Category: Novedades

Thursday 13th, December of 2018, was the day chosen by RACI to celebrate another year of projects and objectives achieved together with its partners, allies and donors.

The event was held at the British Residence in Buenos Aires where, for the fourth year in a row, it was prepared to receive more than 200 people who came to share the closing of the year with the RACI team. There they were received by Mr. Ambassador Mark Kent and the Executive Director of RACI, Guillermo Correa.

But this year, RACI had remarkable attendees such as the representatives of Global Board of CIVICUS: Jesse Chen, Anabel Cruz, Patricia Lerner, Ziya Guliyev, Sebastián Vielmas, Nyaradzo Mashayamombe, Daisy Owomugasho and Lorenzo Marsili. The fact that they shared their vision of Civil Society according to the different perspectives of the countries they represent and have exchanged experiences with our partners and allies, contributes to the construction and growth of the network.

From RACI, we thank our partners, the British Embassy and Ambassador Mark Kent and, above all, to partner organizations that work year after year in the federation to further strengthen the Argentine Civil Society.

A new call to civil society seeks to encourage social impact. Find out what you can do to help.

The participation of Civil Society has never been greater. In a world where social needs are in constant growth, the participation of more actors implies an enormous opportunity. However, for these opportunities to materialize, it is critical to support philanthropic organizations, publicize their role and distribute aid where it is most needed.

#LiftUpPhilantropy is an open and global campaign that promotes the strategic importance and value of philanthropy development.  In order to do so, it seeks to raise awareness among funders of the importance of investing in the ecosystem and infrastructure as a means of fostering quality, growth and diversity in philanthropy.

Among its main objective, it seeks:

• Raise awareness about the positive impact of philanthropy in any form.
• To give rise to collective discussions on philanthropy and its potential for development in society.
• Increase financial and human support for the increase of private philanthropy and civil society in general.

Through the guidance generated by #LiftUpPhilantropy, funders can better understand how to help unlock the potential of philanthropy and multiply its collective impact to build more sustainable and democratic societies. Some concrete things to help are:

• Contact philanthropic organizations and encourage them to consider this issue in their agendas.
• Discuss the importance of spreading philanthropy among colleagues and at conferences.
• Share experiences on social networks using the hashtag #LiftUpPhilanthropy

Philanthropy promotes selfless help to others and #LiftUpPhilanthropy is just another way to keep adding solidarity projects.

Cruzada Argentina Foundation has been working with RACI since 2011 and this month we want you to meet them. That is why we interviewed its executive director, Daniela Limongelli, to tell us about the work of Cruzada Argentina and her experience as a RACI partner. 

Daniela greatly values being a member of the network. An example of this is the reason why they joined RACI: “we believe that it is a space for strengthening civil society organizations in Argentina, for linking up with other organizations and international organism, for building networks and possibilities for accessing knowledge and information on opportunities and calls for cooperation”.

On this occasion, Daniela added that, in addition to the news, calls and research on international cooperation and other topics of interest to the foundation, “we also value the diffusion and the access to training opportunities, the link with other national and international organization and bodies”.

Cruzada Argentina Foundation is an organization that for more than 15 years has accompanied and worked with young people and communities from the north of our country. They promote the development of young people, strengthening their training in skills and attitudes necessary for work. They currently have programs in the provinces of Chaco and Corrientes.

Its mission is embodied in two programs:

Secondary School Strengthening Program, in which they work with students and teachers from rural secondary schools in the north of the country to improve the capacity of young people to enter the world of work in the future. The aim is to strengthen human resources, train young people, improve school infrastructure and didactic-productive spaces and enrich the school’s links with its community.

Training and Work Program in partnership with Forge Foundation launched this program in 2016. At the moment, they have training centers in Resistencia and Corrientes. The aim of the program is to facilitate the quality employment of young people through an innovative system of training and employment. Training for work, through the development of habits, personal attitudes and technical skills in young people, and they collaborate in quality employment in their first job. Through the program, they gratuitously accompany them, in the complex transition between high school and the world of work.

Daniela said that for Cruzada Argentina “it is very significant to be members of RACI, because they provide a space for construction, articulation, strengthening, knowledge and opportunities for argentine civil society organizations. Moreover, they have a great work team, always ready to collaborate!”

We are very grateful to Daniela for her time and invite you to learn more about the great work that the Foundation does.

China’s announcement of the establishment of the International Development Cooperation Agency indicates that development is an important State issue that deserves high-level specialized attention and institutional support.

State Councillor Wang Yong said that the aim of setting up an international development cooperation agency is to better coordinate foreign aid and promote its ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, which seeks to connect China with the rest of Asia, Europe and Africa.

The responsibilities of the new agency will include the formulation of policies on foreign aid, as well as granting aid and overseeing its implementation. The new agency will work directly under the State Council, China’s cabinet, and will combine the overseas aid related responsibilities of the ministry of commerce and foreign affairs.

“This will allow aid to fully play its important role in great power diplomacy… and will better serve the building of the ‘belt and road’,” Wang told parliament.

However, the official data that China has provided of its foreign aid program has been scarce in recent years. The most recent documentation was released in 2014, and reveals that, between 2010 and 2012, more than half of China’s foreign aid of more than $14 billion went to Africa, underscoring Beijing’s interest in the continent, which is rich in essential resources to fuel China’s economy. The report in question did not provide any breakdown of aid recipients or any yearly figures. In 2011, China put its total foreign aid over the past six decades at 256.29 billion yuan ($40.51 billion).

Much of China’s overseas finance is made in the form of loans or export credits, which allow infrastructure-for-resource deals. According to the China Daily, this approach gives China an advantage over the United States in the continent.

“China has been working for years to try to meet Africa’s needs, helping African countries build railways, bridges and ports. That is why most African countries have sought to forge a partnership with China,” the newspaper said.

Follow this and more topics on Thomson Reuters website.

For the second consecutive year, RACI allies with the dissemination of the survey “My World 2030”, a platform that allows citizens to actively participate in the UN’s new sustainable development agenda.

The survey “My World 2030” is one of the initiatives of United Nations that seeks to promote the Action Campaign for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and from RACI we commit ourselves year after year to contribute to the answering of a brief questionnaire.

My world 2030 consist of 6 questions located in a virtual platform that lets the citizen identify which SDG are the more important for them and their families and to offer individual indicators of perception of progress until 2030.

In this way, the UN ensures that the voice of citizens is heard by the governments, contributes to create conscience about the 2030 Agenda and inspires people from all over the world to take an active role in the implementation of the SDG.

The United Nations Action Campaign for the SDG – established on September 25th 2015- promotes the global implementation of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which seeks to eradicate poverty, protect the earth and ensure the prosperity of everyone as part of a sustainable development Agenda. Every objective has specific goals that must be achieved in the next 15 years.

With very little time, you can contribute to something very big: the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Go to the survey My World 2030 answer and share with your circle.

During the first week of July the course on Deliberative Democracy provided by the Kettering Foundation was held in Dayton, Ohio. RACI participated in the meeting with representatives in both the Deliberative Democratic Exchange segment number one and number two.

This year, the network presented the case of the C20´s co-coordination in Argentina that was carrying out from the end of last year to the present. The deliberation among the different working groups and the joint participation of different actors served as an example to explain the application of the learned methodology during the Foundation.

With the initiative to reinforce the concepts learned in that week, a previous training was carried out in a virtual way as a deliberative forum, where the participants of the first year could exchange ideas, discuss the situations of their own countries and compare the stories with the rest of the participants. In this way, it was pointed out that the participants came to a more complete idea of the meeting and were more prepared for the deliberation of the work week in Dayton.

Continuing in a similar vein, in the last two days it was created different discussion tables among the participants of the first year, those of the second and the coordinators, around the stages of the deliberation process, to understand each of them in greater depth. This practice served to close the learning cycle during the two years and to engage even more the participants of the first year in order to generate enriching deliberative experiences for their communities.

The exchange space included professionals from the public, private and the third sector, academics and journalists; generating a wide range of diverse experiences but complementary to each other.

To know more about the Ketterig Foundation trainings and investigations.

On June 13th 2018 the Argentina Sustainable Development Goals National Review 2018 was presented. This report is the result of the articulated work between the different agencies of national government that have direct responsibility with the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG); process in which participate, since 2016, twenty five agencies of the Executive National Power.

On the face of the proximity of the High Level Political Forum 2018, the review emphasizes on the selected objectives by United Nations to be addressed in it. This are: SDG 6; Clean Water and sanitation; SDG 7, Affordable Energy and non-contaminant; SDG 11, Cities and sustainable communities; SDG 12, Production and Responsible consumption; SDG 15, Terrestrial Ecosystems life and SDG 17, alliances to achieve the objectives.

The content of the report can be assessed in the database showed for the preparation process of the first National Review of the SDG; the macroeconomic national context and an analysis of the development and evolution of the SDG mentioned above.

From this information, the Argentina National Review 2018 highlights the advances of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals on the part of the National Inter Institutional Commission of Implementation and Following of the SDG. In this occasion the vector focuses on the executed cost as is considered that the budget is a way of transversal implementation of the objectives. As consequence, the report measures the development of the expenses of the month of May 2018, with a view to the achievement of the objectives in 2030.

Overall, the results of the expense executed are mixed, with growth in two of the six objectives, Terrestrial Ecosystem Life and Alliances to achieve the objectives, and with no information in Production and Responsible Consumption. On the other hand also it reflects a diversification in the financial source.

If you want to read the Argentina National Review 2018 click here.

América Solidaria accompanies us as partner since 2017 and we want you to know them. That is why this month we interviewed Mariana Gónzalez Sbarbi, Director of Partnerships to tell us more about the work of the organization.

Mariana, told us that they join RACI “since, from América Solidaria, we deeply believe in the power of generating alliances to articulate, in order to overcome child poverty, the development and sustainability of  vulnerable communities of the continent. In this way, we aim to globalize solidarity and project cooperation between countries for a fairer continent, breaking down borders and deepening our commitment to reality beyond our countries.”

América Solidaria, has been working for 15 years, assuming the commitment to build a continent where there is no girls or boys in poverty, with the conviction that a fairer and inclusive America is possible. With this objective, they promote a network of professional volunteers who are involved with the most vulnerable communities of the region, in pursuit of their development and sustainability. They currently have offices in 8 countries: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, United States, Haiti, Peru, Uruguay and Mexico and more of 90 professionals developing field projects in 11 countries of America.

About the utility that America Solidaria finds at the time of taking part of the Network, Mariana explained that in RACI they found “a space of articulation, of meeting and updating of novelties of the social sector, where not only they share local, regional and international opportunities, but also habilitate spaces of training, exchange and joint construction.” She added: “we believe it is an opportunity to join forces and align ourselves in the construction of a country and a continent responsible for their poverties.”

To carry out their job, they made alliances with other Organizations of the Civil Society, designing and managing the projects jointly. They are led by professional volunteers that work together with the most vulnerable communities of America, in order of improving their life quality and build more and better opportunities for children and young people.

“In Argentina, since 2015 we have been promoting projects of communitarian development, training and advocacy, with the objective of leaving installed capacity in the communities, empowering and promoting young people as agents of change, and build a committed and socially responsible outlook on issues of poverty and exclusion.

During 2015 and 2016, we worked in the neighborhood of La Boca and Los Ceibos, Federal Capital, with a focus on the family economic development. In 2016 we started working in Salta Capital, with a focus on labor insertion and  strengthening life projects; and since 2017, we promote the implementation of a psycho-pedagogical cabinet in Pilar, working to strengthen the entire educational community.

This year, we began to work in integral alphabetization in a day center in Florencio Varela, province of Buenos Aires; we arrived for the first time in Chaco, to start a project in four rural schools in Tres Isletas, with the objective of combating scholar dropouts. Currently, we continue working on the strengthen of life projects in Salta Capital and in Embarcación, Salta, we began to implement a new line of health promotion and  addiction prevention in a new educational center, reaching, in 2018 in every region where we are present, up to 4045 people in every community”.

As a result of their first year as a member of RACI, Mariana commented: “we are grateful for the opportunities made available to make visible urgent problematics of our country and continent, and the work that we are carrying out in order to overcome child poverty. We value the fluidity and effectiveness when it comes to create networks and channeling opportunities and calls, such as the willingness to support the dissemination of projects and generating spaces of exchange and joint dissemination.”

We thank Mariana for her time and for participating. If you want to know more about América Solidaria, you can do it entering in the following link: http://americasolidaria.org

Last tuesday June 19^th, a talk organized by RACI and Fundación Poder Ciudadano was held on the new Law N°27.401 – Criminal Liability Regime for Legal Entities.

The talk was dictated by Hugo Wortman Jofré, lawyer and president of Fundación Poder Ciudadano, to which almost 30 organizations internalized about the implications of the law, and how this would affect the Civil Society Organizations of the country.

Jofré introduced the law Criminal Liability Regime for Private Legal Entities, as a way of the State to transfer responsibilities of Criminal Law to the rest of the society. The international organizations tend to require that countries that introduce this kind of regulations and the validity of this law is a requirement of the OECD to admit Argentina a member.

Why do CSO fall under this law? Because the Civil Code contemplates- through Art. 148- the foundations as Private Legal Entities.

The objective of the law is to combate structural corruption, emphasizing the improvement of transparency and the ethical transformation of the organizations. The law seeks to eradicate the following crimes:

• Bribery and influence peddling,
• Negotiations incompatible with the exercise of public functions,
• Concussion,
• Illicit enrichment of officials and employees,
• Balance of aggravated false reports.

To be exempt from punishment, the organizations must comply with 3 (three) fundamental requirements:

1. Spontaneous denunciation of the anticipated crimes (the legal entity timely denounce the crimes).
2. Implementation of an adequate control system (Integrity Programme)
3. Return of the benefit obtained.

The Integrity Programme is a set of actions, mechanism and internal control procedures, that the institution must adopt to prevent and detect unlawful acts. This programme must include: a code of autonomous behavior, rules of prevention on the link with the public sector, and periodic internal training.

To receive public funds, it is a necessary condition to have an Integrity Programme.

The preparation of a Behavior Code for the NGO in Argentina was one of the suggestions with which Hugo Wortman Jofré ended his exhibition.

In 2016, the least developed countries received only 19.8% foreign aid. This amount is lower compared to the year 2015 where they received 23.7% of the budget granted for Development Assistance. The peak was in 2010, when these countries received 26.9% of Official Assistance. African countries such as the Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Mozambique and Senegal are some of the countries that currently receive less aid than in 2010. This shows that, although 34 of the countries on the continent are considered the least developed countries (LDC) traditional bilateral aid to Africa continues to decline.

The reasons why this decrease on foreign aid is evident in recent years are varied. One reason is the growth of new conjunctures such as spending on refugees, for example. According to international conventions, donor countries can use the Official Assistance to Development to support refugees during their first twelve months. Therefore, between 2010 and 2016 the foreign aid to the most vulnerable countries decreased, while the expenses for refugees increased.

The imbalance between need and the real help can be explained by the criteria that countries use to direct aid. Typically, the donor countries use three criteria for this allocation: self-interest, need and merit. Self-interest is the most complex. Different providers have different levels of self-interest, and these levels may fluctuate between the different administrations within the same country. According to the voting patterns of the Assembly of the United Nations, the interests of States may have more value than the needs or merits of the destination countries. For example, States are more likely to tend to help their commercial partners, and those with whom they share political interests.

Taking into account these variables, the countries with more merit and the poorest do not receive majority of foreign aid. This fact is very clear and can be explained by the complexity of the self-interest, need and merit criteria. This raises the question: should there be another criterion for the allocation of foreign aid? In response, the Global Partnership for the Effective Development Cooperation emphasized the use of a fourth criterion: effectiveness. This criterion emphasizes transparency, responsibility, orientation and the inclusive collaboration of foreign aid.

So far, the criterion of effectiveness has received support from developed countries, countries in development and regional organizations such as African Union. In the future, it will be necessary to implement measures that quantify the effectiveness of foreign aid to understand and influence in the distribution and allocation of aid.

For more information, visit: https://bit.ly/2LT7VLL.