Month: October 2022

Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) conducted a report on the global giving landscape, showing the impact of certain factors on human behavior, and aims to measure generosity as expressed through three human behaviors: donating, helping a stranger and volunteering. The index is one of the largest donation surveys ever conducted, with almost 2 million people interviewed since 2009, and here are some of the results of this analysis.

First, according to the research, more people donated money to charity and helped a stranger last year than in any year in the previous decade. Worldwide, 3 billion people helped someone they did not know last year, an increase of about half a billion compared to before the pandemic, and about 200 million more people donated money to charities worldwide, with donations increasing by 10% in high-income economies.

This year, the report includes data from 119 countries, representing more than 90% of the world’s adult population. People around the world are asked three questions: Have they helped a stranger, given money or volunteered for a good cause in the past month? Produced by CAF, World Giving will be launched during the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at an event in New York to discuss the role of the private sector in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“For the fifth consecutive year, the most generous country in the world is Indonesia, followed by Kenya in second place. Many high-income countries returned to the top 10, having seen a sharp decline in volunteering and donations since 2018, which accelerated during the pandemic. In addition to the United States in third place, Australia (4th), New Zealand (5th), and Canada (8th) join the world’s most generous countries. The United Kingdom ranks 17th overall, up from 22nd in 2020, largely because many lower-income countries also increase their scores and move up in the Index. Ukraine ranks 10th in the Index, rising from 20th in the previous year, and is the only European country to rank in the top 10. The high score for data collected before the 2022 conflict reflects the new ways of engaging with charity that emerged in Ukraine, along with the rising standard of living and the need that was created by the pandemic” (CAF, 2022).

Do you know what Argentina’s ranking was?

It ranked 21st globally, 12th in helping a stranger, 56th in donating and 24th in volunteering. Generally speaking, countries are more involved and predisposed to help.

We celebrate all forms of help and encourage it to grow even more!

During the month of September, RACI collaborated with the co-management of the New Zealand Embassy Fund in Argentina and Mexico. Both funds support small-scale, short-term community projects that contribute to increasing the well-being of a community. Projects must be aligned with the mission of the New Zealand Embassy Fund, which seeks “sustainable development in developing countries, with the aim of reducing poverty and contributing to a safer, more equitable and prosperous world”.

The proposals received were evaluated using the same scoring system that analyzes the following categories:

• Profile of the organization.
• Project feasibility.
• Rigorousness.
• Impact.
• Budget analysis.

Read on for the first results of both calls for proposals!

Results of the New Zealand Embassy Fund Call for Proposals in Mexico

The call was open to organizations in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. For this first phase we received a total of 429 applications distributed as follows: 380 from Mexico, 2 from Cuba, 1 from Costa Rica, 9 from the Dominican Republic, 11 from El Salvador, 2 from Panama, 13 from Guatemala, 9 from Nicaragua and 2 from Argentina.

In terms of the thematic axes of the call, of the applications: 58 work on climate change and resilience, 33 are dedicated to the rights of the LGTBIQ+ community, 129 promote community development (particularly indigenous and rural communities), 56 are linked to agricultural development, 117 work on education and 36 on migration.

Results of the call for proposals of the New Zealand Embassy Fund in Argentina

RACI received a total of 322 applications for the New Zealand Embassy Fund in Argentina, of which 286 were submitted by organizations based in Argentina and 36 by organizations in Paraguay.

Regarding the thematic axes of the call, of the proposals submitted 145 work on the axis of economic and social inclusion, 55 are framed within the axis of climate change and resilience, 26 are linked to equal rights for LGBTQI+ communities, while 96 promote the development of communities (particularly indigenous and rural).

How does the application process continue?  

Once Phase 1 of the application process for both calls for proposals has been completed, the RACI team will evaluate the concept notes received; a pre-selection will be made of those projects that meet the criteria and requirements of the fund. Those pre-selected organizations will be notified by e-mail and will be invited to participate in a second stage where they will have to complete an expanded application form that must also be completed through the platform.

With the objective of strengthening the capabilities of civil society organizations identified by the City of Buenos Aires Government, here at RACI we carry out strengthening workshops. Furthermore, the aim is for these organizations to be able to access both international cooperation resources and other strategic social investors oriented towards development, so that the sustainability of projects can be guaranteed in the long run. 

Throughout the training efforts, RACI seeks to successfully increase organizations’ capabilities and their technical resource acquisition. In consequence, they may perfect the quality of their proposals and project presentations when obtaining resources, thus promoting a better institutional preparation when working with this type of support. Simultaneously, organizations are strengthened at an institutional level so that the long term sustainability of their project can be guaranteed.

With the development of the workshops, it is expected that the participating CSOs will be able to increase their capabilities and resources, the goal in mind being to perfect the quality of proposals and projects they present to international cooperation, all while counting on better institutional preparation to work with this type of support. 

One of the workshops that form part of the program is that of the Williams Foundation, which aims towards more sustainable projects. The purpose of this workshop is to institutionally develop and strengthen the 18 groups through meetings regarding the building of capabilities, during which different topics linked to project sustainability are addressed. In this way, the goal becomes institutional strengthening, as well as the mobilization of resources and their link to agents of international cooperation. Likewise, the main objective is to strengthen the capabilities of these groups and guarantee their projects in the long term. 

On the other hand, we can find Capacity Building, enclosed within the cycle of training: the strengthening of the capabilities of civil society organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The workshop cycle will be brought forth by the Red Argentina de Cooperación Internacional (RACI), an Argentine organization that is made up by the Regional Center of Innovation for Change in Latin America and the Caribbean, and which possesses years of experience working on these topics. 

The main objective of Capacity Building is to accompany Latin America and the Caribbean’s civil society in the defense of its civic space, as well as to build up its resilience. Thus, the Regional Center is announcing the launching of the cycle of virtual training workshops The Strengthening of Capabilities for Civil Society Organizations of Latin America and the Caribbean. 

The cycle of workshops was open to the participation of people part of work groups within social movements or non-profit organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean’s civil society, as well as for social activists; all types of non-profit organizations/civil society organizations can participate.

We continue working towards increasing the capabilities and resources of CSOs!

In the action week towards the objectives of sustainable development, it seems important for us to remember the platform that was launched by the Red Argentina para la Cooperación Internacional [Argentine Network for International Cooperation] (RACI) along with the support of the United Nations in Argentina and with Cablevision-Fibertel. It is a digital tool that enables the visualization of which, and how many, civil society organizations in Argentina are currently working towards the United Nation’s 17 objectives of sustainable development (ODS). 

We inform you of some of the projects we have completed so far, here from RACI, on this platform:

• Leave No One Behind. In the efforts to continue working on the 17 Objectives of Sustainable Development (OSD), RACI, with the support of CIVICUS and the Canadian Embassy in Argentina, joined the initiative of Leave No One Behind:  a series of national dialogues carried out in diverse regions of the world, with the objective of including minority communities in the global agenda. The event took place on October 20, 2016 in the Canadian Embassy in Argentina. This event counted with the participation of more than 100 people, including representatives from the civil society, the public sector, the private sector, and academia. One of the main objectives of the endeavor was the elaboration of a diagnostic on the perception of the current situation of OSD implementation in our country and its relation to communities that are generally mostly excluded. Using this information as a base, the central question was: How can we create innovative solutions that do not leave anyone behind during the implementation of the objectives of sustainable development in Argentina? 
• Strengthening the network’s work in order to optimize the capabilities of Argentine social organizations. The project seeks to promote the coordination and collaboration between the civil society organizations that work throughout the Argentine territory, so as to contribute to their strengthening and sustainability and, in this manner, contribute to the creation of a more solid and independent social sector that can therefore continue contributing to the democratization processes in our country. In this particular case, by offering a monthly space for the creation, diffusion, and transfer of tools and practices, as well as contact between the organizations themselves, potential donors, and professionals that workshop in topics inherent to the sector, the project of improving civil society organizations’ institutionality can be targeted. 
• Social innovation laboratories for civil society organizations. The co-creation of an innovation lab, focused on three specific topics, is proposed; in this lab, social entrepreneurs and organizations would not only be able to exchange their succeses and their gained knowledge, but would also have the possibility of presenting their projects that are still in the production or implementation phases, thus identifying potential allies that can lead to sustainable, high impact synergies. Therefore, the goal is to institutionally develop and strenghten the participating civil society organizations, as well as generate an increase in their capabilities and technical resources so that they may increase their growth and enhance their sustainability. 
• Workshop training to strengthen: Institutional development of CSOs and project elaboration. With the support of Raffo Laboratories, these workshops seek to institutionally develop and strengthen civil society organizations through two training efforts, each half a day long. The workshops share information, tools, mechanisms, and good practices relating to institutional strengthening and the processes for the development of projects related to funding requests essential to the organizations’ mission. Throughout these workshop efforts, RACI aims to increase the capabilities and technical resources of civil society organizations, so that they are able to perfect the quality of the proposals and projects they present when requesting resources, and that they may count on better institutional preparation when it comes to working with different actors while simultaneously strengthening themselves on this institutional level. 
• Project Regional Innovation Laboratories: Strengthening organizations, generating more impact, now finalized and executed by the Red Argentina para la Cooperación Internacional [Argentine Network for International Cooperation] (RACI) with the support of Galicia Bank. The objective of the project was to strenghten the organizations’ work in project presentation material. This was done through paired exchanges, using the technical assistance of RACI to address proposal improvement, the generation of strategic alliances with other CSOs, and the promotion of a surge of innovative ideas that can add value to the presentations. The final result was the ideation of 14 social projects, with a solution prototype presented to the audiences in each of the labs. The methodology used was able to accelerate the creative process of those assisting in the co-creation of innovative solutions for local issues. The acquisition of agile and concrete tools to evaluate the problem and solution was also an outcome that assistants could count on after each workshop. 

Our platform is the first space that provides visibility to the projects of all Argentine social organizations, as well as their respective contributions to the fulfillment of the OSD. Currently, 411 total projects have been registered by different organizations. 

We hope to continue contributing to the objectives of sustainable development and that more organizations can join!

Perspectiva Cívica [Civic Perspective] is a project that was initiated by RACI in 2018, along with Innovation for Change in Latin America and the Caribbean (I4C). It seeks to understand the state of organizations in terms of enabling spaces. In this periodic study, we seek to take the pulse of social organizations, which is to say, identify the conditions in which civil society functions and develops itself. 

In order to move this project forwards, a quali-quantitative methodology was employed, the basis of it being a survey that was completed by the leaders and work teams of social organizations, who can acknowledge key strengths, weaknesses, and necessities.

In the words of the Executive Directorate, “Civil Perspective Latin America and the Caribbean seeks to justly explore both the main differences and existing relations between Non-Profit Organizations—of differing sizes and formats—with a strong focus on the visibilization of the enormous work that these organizations complete by and large in Latin America and the Caribbean. We hope that this regional project functions as a jump starter for future articulations, reinforcing our commitment of creating an enabling space that is more fitting for all civil society. 

During the production stage of this study, various aspects were pointed out, such as the high inequity in the entire region. In this regard, Latin America and the Caribbean stand out as one of the most unequal and inequitable regions. Aditionally, other aspects like marginality, exclusion, the informality of practices, and the instability of lifestyles were also noted. 

In terms of rented and volunteer personnel, one of the results that this investigation showed was that only 1 out of 8 people working in the social sector receives some kind of remuneration for the work that they complete; 36% of the people who participated in the survey work as volunteers. In terms of the education of the personnel, 88% of people working in social organizations do not count with tertiary or university education. This is to say that the least privileged people hold and mobilize the social sector in the region. 

This study highlights the fundamental role that organizations must fulfill. In this sense, the invitation is to rethink the systemic relations within civil society and all involved parties (the State, the private sector, international cooperation, and the organizations). Simultaneously, this transformation process must be guided and carried out by the organizations in a collaborative, bottom-up approach.  

Finally, we must acknowledge that this would not have been possible without the support of the volunteers and of the enourmous work team that stands behind this investigation; we are proud and thankful. 

You can access our study by clicking on the link; we encourage its diffusion, discussion, and subsequent analysis. 

On the week of August 22, the Kettering Foundation visited our country for the first time. During their stay, the foundation jointly participated with RACI in events and encounters with both government and civil society actors. In the events, perspectives and opinions regarding the following topics were shared: the work of civil society, the challenges of democracies, civic participation in the design of public policies and in the expansion of rights, and the human rights agenda. 

Firstly, during their visit, the Kettering Foundation carried out the conference: “The Work of the Kettering Foundation: Upcoming Challenges”, during which the main activity revolved around the work realized by the foundation; therefore, members of the foundation shared their experiences with their participation in the foundation. It was during this opportunity that we were able to hear to the experiences of: Tendai Murisa, the founder and executive director of SIVIO Institute (Zimbabwe); Rocio Jenny Zapata Lopez, communications coordinator of Heinrich Böll Stiftung Mexico City – Mexico and The Caribbean (Mexico); and Ruby Quantson Davis, the learning and impact advisor in Peace Direct (Ghana/UK). Finally, to conclude the event, Kettering Foundation’s director and CEO Sharon L Davies spoke about the new challenges the foundation is facing. 

Within the agenda, and with the intention to listen to perspectives from the public sector regarding civic participation in deliberation processes, the Kettering Foundation was able to meet with the government of Buenos Aires in order to debate over the diverse ways through which the voice of the citizenry can be incorporated into the design and implementation of public policy. 

Moreover, RACI and the Kettering Foundation organized two debate sessions in which key points relating to the human rights agenda in Argentina could be shared. In this way, throughout these sessions, emphasis was placed on the experiences of citizen participation in attempts to amplify and safeguard rights. These sessions were able to foster debate over the legalization of abortion in Argetina, the Ni Una Menos [Not One Less] movement, gender, the LGBTIQ+ community, the indigenous movement, and marriage equality. 

To conclude their stay, the Kettering Foundation organized a conference in Palermo University, during which it was possible to debate and share different opinions on the challenges our democracies are facing. The conference panel was made up by Sharon L Davies, the director and CEO of Kettering Foundation; Maxine S Thomas, the international programs director, vice president, and general advisor of Kettering Foundation; and Ed Dorn and Roberto Saba, members of the directive council of the Kettering Foundation.