Month: September 2021

We received a total of 154 proposals from 21 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. This number implies a great interest from organizations to find innovative and creative solutions to issues such as sustainability, transparency and accountability, and the promotion of the enabling space. 

The projects were evaluated using the same scoring system, analyzing the following categories: organization profile, project feasibility, thoroughness, impact and budget analysis. 

Once the project evaluations were completed, the selected organizations were Accionario – Acelerando el Cambio (Mexico), Observatorio de Políticas Públicas de Guayaquil (Ecuador), Transparencia Brasil (Brazil), Red de Innovación Local (Argentina) and Red Uruguaya de ONGs Ambientalistas (Uruguay).

Accionario – Acelerando el cambio presented the project ” Online training and learning platform for the acceleration of digital advocacy campaigns for activists, collectives and movements” in response to the barriers faced by these sectors in accelerating the processes of change and strengthening civic space in Mexico.

Observatorio de Políticas Públicas de Guayaquil, represented by Observatorio Ciudadano de Servicios Ciudadanos, presented the project “Strengthening the process of building the participatory budget of 10 cantons of Ecuador for the year 2022 through inclusive methodologies and digital collaborative technologies”. Its objective is to train representatives of Civil Society in 10 cantons of Ecuador to accompany the participatory construction of their public budget, through the implementation of digital intersectoral thematic tables and the promotion of the citizen participation mechanism called “Empty Chair” in each territory.

Transparencia Brasil presented the “Chatbot for Access to Information” project in response to the lack of knowledge and trust on the part of citizens regarding the use of the Access to Information Law in Brazil. The chatbot will make tasks related to the elaboration of access to information requests more accessible, lead to an increase in the use of the Law and fundamentally, improve the quality of responses from public bodies.

Red de Innovación Local presented the project ” Local Innovators Contest, 5th edition: Collaborative Communities” which seeks to mobilize and accompany public leaders, citizens and social entrepreneurs through a virtual Marketplace platform that will give greater visibility to their projects and connect them with potential investors.

Red Uruguaya de ONGs Ambientalistas presented the project ” Environmental Monitoring Platform, facilitating dialogue between citizens and environmental management agencies, promoting data transparency and accountability”, which seeks to promote the monitoring of environmental problems by citizens and a fluid exchange with the institutions responsible for environmental management and control.  

We would like to thank all the organizations that showed interest in the call and submitted proposals in this new edition of the fund!   

As part of the Covid-19 Emergency Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean, 15 organizations received up to US$5,000 to develop projects in the axes of: Access to Information; Transparency and accountability in the use of public funds used during the pandemic; and Monitoring access to public services. Projects were also expected to contribute to protecting public space with innovative initiatives that creatively address the community challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The projects also had to be sustainable and leave capacities in place in the CSOs.

Here are some of the questions and answers we received! 

 

What did it mean for your organization to be a beneficiary of the Fund, and how do you think it was strengthened institutionally? 

“For TECHO, it was the possibility of materializing a project that had been sought for several years and that was urgent to accomplish in order to broaden the understanding and visibility of the violation of rights and the situation of poverty in which millions of people live in popular settlements and, on the other hand, to connect realities and recognize the community building efforts that are carried out in these territories. We strengthened our capacity to provide the public with data on the reality of popular settlements in the region and, at the same time, it gives us the opportunity to continue being a reference organization on popular settlements issues”.

~ Fernanda Arriaza, TECHO’s Community Management Director (Chile)

Editor’s Note: Access the platform “Mapa de Asentamientos Populares” developed by TECHO by clicking on the following link.

 

“For the Fundación CIRD it meant an important contribution to the continuity of performing its social role in a difficult context for all organizations. This fund helped us to continue building human and social capital, important pillars of our mission life, and undoubtedly, it brought us even closer to our institutional vision, which is to be a leading organization that contributes to sustainable development in Paraguay.

We have been strengthened in our institutional communication through the workshops conducted, we understood the importance of what, how, when and why to make an efficient institutional communication.”

~ Francisco Javier Samaniego Cáceres, Project Coordinator at Fundación CIRD (Paraguay)

Editor’s Note: Visit their website.

 

Could you mention three positive changes brought about by the project that are sustainable over time?

According to AMATE, they were provided with “tools to improve internal and external communication through different training spaces facilitated by the project’s Coordinating Team.

The organization’s capacities in monitoring and advocacy were strengthened through the participation of part of the team in the training process ‘Bases for the democratization of international financing of public projects in El Salvador’ implemented with the technical support of The Bank Information Center.”

Finally, it promoted the “Creation of the Articulation for the democratization of public financing, as a result of the aforementioned training process, which has multisectoral participation”.

~ Karla Castro Rosales, Chief Executive Officer at AMATE (El Salvador)

Editor’s Note: Visit their Facebook Account.

 

What was the challenge you wanted to address with this project? To what extent was it exacerbated by the advent of the pandemic? What did you and your organization propose to solve it?

For the Asociación Cátedra de la Paz, the challenge they wanted to face with the project ‘Jóvenes Monitores Comunitarios en Incidencia Pública’ was “to offer young people a different perspective on the problems of public services in Venezuela, which affect their development as citizens. Personally, I wanted young people to see that these problems that Venezuelans suffer for multiple reasons are not seen as normal in the life of each person. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the problems of public services that have worsened our quality of life have been accentuated, together with the Complex Humanitarian Emergency that we have been experiencing in recent years in Venezuela”.

~ Walter José Trejo Urquiola, General Coordinator at Asociación Cátedra de la Paz (Venezuela)

Editor’s Note: Visit their website.

 

What challenges did you encounter on the road to implementation? 

For Fundación Nuestra Mendoza, “the great challenge has been to gain access to information without hindering the daily work of food assistance carried out by the Provincial Government but, at the same time, without ceasing to claim the citizens’ right to Public Information Access.

The context of the Pandemic has generated the need, on behalf of all the actors, to make extra efforts in the territory to be able to respond to the demands, which has occurred in a situation of decrease in the staff of the public sector (Licenses for isolation COVID 19) and a growth of canteens spaces that work in informality, result of the urgent needs. These two situations are very important aspects to consider when evaluating real possibilities of actions to be implemented at this time.”

~ Facundo Heras, Executive Director at Fundación Nuestra Mendoza (Argentina)

Editor’s Note: Visit their website.

According to the latest CEPAL report, in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic had a strong negative effect on investments by transnational companies. In Latin America and the Caribbean, this has been the reflection of a trend that dates back to 2015. Thus, after a year-one-year drop of 29% (USD 105.480 million) in 2020, the region has experienced historical lows in terms of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) since 2005.

For Latin America and the Caribbean, this situation entails extraordinary challenges. The decrease in FDI leads to a decline, not only in its capacity for economic recovery, but also in its possibilities for productive diversification and development. 

To face this situation, there is a need for transformative public policies that return to a path of equitable and sustainable recovery. In its report, CEPAL has identified eight sectors in which such efforts could be focused: the transition to renewable energies, sustainable electromobility in cities, the inclusive digital revolution, the health manufacturing industry, bioeconomy, the care economy, the circular economy and sustainable tourism. It is essential that the countries of the region implement plans to reactivate and transform their production, since the magnitude of this crisis is even greater than in the past. 

On the other hand, taking into consideration China’s role in the region’s recovery, as one of the main investors in state-owned companies and infrastructure projects, CEPAL considers relevant that governments form Central and South America are committed to build a new framework of economic relations with the world power, as an opportunity for their future economic recovery. 

Finally, for CEPAL it is essential to consider the current economic and social implications of the transition to a digitalized and hyper-connected world. To interpret and analyze the progress of the digital transformation, the report proposes a three-dimensional conceptual model: the connected economy, the digital economy and the digitized economy. These dimensions of digital development are constantly evolving: on the one hand, in a synergistic process in which advances in one sphere promote progress in the other; on the other hand, in a systemic process that transforms activities at the society level, the productive apparatus and the State. The digitization of the economy prompts a review of the existing regulatory and institutional frameworks. 

To read the full report, visit: https://www.cepal.org/en/publications/47148-foreign-direct-investment-latin-america-and-caribbean-2021 .

In order to reflect on the inequalities evidenced and deepened by the pandemic in Argentina and the region, on Friday, September 10, we held an exclusive panel for members and allies. This was made up of: Gabriela Arrastúa (Director General of Techo Regions), Ayelen D´Ápice (General Coordinator of the Centro la Nazarena de Florencio Varela), Marina Sala (Foundation for International Democracy of Rosario) and Luana Esquenazi (Director of Research of RACI).

On this occasion, we return to some of the results obtained from our study Civic Perspective Against Covid-19, which made visible the great effort made by social organizations to support the most vulnerable communities in our country during the hardest months of social isolation, but also the latest data presented by ECLAC that reflect growing levels of inequality and inequity in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

The July 2021 report highlights a context of concentration of wealth, greater poverty, records in withdrawal requests from organizations, potential climate refugees, among other difficulties that urge our populations. Given these growing trends, RACI is disseminating the survey “Civic Perspective Latin America and the Caribbean”, with the aim of analyzing the role played by social organizations nowadays and how we can rethink ourselves in the future. The study has a Latin Americanist view, based on the polyphonies of the South.

In general terms, the panelists presented several concerns that the pandemic brought along, both for their organizations and for the population in general. This exposed the severe digital gap, the domestic violence, and the housing and even food deficits faced by a large percentage of our country’s population. It was also interesting to recognize the great work carried out by those informal organizations every day and the fact that they were largely responsible for covering the unmet basic needs during the pandemic. The importance of larger organizations supporting existing social and community structures to enhance and strengthen their agency capacity was raised. It also pointed out the importance of social organizations as overseers of government action, as a civic manifestation of participation, and as guarantors of democracy.

At the end of the exhibitions, a space for questions and comments was opened. We are very pleased, as several opportunities arose for articulation between organizations to face common challenges.

Finally, and to close the panel, a question came up: How do we adapt our organizations if we want to continue to properly represent the population?

To contribute to the survey, enter here and add your perspective: https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/PerspectiveEnglish.

During the months of September and December 2021, the Regional Innovation Center for Change of Latin America and the Caribbean will carry out the training cycle “Capacity Building for Civil Society Organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean“, which seeks to accompany the region’s Civil Society in the defense of civic space and the strengthening of its resilience.

The cycle will last twelve weeks (three months) and will consist of the following six modules: Access to Resources, Networking, Strategic Planning, Transparency and Accountability, Data and Analysis and Institutional Communication. The expert organizations in charge of the trainings will be: RACI (Argentina), Grupo FARO (Ecuador), Jóvenes Contra la Violencia (Guatemala) and Grupo Propuesta Ciudadana (Perú).

We have received 348 entries from non-profit Civil Society organizations, social movements and social activists from 20 countries in the region. The call has already been completed, and 100 organizations have been selected. 

If you have not been selected this time, stay tuned for new opportunities and instances of training!

The Civil 20 (C20) is one of G20’s (G20) official working groups, and is aimed at providing Civil Society Organizations around the world a platform for dialogue with the G20. The C20 covers a vast number of thematic areas, and this time the debate focused on global health. In this context, RACI participated in the third session of the event, called “Cooperation and the 2030 agenda”, which was organized by the Global Health Italian Network together with AIDOS (Italian Association for Women in Development).

The event was organized to generate an open dialogue between institutional actors and experts from civil society, where relevant issues were debated. On this occasion, the main areas of debate were: “International cooperation and its link with the 2030 agenda”; “The future of global healthcare architecture; and “The future of financing for health.” Likewise, these issues were addressed adopting a gender perspective, a priority to ensure an inclusive approach for public policies worldwide.

As RACI representative, Deputy Director Juliana Catania was part of a panel alongside Massimo Pallottino (Coordinator of the C20 Sustainable Development Working Group) and Loredana Magni (Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation). During the event, she focused her presentation on the importance of SDG 17 and the promotion of local, regional and global alliances to finance and achieve the 2030 agenda.

At RACI, we continue participating in global discussions around sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda, to generate positive changes at the local and international level, and to keep on promoting and strengthening ties between Civil Society Organizations.

As part  of our Visits to Members, this month we had the opportunity of virtually visiting Fundación para la Democracia, whose headquarters are located in Palacio Fuentes, in the city of Rosario. The Foundation is a  non-for-profit, nonpartisan Civil Society Organization which is  dedicated to the defense of human rights and democracy. Its main mission is to promote, spread and strengthen democratic values with institutional quality. In order to do that, it works with two fundamental axes: human rights and culture of peace, ultimately looking to become a discussion space for contemporary democracy-related problems.

In line with its mission, in 2019 the Foundation inaugurated the International Museum for Democracy. This space, which took more than 12 years to be built, reaffirms the Foundation´s ideals in each of its rooms, which are conceived as spaces open to reflection and analysis of all democracy’s contemporary dilemmas. The project was the yearning of the foundation´s President, Guillermo Whipei, a pioneer in the fight against contemporary slavery and a promoter of a culture of peace. The  museum, in this way, is an open window to the present world, with “shadow zones” that visibilize the day-to-day struggle of men and women that try to expand ideals of equity and justice. Since its inauguration, its main goal has been to spread voices from all around the world, while at the same time being open to change and evolution by listening, receiving and learning from what these voices have to say. All of this, has consolidated it as the first private museum in the world dedicated to democracy.

In the second part of the meeting, the Foundation’s representatives, Marina Sala, Lara Chiavarini and Verónica Potenza, shared experiences of the workshops the foundation gives, such as the  workshops on grooming and bullying developed in schools from various neighborhoods in the City of Rosario. On the other hand, the Foundation offers workshops for professionals in different areas aiming to provide them with theoretical and practical tools.

To conclude the visit, the Foundation´s representatives shared with us some of the activities that are being carried out to spark the interest of young people and children in topics such as democracy and human rights. On one hand, this year they´ve published 3 podcasts and they´re planning to keep doing so in the future. On the other hand, they’re performing  a Conversation Cycle related to Gender, that aims to encourage women empowerment under the motto “No women, No Democracy”.

If you want to know more about their work and how to collaborate with the Foundation for Democracy, you can visit https://www.fundacionparalademocracia.org/

Devex platform has published a report synthesizing the trends in funding from key donors, business development strategies and partnership at a global level. The document includes a selection of current movements in the development community, highlighting the opportunities offered by the European Union (EU), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the possibilities for the sectors of biodiversity, forestry, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), as well as the precautions to take into account when presenting cooperation projects.

On the first hand, the report addresses the generated situation for a new Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 of the EU (MFF), and the consequences of the recent political events in Myanmar. In this regard, although the EU established that development financing will come from the European budget within the framework of the MFF and will be channeled through the Neighborhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), the activities programmed under the MFF 2014-2020 will continue to be implemented. Regarding the context in Myanmar, USAID has focused a large part of its support on nongovernmental organizations in the last year (40% of the total) and will maintain restrictions only on financing directly received from the government.

Second, the report analyzes the possibilities of presenting a project to a multilateral development bank (MDB) and what USAID’s spending priorities have been in 2020. Those who present a proposal to the MDBs should consider that the Economic-financial evaluations have different degrees of flexibility in budgetary matters depending on how the call is written. Regarding USAID activities, those who wish to apply to its calls should bear in mind that the three most favored sectors in the last year have been HIV / AIDS, emergency response, and government and society.

Third, the report considers the reasons why a cooperation proposal is rejected and the investment / financing opportunities in the use of GIS. On the one hand, the proponents need to present their projects in narrative form following the frameworks of the calls (problem, solution, impact) and, in the event that they do not have experience in the required field, consider the associations. On the other hand, MDBs have invested in GIS especially in Southeast Asia and East Asia and the Pacific, with regional opportunities in Southeast and East Africa. Proponents are encouraged to prioritize places where they or their allies have experience.

Finally, the report analyzes the cooperation alternatives for projects focused on the Central Africa region and towards SRHR. Beyond the Gates Foundation, sexual and reproductive health and rights sector projects can be funded by foundations and CSR offices based in the United States. It is worth highlighting the emphasis placed on financing initiatives implemented by civil society organizations. Likewise, for those who own biodiversity and forestry projects in Central Africa, they can access financing, capacity building and policy improvement opportunities from the World Bank (WB), the German Development Agency (GIZ), the French Development Agency (AFD), the EU, the UK, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Environment Facility.

Devex is a social enterprise and media platform that provides business building and recruiting services for global development. To access the full report, click here.

We’ve extended the deadline of our survey Civic Perspective and we invite you to share your views on social organizations and inequalities in the region!

Civic Perspective is a periodic advocacy study developed by RACI that seeks to take the pulse of Civil Society. The previous Civic Perspective study was focused on understanding the situation of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) during the pandemic and can be found here. 

On this occasion, and with the support of the Regional Center of Innovation for Change, we seek to to document, analyze and make visible– from multiple angles- the role played by CSOs in the transformation of social reality,

Civic Perspective was launched last July, with an epistemological anchoring in the Polyphonies of the South, which understands the profound diversity of our region and seeks to highlight all the especially excluded voices of Civil Society. The survey is open to 34 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and is available in four languages (Spanish, French, English and Portuguese).

The questions that concern and mobilize us in this case have been co-created with stakeholders in the region and are as follows: 

Do LAC organizations reproduce the same inequities present in our societies? What are the differences established between the various types of organizations in terms of access to financial, human and technical resources? What are the links between large organizations and grassroots organizations? 

Our working hypothesis is particularly relevant in light of the data provided by the recent report of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on the COVID-19 pandemic in the region. The worrying results are evident in its very title: The recovery paradox in Latin America and the Caribbean Growth amid persisting structural problems: inequality, poverty and low investment and productivity.

Some of the objectives of our study are to: investigate the main obstacles experienced by the smallest organizations and to think of new forms of relationships amongst them. By doing so, we will be able to work in an articulated manner to tackle the urgent inequalities of the region’s Social Sector and broaden the spectrum of voices and dialogues that pursue solutions from and for the South. 

We would like to thank the following organizations and networks for their invaluable support in disseminating the survey so far: Innovation for Change Regional Center for Latin America, Innpacia, International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE), Comunidad de Organizaciones Solidarias (COS) and the Committee for the Democratization of Informatics (CDI) from Chile, Sinergia from Venezuela, Centro Mexicano para la Filantropía (CEMEFI), Alianza de Fundaciones Comunitarias de México (COMUNALIA), Red de Cooperación Internacional Mexicana (REDECIM) and Alternativas y Capacidades from Mexico, Grupo Faro from Ecuador and Alianza from the Dominican Republic.  

The survey will remain open until mid-September, so be sure to participate! Anyone who is part of a CSO – whether as paid staff or volunteer – can participate! It won’t take more than ten minutes!

I wish to complete the survey!

Last but not least, and taking into account the difficult situation of the most vulnerable communities in the region and social organizations, we will also hold a workshop exclusively for members and allies of our network, to think about the role that CSOs will play in the near future, in light of the present scenario. The event will take place on Friday, September 10th at 10 am. 

RACI is part of the Urban Future alliance, a collaborative space between more than 200 organizations from around the world that seek to promote sustainable development in their cities. 

Over two days – September 30 and October 1 – the URBAN FUTURE virtual event (UFv21), a novel digital format designed for a global audience and co-created by more than 300 organizations around the world, will take place. Co-organized by the cities of Buenos Aires, Lahti and Brisbane, it aims to inspire and motivate current and future agents of change anywhere in the world.

RACI is already part of the URBAN FUTURE alliance, the largest event for sustainable cities that has grown into a critical global community of over 50,000 urban change agents, leaders and policy makers seeking to make cities more sustainable. 

Being part of this platform, at such a critical time as the present where climate challenges are becoming more frequent, allows us to share and incorporate experiences and skills to be drivers of change focused on urban sustainable development. In the words of Gerald Babel-Sutter, CEO and founder, “We don’t sell technology or tell them what to do. We share skills, experiences, knowledge; what works and what doesn’t work in driving change”.

This event will have a format that is far from the classic webinar and more Netflix-like, with the collaboration of a team of experts from the television, broadcasting and multimedia industries. For two days, the focus will be on stories with great inspirational content and shared learnings. 

To learn more about this great opportunity and become a sustainable change-maker, visit https://urban-future.org/.