Month: July 2019

Between the 12th and 13th of June, The Anual General Reunion of AGNA was held by Affinity Group of National Associations, in which RACI participated with other networks from different parts of the world that are also members of CIVICUS. The reunion took place in Amman, Jordan.

During the first reunion the discussions were centered on the state of AGNA, but also issues related to transparency and legitimacy were addressed, and how the networks can become more resistant.

During the second day there was an introduction to the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) region. Also, the role of the national platforms was discussed to represent the Civil Society. Issues about Diversity and Inclusion were also talked about.

Finally, the last reunion was oriented on AGNA’s priorities and the upcoming Committee elections were announced.

This space allows the different networks to dialog between each other, think and propose solutions to the collective problems, as well as analyze what the state of the Civil Society today is. For RACI this is an opportunity to keep on generating links  and building networks on the international level.

The economic inequalities seem to be rising. Last year, the poorer part of the world became poorer still, while the multi millionaires became richer at the same procentual rate. Even though it is true that there is a growing conscience about the growing inequalities, there is very little public participation around the question. The fault should not be on the shoulders of the most powerful people, but on the systems of inequalities and injustice that is in the immediate need of a reform. The most efficient way of changing this is through long term economic changes, but there are also ways that the philanthropists can result productive in decreasing of the economic inequality.

The objective, ideally, is not to use philanthropy as a way to relieve the occurrence of poverty, but as a way to remedy its underlying causes. The philanthropy has to aim to do more work behind the scene in order to form a political change.

The are three reasons to highlight the role that philanthropy can have:

1. The trusts and foundations enjoy a special privileged point of view, as they have a wider view that allow them to identify sponsors that the organizations working in the field many not see sometimes.
2. The private philanthropy can take risks, because they can work on problemematics that are not very popular or that other actors cannot work on.
3. The philanthropists have the liberty of think long term, not as the Civil Society Organizations that have to orientate towards more tangible projects when looking for funding.

The private philanthropy and the Civil Society need a relationship that goes further than mere financing. The private philanthropy exists in a space that can support and alert the forces with more sovereignty and liberty, than the NGOs and national or international institutions. Furthermore, another important element is that in the world of political decisions, private philanthropy is usually seen as more trustworthy by decision-taking people than the voices of NGOs.

Although it is true that international political institutions and NGOs are working forwards a structural economic change in different nations, private philanthropy can be a more accessible option to foment the reduction of inequalities until the world becomes a place where you can make a economic change in the big scale.

As a part of the initiative, “Innovation for Change in Latin America and the Caribbean”, RACI participated in the Festival of Innovation, held in the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The event was carried out by the local Kazakh organization, ARGO, which coordinates the I4C regional center of Central Asia. It was held from June 10-13 and hosted over 200 participants. The primary objective of this festival was to generate open spaces for exchanges and learning, in relation to innovative topics for the Central Asian region.

“Innovation for Change in Latin America and the Caribbean” is an effort in which RACI has joined forces with other organizations, including Alliance NGO, The Federation of Asian Organizations for Radiation Oncology (FARO) and Jóvenes contra la Violencia (Youth Against Violence).  Together, they have been working for more than four years, becoming increasingly involved in the rising concerns identified by the vast region: sustainability, transparency and necessary space.

As part of the Innovation for Change and RACI team, Clarisa Piccione (Institutional Assistant) participated in the event.  She hosted a workshop on Civil Society “Innovation for change: Creativity and competitiveness of OSC (Organization for Civil Societies)“. Devised with activities surrounding the world coffee model, discussions of collaborative economy and Crowdfunding were held, and in turn was recognized at the Amazing People awards ceremony.

From June 14-16, we attended another event in Kazakhstan, this time organized by the United States Embassy.  It was entitled GoViral.  Clarisa, specifically, was in attendance and held a presence at the Marketplace for Social Innovations, where she carried out a dialogue on collaborative economics. She was even interviewed through Facebook Live by the Embassy (which can be found here)!

These type of exchanges between various people in the Latin American and Caribbean regions and those in Central Asia ultimately enables one another to enrich the work that organizations do in each region.  Additionally, they forge bonds between one another and help us better understand how to solve the problems faced by other networks and institutions around the world. This meeting challenged the different organizations to think about their plans of action and opened up a network of global communication.

CIVICUS has published the Spanish version of its report, detailing how many civil society organizations operate around the world.

The report analyzes the impact of contemporary events and trends on civil society, aiming to identify the way each organization is responding to the primary problems and present challenges that are currently affecting the world. This is the eighth edition of the report produced by CIVICUS, which focuses on the actions and trends of 2018. This report is comprised solely of civil societies and is based on more than fifty interviews and articles by activists, leaders and experts from civil societies.  Additionally, this report furthers promotion for programs, research, and analyses conducted by CIVICUS. Specifically, it presents the results of the CIVICUS Monitor, the online platform for monitoring the conditions of civil societies in 196 distinct countries.

You can view the full report or summary here.

RACI recently participated in the Regional Meeting of Socioenvironmental projects, which was organized by the Programa de Pequeñas Donaciones (Small Donations Program) and Red Comunidades Rurales (Network of Rural Communities).

The meeting was held largely in order to close the application process for the Small Grants Program fund. The organizations that applied for these grants were mainly community-based organizations, based in the Argentine provinces of Misiones, Chaco and Corrientes. Each is mainly working with issues of environmental care, access to water, the role of women and various community ventures and projects.

During the conference, there were presentations given based on the experiences of prior cooperation and projects that meet the goals of the program. The winning projects were explained and then analyzed for educational purposes. RACI themselves prepared an exhibition on the Sustainable Development Goals (ODS) and the ODS platform we use to upload projects.

The participation of our organization in this event is the product of an alliance with the Network of Rural Communities. Through them, the projects of the winning organizations were incorporated into our ODS platform. This platform aims to give greater visibility to the projects carried out by civil societies in response to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Participation in this meeting was incredibly beneficial, not only to publicize our work and platform, but also as a way to increase networking, strengthen the link between diverse actors, and amplify the actions of organizations working in the area. It was a tremendous way to study the connection between local and international agendas.

Educar 2050 is a civil organization with more than ten years of experience, dedicated to raising awareness about the significance of quality education and the impact of public policies as they strive towards transformative education in Argentina.  Educar 2050 has been a member of RACI since 2013, and this month, we wanted to inform you of their ongoing work and projects, as well as some of their forthcoming challenges. Then, you’ll know everything about what they do!

#YoVotoEducación (#IVoteEducation)

This is an initiative that aims to unite Argentines behind a dream:  that education becomes one of the biggest social and political priorities in Argentina.  In the span of an election year, we aim to raise awareness amongst voters to emphasize the significance of quality education and how important it is for the future of our country.  All of us together demand better education.  This campaign promotes information, dialogue, and consensus.  Look at some references and join here!

MEDIAR: Dialogue Tables for Learning in Argentina

In the framework of the campaign #YoVotoEducación, we opened the doors of our office to generate new spaces of dialogue that propose conversation about education with specific references, specialists and prominent personalities from all over the Argentine political and social span. The objective is to construct a consensus dialogue and register voters in order to prepare a formal document that will be presented to the next candidates. This will continue for much of the next year, as we work to create the aforementioned document that will contain not only our visions, but also the diverse voices directly or indirectly involved with our education. Look who participated at the moment here.

REDUCA: Regional Meeting of Ministers of Education of Latin America

Educar 2050 held the role of General Secretariat of REDUCA, which is the Latin American Network for Education. They coordinated with the Ministry of National Education of Colombia, the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This meeting took place at the beginning of June in Bogotá and was attended by the President of Colombia, Iván Duque.  Additionally, there was representation from the Ministries of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay, among other remarkable personalities of the educational field.

Progress Report on Early Childhood Policies

Aiming to collaborate with the Regional Agenda for the Integral Development of Early Childhood, alongside other instrumental organizations such as El Diálogo, the Center of Implementation for Public Policies for Equality and Growth (CIPECC), the Navarro Viola Foundation and OEI, we held a National Consultation Workshop in March.  This was attended by over 30 more civil organizations in Argentina. Finally, we were able to translate all of our work into a report that we presented on June 5^th in a meeting that brought together the press, educational leaders, organizations, multinational institutions.

 

Business Council for Education Educar 2050 (CEPLEE)

This is a space that brings together several professionals, entrepreneurs and business practitioners from organizations that share the same motivation in education among our Republic. We want the different sectors of society to approach the educational reality and to work together to improve quality, inclusion, and equity. In the last quarterly meeting, we hosted Mariano Narodowski as our guest speaker.

First Education

Thirty-four civil organizations came together in the National Library to present the document: “Without education there is no future. The future depends on education”. You can access this document here. We also still continue to work within a network that is based on different action plans to be implemented in the current year.

Coalition for Legislative Transparency

The Foundation for Direct Legislation is a coalition comprised of legislators, academics, journalists and civil organizations to advance a common agenda. This agenda promotes transparency in the National Congress. Educar 2050 is an active member of the aforementioned coalition.

 

NEXT ACTIONS

Annual Food

On Thursday, August 22 we will be holding our eighth annual meal event, and we would love you to join us to say #YoVotoEducación! You can buy your ticket here.

Forums of Quality Education

We are coordinating agendas to carry out, as we have been doing for several years, for the National Forum in Buenos Aires and forums in different provinces of the country. Education is important for ALL people in Argentina!

Participative Spaces

This is a new proposal that seeks to build a joint multisectoral agenda on major issues that face provincial education, complete with thorough plans to address these problems. This second semester will be carried out in four different provinces in Argentina.