Month: June 2021

Sociedad Civil en Red launched the #MejoresReglasParaLasOrganizacionesSociales campaign, which seeks that social entities such as clubs, community kitchens and cultural centers, among others, can have an adequate legal, fiscal and labor framework.

Social organizations have always been a key actor in coping with times of crisis. However, they are subject to bureaucracies that hold them back, regulations that ignore them, taxes that weaken them, and regulations that complicate them, and the State does not improve these regulatory rules. The campaign seeks to eliminate these obstacles and difficulties to achieve the regulations that organizations need to empower themselves and facilitate the task of bringing quality of life to all of society.

The objective of the #MejoresReglasParaLasOrganizacionesSociales campaign is to recognize the need for different fiscal and labor frameworks and to achieve this change. Faced with this, it proposes the need to give space to a frank dialogue between Civil Society and the State, holding four public hearings on the following thematic axes: (1) Normative regulation of Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and freedom of association; (2) Social and labor relations within CSOs; (3) CSOs in the tax policy of the State; (4) CSOs in the design and execution of public policies.

Finally, the campaign seeks to publish and disseminate the interventions in public hearings, to consolidate itself as a permanent space for advocacy in the legal and fiscal framework of Civil Society Organizations.

The campaign has already been signed by 1,050 individuals and 411 organizations. Add your signature at www.mejoresreglasosc.org.ar.

Rights CoLab has re-launched its online database of innovative civil society efforts dedicated to promoting human rights. Together with other Civil Society Organizations, RACI has joined as a partner to this initiative that seeks to offer a collaborative space to share insights, inform through example, make an impact, and foster strength in the midst of such a difficult time.  

This is designed to be a portal of information to support civil society innovation. It works by providing geo-located case studies, which viewers can read about and will hopefully spark new innovation in other organizations. Additionally, the map was recently re-designed and expanded to cover recent examples of responses to COVID-19. These include a number of efforts around the globe, such as combating misinformation and offering creative solutions for food insecurity and health-related issues. 

Each of the project partners is actively working to support these civil society initiatives that provide new and innovative ways to contribute to the advancement of human rights, democratization, civic participation, and sustainable development. With increasing governmental restrictions on CSOs, it is now more important than ever that these institutions work together to create change. 

For more information, visit https://rightscolab.org/civil-society-innovation/.

As part of RACI’s monthly visits to learn more about its members, this month we had the opportunity to visit the SiMas Foundation virtually. It is an organization dedicated to generating change in people’s lives by multiplying their opportunities. The organization works in different rural areas of Mendoza and Chubut, strengthening spaces in pursuit of equality and development. On this occasion, we asked one of our volunteers, Rocío Díaz, to offer us her perspective on this experience.

The approach with which they carry out their projects was especially highlighted in the talk with Diego Ariel Dalmasso, the president of the SiMas Foundation. Diego commented that, when working with native communities in rural areas, the foundation’s principle is to generate projects designed together with them, collaboratively. As a result, the entire process is developed side by side with the members of each community, taking into account their needs and demands. The projects are also itinerant, meaning it is the same members and inhabitants of that territory who appropriate them and lead them when the foundation finishes its task.

Among the most outstanding projects of the SiMas Foundation is the comprehensive rehabilitation center “Bambú” for disabled children; the first popular school of the Huarpe genre; the delivery of more than 200 tablets to “Shorten the Digital Gender Gap”; and the first radio channel entirely led by indigenous women. All these initiatives are crossed by a fundamental mission: to promote opportunities in unfavorable situations.

I am grateful to RACI for organizing this visit, and the SiMas Foundation for having opened the doors to the immense work that its members undertake. I had an incredible experience, and above all, a space for reflection on the importance of respecting the demands and identities of those we work with, which is also a value of RACI and our entire team.

If you want to know more about the work, publications, and forms of collaboration of the SiMas Foundation, you can visit: http://www.fundacionsimas.org.ar/

Innovation for Change (I4C), along with Tides Center, launched at the beginning of this year the Innovation Fund for Civil Society Organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean that work to strengthen civil society through innovation.

The call was open for a month, and during that time 154 proposals were received in total, doubling the applications from the 2017 edition. In RACI, we are very pleased because this number implies great interest among organizations in finding innovative and creative solutions to issues regarding sustainability, transparency and responsibility, and enabling spaces promotion.

The 154 proposals come from 21 countries: 62 from Argentina; 2 from Bolivia; 1 from Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles); 3 from Brasil; 18 from Colombia; 1 from Costa Rica; 5 from República Dominicana; 3 from Ecuador; 3 from El Salvador; 2 from Guatemala; 1 from Guyana; 3 from Haití; 24 from Mexico; 2 from Nicaragua; 3 from Paraguay; 5 from Perú; 1 from St. Kitts & Nevis; 7 from Uruguay; 1 from the US; 1 from the UK; and, 6 from Venezuela.

Regarding the core themes of the proposals, 39 of them focus on Enabling Space’s promotion; 61 on Sustainability; 22 on Transparency and Responsibility. Several proposals referred to more than one theme: 13 on Enabling Spaces promotion and Sustainability; 4 on Enabling Spaces promotion, Transparency and Responsibility; 3 on Sustainability and, Transparency and Responsibility; 12 on Enabling Spaces promotion, Sustainability, and Transparency and Responsibility.

RACI’s team finished evaluating the proposals and is in the process of interviewing the pre-selected applicants.

A total of 5 (five) organizations will be selected, which will receive USD 10.000 for the execution of their projects within 4 months. We are hoping to communicate the finalists during the month of July, through our website. We want to thank all the organizations who showed interest in the call and presented proposals on this fund’s new edition.

CIVICUS published its Report on the State of Civil Society 2021. This report is published annually and aims to examine the main events that involve and affect Civil Society worldwide. To elaborate, various interviews are carried out with specialists, leaders, and participants from the third sector. Additionally, CIVICUS’s ongoing research, analysis program, and findings from the CIVICUS Monitor online platform are used as inputs to track the enabling space of Civil Society around the world.  

One of the highlights of this year’s report is that it identifies five key areas of action for Civil Society during 2020. These are recognized as the global fight for racial justice; the challenge of exclusion and the conquest of rights; demands for economic and environmental justice; democracy in times of pandemic; and Civil Society in the international arena. In each area, it is identified how pre-existing trends have intensified during the pandemic, deepening inequalities and the vulnerability of minorities and excluded groups. The report reaffirms in this context the importance of Civil Society as an agent of change and resistance to the structural injustices of globalized neoliberalism, especially in an unprecedented situation that has allowed states to increase their coercive power.

Likewise, the particularity of the 2021 Report is that being its tenth edition, the long-term trends that have affected Civil Society over the last decade are reviewed. The main finding of this analysis is that the fight continues, and it is more necessary than ever. Hope for the future lies in the resistance of Civil Society and cooperation between states.

The report also includes a month-by-month review of the main events that affected Civil Society in the different states of the world.

To read the full report, visit https://civicus.org/state-of-civil-society-report-2021/es/.

Health and Housing: Sanitation and reduction of electrical risk

At the beginning of the pandemic and having housing as the main line of defense against COVID-19, Hábitat para la Humanidad has developed workshops that could be easily implemented through the cell phone. Those were a great tool to help the houses continue to be safe and close to the families, accompanying them in their care and protection. 

Taking the learnings from the adaptation of the methodologies and thanks to financing granted by Fundación Selavip, Hábitat para la Humanidad is concretizing the improvement of the sanitary facilities of 350 families in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires. The workshops began on March 16th and will be held in uninterrupted cycles until the goal is reached. They are led by volunteers who, as always, get in action to achieve the goals.  

The repairs improve a basic aspect of homes directly related to health: sanitation conditions. The families that sign up, previously carry out the training workshops through WhatsApp groups, with content on technical aspects for installation, recommendations, and precautions. The emphasis is placed on raising awareness of the importance of an adequate water system to prevent diseases and avoid the contamination of the waters, which affects the house and the environment. As important as these contents, are all those related to electric risk, which is also included in the training.

At the end of the workshops, the families receive a set that contains everything required for the installation: sink, shower, and electric water heater, toilet cistern, and a service tap. In addition, an extension in the electric installation is made and the grounding is installed for greater safety.

This initiative is carried out in Los Ceibos (La Matanza), a neighborhood in which the project Desarrollo de Barrios (Neighborhoods Development) is active, and the articulate work with different organizations to reach other locations: Fundación Todavía es Tiempo (Moreno), Fundación Franciscana (Moreno), Mujeres 2000 (Tigre) y Manos de La Cava (Barrio La Cava). In the following weeks, they hope to add more organizations. 

‘It was my first virtual workshop” and ‘I didn’t know it’ are the comments they receive the most in evaluations. The answers and testimonies of the families show the importance of having accurate information about basic housing issues, the great interest in making improvements in the houses, and the essential of having access to devices (cell phones) and Internet networks (Wifi or data plan) to, even in a pandemic, have the minimum that is required for each home to be a haven.

This action is part of this intention: there are still many people in conditions of housing vulnerability. This is why alliances are essential. Learn more about the project by clicking here.