the non-profit sector in 12 Asian countries. Profiles for Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam have recently been added. See http://www.asianphilanthropy.org

Conferences

24-26 October 2003 3rd ISTR Asia and Pacific Regional Conference Beijing Contact Samiul Hasan at samiul.hasan@uts.edu.au