Month: June 2019

The economic inequality seems to be increasing. Last year half of the poorest population became poorer, meanwhile, multi-millionaire became richer in the same percentage. Although there is a big awareness growth of inequality increase, there is not a huge public participation with the topic. The guilt of this problem should not fall on people in the power; the responsibility is in the unequal and unfair system that needs an urgent reform. The most effective way of solving this problem is a long-term economic change.

The objective, by preference is using philanthropy, not as a tool to relieve manifestations about poverty; otherwise, it can be used as a tool to restore their underlying causes. Philanthropy’s work must be at the back up scene to make a change with politics.

There are three reasons to highlight philanthropy’s role:

• Trusts and foundations enjoy a unique and privileged point of view, because they have a higher vision that alouds them to identify patterns that sometimes organizations cannot see while they are working at the field.
• Private philanthropy may have some risks; they can treat unpopular problems or treat topics that other people cannot treat.
• Philanthropists have the freedom to think in long term because OCS, in their way of searching founds, must focus in projects that are more tangible.

The private philanthropy and civil society need a work relationship that goes beyond the financial terms. Private philanthropy exists in a place where they can support and encourage the efforts with better sovereignty and freedom than NGOS, national and international institutions. Furthermore, another important topic about private philanthropy is that, it is seen as more credible for the managers that take decisions than NGOS voices when you talk about the world of politic decisions.

Although International Politic Institutions and NGOS work for structural economic change in different countries, the private philanthropy may be a more accessible option to promote the reduction of inequality until the world can be a place where a massive scale economic change can be done.

Continuing with the monthly visits that the RACI team organizes together with its members, we were able to coordinate two very enriching meetings with the Foundation of Community Organizations (FOC) and the Latin American Justice and Gender Team to get to know the people involved behind the organizations and their Projects.

To convey the experiences we experienced during both visits, we asked our volunteers Kim Radestock and Jane Yang to summarize each of the encounters and how they perceived them.

The visit to FOC, by Kim Redestock

The 25th of April, after starting my internship in RACI, we headed to the neighbourhood of Lomas de Zamora to eat breakfast and to talk with the member of FOC ( The Foundation of Community Organization). Our visit was expected and they received us very kindly.

The Foundation was founded in 1989, and it specializes in the development of kids, adolescents, young people and their families. One of the founders told us about the history of the foundation, how they used to work, how the FOC was institutionalized, what it is its vision and how they want to reach their aims. After the talk, they show us their building and we were able to see their facilities. They showed us the places where they offer cooking classes and manicure courses.

After that, we visited one of the seven community kindergartens of the FOC, where a group of women and teachers take care of kids from 3 to 12 years old. The ‘’Conejito Saltarín’’ , as do the other kindergartens, aims to give education, social restraint and the necessary conditions for a healthy development.

The meeting was very interesting and successful. I thank RACI for this opportunity to get to know the third sector and FOC for receiving us.

The Visit to ELA, by Jane Yang

Every month Raci organizes a visit to one of its local partners so that we can learn about their work and how they work in Argentina. This month, I had the honor of taking part of a visit to ELA. ELA, The Latin American Group for Gender and Justice, is a NGO that works towards achieving and protecting the women rights and reaching gender equality. Even though I have read a lot about feminist work done in Latin America and I’ve had many debated with my classmates, this was my first time visiting a local organization that focuses on this theme.

The visit to ELA was very informative and exciting for all of us. After receiving a cordial welcome at the office of the ELA, we started the conversation. First, we had some discussions about reciente events and politics related to women’s rights. Our discussion was not only limited to important events occured in Argentina, but also in the world. For example, we talked about the law prohibiting the abortion in the United States, and the factors that affected the passing of this law. This part was very interesting because it showed me how the international debates are closely connected to the domestic debates and affect the feminist movement here in Argentina.

The second part of the visit was a presentation of ELA’s work in the past years and its future goals. They introduced us some projects and initiatives of ELA and its contributions on how to improve the gender equality. They also presented some brochures and informs that ELA had made to spread these themes and to raise awareness in the public.

I appreciate a lot the fact that I had the opportunity of visit ELA as a part of RACI’s volunteer team. All of them showed us a lot of passion and determination towards the pursuing of the mission to achieve gender equality.

Last week RACI opened its Instagram account. The goal of having an account in this social network is to be able to give greater visibility about the work we do. Our posts will be oriented in providing information about the visits to our members, the news of our newsletter, the events, webinars and workshops that we organized, the opening to the membership, volunteer programs, etc.

The idea to open this account is to have a greater reach to those who do not know us yet, as well as to have another channel of connection with the citizens. The public we are oriented to is Civil Society as a whole, whether or not they are our members. This is also another way to show our actions and our work in concrete ways.

To see our content follow us in @raciargentina.

Last Wednesday, RACI completed its first Synthesis Workshop, as a following in the Strategic Planning Process started in March. This workshop took place in the British Embassy and participated members from the work group that will be elaborating the planification document, as well as representatives of the different sectors with whom RACI works.

Since the begging of this year our organization has started a planification process to delineate the future of the network in the next five years. As a difference to the past years plannings, this year RACI decide to go with a methodology of participative planification, that involves the voices of all the actors that work with our organization. The objective of the network is to be able to think ahead in the future in a collective way, analyzing the different scenes on which the organization has still some work to do, in order to be able to reach its aims.

To start this process, during March, we had meetings with representatives of different sectors with whom RACI works: private sector, the academic world, the Government, International cooperation, The Actual and Historic Ejecutive Comité, members of RACI, old staff and actual staff and volunteers. The principal objective of the meeting was to collect information about the state of the world, the regions and the Civil Society, and also about RACI.

The information gained was the principal input with what we worked during this workshop. The aim of the workshop was, precisely, to be able the synthesize all the information that had been gathered in the previous meetings. Because of this, as the first exercise, the participants had to analyze if they thought that the information presented had been inspirational, surprising, threatening or an opportunity. In the second exercise, the participants had to locate questions that they thought were relevant in a mental map, which had a question in its centre saying: ‘’ How to be a relevant and effective network in order to achieve strengthening of the Civil Society?’’ This mental map will be used in the second phase of this workshop that takes place on the 31st of May.

The objective of the methodology used was to do participative planification, that includes a variety of voices. RACI is a network that works with diverse actors, and therefore, incorporates the opinions and visions of all who seem to be central in this process of delineating where we want to be in the next five years.

You still have time. The first steps to enter the membership process are simple and short. Read the note and find out how to join as new partner of our organization.

Before starting to complete any form, the first step is to research about the work of RACI. Navigate our website, meet the 130 organizations that accompany us, contact and ask them to tell you their experiences, search us on social networks and check all the activities we do. Read about the projects in which we are involved, the strategic actors with whom we are connected, and above all, the work we have been doing every day for ten years in order to strengthen the Argentine Civil Society.

The next step is to dialogue with your organization so that everyone is aware of the intentions of applying to the membership process. Remember that the agreement with RACI must be signed by the Executive Director or a member of the Administrative Council.

Once these steps are completed, your organization is ready to start the process! Enter in https://raci.org.ar/formulario-membresia/ to complete the form with some information of your NGO and send a Letter of Intent signed by the members of Executive Committee or the representative of the organization, where the reasons for which you want to be members of RACI are explained. This letter must contain the logo of the organization and must be sent to membresia@raci.org.ar. Both the form and the Letter of Intent must be completed until May 31^st at 6 pm.  After May, the RACI Executive Committee will analyze the requests on a case-by-case basis, and if you NGO meet all the requirements, we will be contacting you in June to begin the second stage of the process.

Watch this video tutorial in which explains how to access the membership form, and if you have any questions, write to membresia@raci.org.ar. We count on your support to keep growing.