Month: October 2017

On Friday, October 6th, Scouts de Argentina carried out their tenth “Always Ready” Recognition Awards. The Argentine Network for International Cooperation was honored with the Award for its joint collaboration with the organization.

The ceremony took place in the Honorable National Congress. There, different organizations and personalities were distinguished for their collaboration, contribution, effort and goodwill toward the community, revealing a true “Scout Spirit”.

From RACI, we thank Scouts de Argentina for this recognition!

The task ahead for the CSOs is not simple; the reduction of inequalities is an arduous challenge that requires a long-term commitment. Regrettably, most of the funding options they can count on tend to be short term.

Kathy Richards, Director of Building Institutions and Networks (BUILD) of Ford Foundation, considers that these kinds of grants focused on the short-term stifle the investment to the critical areas, much needed for a sustainable impact. Ford Foundation, a pioneer on new forms of development funding, thinks it’s necessary to change this paradigm to help CSOs become more efficient change makers in the long run.

On September 27th, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors published a report about this titled: “Scaling Solutions toward Shifting Systems”. The report shows the results of a yearlong research in which nonprofit and social enterprises that were successful in the implementation of scalable solutions were interviewed about their experience with funders.

From these interviews emerged clear conclusions for large-scale transformation, summarized in five good funder practices: change power dynamics with organizations, put them in the driver’s seat (Empower); offer flexible and strategic financing to help build resilient and innovative organizations (Accelerate); develop a body of knowledge on what truly shift systems (Learn); share information with other funders to align actions (Collaborate); and redesign donation processes to make them less complicated for CSOs (Streamline).

Ford Foundation has already begun to implement some of these practices. They are paying a minimum of 20% overhead on all project grants. They also launched the aforementioned program, BUILD, which provides 300 partner organizations with a combination of general operational support and specific support to strengthen basic skills, vital to achieving greater impact. Each beneficiary of BUILD receives 5 years of financing, at levels higher than those historically received.

The Foundation expects that a greater link with its beneficiaries and more flexible support to strengthen areas such as strategic vision, adaptability, financial sustainability, and leadership will produce Civil Society Organizations that have a more significant and sustained impact on the society.

For more information, enter http://bit.ly/2y9M4gG.

Last Monday, September 18th, the Honorable National House of Representatives declared of interest the workshops given by RACI since 2009, acknowledging its work and contributions to the Civil Society Sector.

The project was presented by national representative Marcelo Weschler and co-signed by representatives Gisela Scaglia, Alicia Besada, Waldo Wolff, Ricardo Spinozzi, Nelly Lagoria, Facundo Garretón, and Liliana Schwindt. The initiative was born from Fernanda Sanoner, ex-volunteer from RACI and current assistant to the Parliamentary Secretary of the PRO bloc in the National House of Representatives.

Through its workshops, and thanks to the support of different allies, RACI promotes the democratization of information and broaden its work areas in a constant effort to maintain the federalization of the Network.

With more than 10 years of work, RACI aims to strengthen the third sector; empowering it as a change-maker and producer of new initiatives that contribute to the social transformation of the country.

We thank the interest of the representatives and the effort of Fernanda for their contribution to the dissemination of RACI’s work.

Let’s keep building the Network!

Within the framework of the activities of the next G-20 2018, where the Argentina will hold the presidency, Poder Ciudadano and the Argentine Network for International Cooperation (RACI) will be in charge of the Presidency (Chair) and Vice-Presidency (Co-Chair) respectively of the Civil Society 20 group C-20.

In December of this year, Argentina will assume for the first time the presidency of the G-20, thus becoming the seat of one of the most important economic and financial forums in the world that brings together emerging and developed countries to discuss issues concerning the global agenda. From then on, the two civil society organizations will assume the mentioned roles during the one year period.

The C-20 is a specific space for civil society to contribute in a structured and sustained manner to the G-20, ensuring that world leaders listen not only to the voices representing the government and business sectors but also to the proposals and demands of civil society as a whole.

The objective of this group is generating debate spaces, building feasible proposals to be raised to the G-20 working groups, and influencing the political agenda of the forum. For this reason, both Poder Ciudadano and RACI will be the institutions in charge of promoting and ensuring the participation of the C-20 in the meetings prior to the summit.

Argentina’s presidency of the G-20 will be one of the most important international political events in the history of our country, involving endless challenges and opportunities. From Poder Ciudadano and RACI, we take up the challenge of putting at a global level the work experience and commitment of the civil society.

With support from Banco Galicia Foundation and TEA Foundation, RACI will conduct the training “Increasing the impact of Civil Society Organizations: Fostering networking and institutional strengthening”. The workshop is aimed to all organizations that wish to know strategies for internal strengthening, and how to generate sustainable alliances with key actors.

The event is totally free and will be held on October 30, 2017, from 9.30am to 3.30pm, in the Sala de la Memoria (Memorial Room) of the Provincial House of Representatives Library, located at Corrientes Street 200, Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina.

The objectives of the meeting are to strengthen the CSOs –especially grassroots organizations – so they can access to strategic social development investors in better technical and institutional conditions; and to deepen the national coverage of institutional strengthening activities, in order to contribute to the democratization of information and the training of inland CSOs.

The workshop is open and free of charge, and certificates of attendance will be provided. Previous registration is needed to attend, as there are limited allocations.

On Friday, October 13, was held the Second Civil Society Organizations Forum, organized by the Professional Development Department of the Torcuato Di Tella University in collaboration with RACI.

As in the previous year, the objective of the meeting was generating a space of interaction for the students of the University to know the work and activities carried out by different Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and their representatives; to be able to know the professional opportunities in the field of organized Civil Society.

On this occasion, the event, moderated by members of RACI, was attended by representatives of various organizations such as CIPPEC, Cimientos, Junior Achievement Argentina and Chequeado.com.

Throughout the day each organization made institutional presentations and shared experiences and knowledge about the various internship programs and job searches for young professionals that CSOs possess, as well as their activities.

We thank the Organizations for their participation, commitment, and enthusiasm throughout the day. We also thank the Torcuato Di Tella University for once again allowing the generation of interaction spaces between students and graduates of their institution, collaborating with the emergence of new professional opportunities in Civil Society Organizations.