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October-December 2005
Global Giving Round-Up
Overviews of best-practices around the world and links to learn more about them
Schools going online in Africa-wide e-Schools initiative
Lesotho High School in Maseru, Lesotho went online in August thanks to an ambitious international public-private partnership to connect more than 600,000 schools across Africa to the Internet. The high school is the first in Lesotho to be brought online as part of the ten-year e-Schools initiative of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) that is helping children in Africa catch up with the latest developments in science and technology. The first NEPAD e-School opened in Uganda in July. "This is the first time that African governments, the private sector, foundations, development agencies and civil society organizations have come together for a common ICT project developed and driven by Africans, and for Africa," said Dr. Henry Chasia, Deputy Executive Chair for NEPAD's e-Africa Commission. The initiative aims to bridge the digital and information divide in Africa by equipping primary and secondary schools with computers, radio and television sets, phones and fax machines and digital cameras, and connecting them to the Internet. Six demonstration schools from each of the 16 participating countries will be brought online during the 12-month pilot period.
Oracle Corporation is leading a consortium of private companies, including Mustek, Sentech, Multichoice Africa, Intel, CompuTainer, Learnthings, Fujitsu-Siemens Computers and Cambridge-Hitachi, that will provide ICT equipment, skills and knowledge to schools participating in the demonstration project. Announced at the 2003 Africa Summit of the World Economic Forum, the project will also include the provision of educational content and learning materials and establishment of health programs at participating e-schools. The e-Schools demonstration project is being monitored and evaluated by the Commonwealth of Learning and World Bank's INFODEV grant program. (NEPAD Press Release, August 1, 2005; Science in Africa magazine online -- www.scienceinafrica.co.za, September 2005)
Youth job training partnerships expanded in Middle East
The Education for Employment Foundation (EFE -- www.efefoundation.org) has announced a series of new or expanded partnerships in Egypt and Jordan. EFE was founded in 2002 by New York real estate developer and entrepreneur Ron Bruder to address the growing problem of youth unemployment in Muslim countries and to improve relations between people of those countries and the Western world. Bruder is a member of Synergos' Global Philanthropist Circle; his work launching EFE was examined in the May-June 2005 issue of Global Giving Matters.
EFE's Egyptian Nursing Career College (ENCC) project provides an innovative accelerated second bachelors degree program for unemployed university graduates. A pledge of nearly $900,000 from the Egyptian government in June for the operation of the ENCC in Cairo was matched by the US Agency for International Development's Global Development Alliance, which seeks to stimulate economic growth through public-private partnerships. The USAID grant will fund technical assistance from Boston-based Simmons College. Egypt's T3A Pharma Group has recently committed to fund scholarships for five Egyptian nursing students to attend the ENCC.
In the first of its partnerships in Jordan, in May EFE signed an agreement with Al-Isra Private University of Amman to establish a nonprofit Career Training Centre linked to potential employers of youth in that country. EFE's board has recently gained a European perspective with the addition of Spanish philanthropist Diego Hidalgo, co-founder of the major Spanish newspaper El País. Based in Washington, DC, EFE also has team members in Cairo, Jeddah, New York, and Los Angeles. (EFE Foundation Update, October 25, 2005)
Sigrid Rausing Trust celebrates 10th anniversary with awards for leadership
To mark its tenth anniversary, the UK-based Sigrid Rausing Trust (www.sigrid-rausing-trust.org) announced ten awards of £100,000 ($174,000) each to international organizations demonstrating outstanding leadership in the Trust's areas of interest: human rights, women's rights, minority rights and social and environmental advocacy. Awards were presented in London on September 15. One of the grants, for leadership in women's rights, went to Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, for her work as Executive Director of the African Women's Development Fund, (AWDF -- www.awdf.org). AWFDF, the first Africa-wide fundraising and grantmaking group for African women, supports more than 230 organizations on the continent. Adeleye-Fayemi is a Synergos Senior Fellow. In the October 2005 edition of the online Alliance Extra service of Alliance magazine (www.allavida.org/alliance), Adeleye-Fayemi discussed AWDF's plan to use the award money to launch a new women-led HIV/AIDS fund in Africa and leverage other funding for that work initiative, such as from the Stephen Lewis Foundation in Canada and United Artists for Africa.
Partners in Health awarded $1.5 million Hilton Humanitarian Prize
Partners In Health (PIH -- www.pih.org), an innovative healthcare leader for poor societies, was awarded the 2005 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize of $1.5 million. The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation (www.hiltonfoundation.org) awards the prize each year to an organization that is significantly alleviating human suffering. "The PIH model of training local people to be the community-based healthcare delivery system has transcended country and cultural boundaries and is now being adopted by governments and health organizations around the world," said Steven Hilton, Chairman and CEO of the Hilton Foundation. From its original work in Haiti, PIH has expanded to it work to Peru, Russia, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, and most recently, Rwanda. Its HIV Equity Initiative, developed in Haiti, is a model for antiretroviral therapy for AIDS patients in resource-poor countries, and its protocol for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis has been adopted by countries around the world.
Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of PIH, said the Hilton prize was a "terrific boost as we seek not only to provide direct medical services in seven countries...but also to bring countless supporters into a broad and global movement to promote basic rights for the poor." (Partners in Health News Release, September 26, 2005)
Nominations sought for international development prize
The King Baudoin Foundation is seeking nominations for the 2006-2007 King Baudoin International Development Prize (www.kbprize.org). The prize, worth $175,500 (€150,000) is awarded every two years to recognize outstanding work toward development in countries of the southern hemisphere, or to solidarity between industrialized and developing nations. The 2004-2005 winner was Ousmane Sy, who has advanced the cause of democratic participation in his home country of Mali by spearheading a project to reform and decentralize governance. Used as a basis for negotiations with rebel Tuareg movements active in northern Mali, the project has become a springboard for Sy's creation of a Governance in Africa network comprising 14 nations in western and central Africa. The selection committee for the prize is currently chaired by Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS. Since its inception in 1980, the list of prize winners has covered fields including literacy, education of rural communities, technology transfer, new forms of credit, human rights and fair trade. For further information on the prize, contact Anneke Denecker at info@kbprize.org.
AIF/UN Summit: Jury still out on meeting Millennium Goals in India
A summit hosted by the American India Foundation (AIF -- www.aifoundation.org) and the United Nations Millennium Campaign (www.millenniumcampaign.org) in New York in September provided a forum for dialogue among individuals whose organizations are supported by AIF and are serving as agents of social change in India. "While great progress has been made in India...the jury is still out on meeting the Millennium Development Goals," said keynote speaker Charles MacCormack, President and CEO of Save the Children.
Economic growth has been steady in India but more equitable access to resources remains the core issue, said Salil Shetty, director of the UN campaign. With the stakes so high -- India has more than half the world's poor -- the task is "getting the people themselves to hold their governments accountable," said Shetty. "India is a make or break case, and the picture is not looking very good right now, unless we move away from a 'business as usual' model." Through a series of roundtable discussions, debates and audience dialogues, the summit provided a forum for examining how leaders, including AIF grantees, are working to improve livelihoods and expand access to education in India. "No sector of society can do it alone," observed AIF Co-Chair Rajat Gupta. "It's only when you have real collaboration between all three sectors that you can hope to achieve progress toward the millennium development goals." AIF has funded 60 plus NGOs in India and estimates that its programs have directly impacted 100,000 families. For more information on AIF or the summit, contact Kavya Rajan at kavya@aifoundation.org.
Kresge Foundation awards $5 million to YMCA for Mexico Initiative
The Kresge Foundation of Michigan, has awarded a five-year, $5 million grant to the YMCA of the USA to advance philanthropy in Mexico, working in partnership with Mexican YMCAs. An initial $2 million will go to the implementation of the Kresge Mexico Philanthropy Development Initiative to strengthen the capital and annual campaigns of the YMCA of Mexico City, the YMCA of Leon, and the Mexican Federation of YMCAs' Border Initiative. The project aims to catalyze the YMCAs' capacity to expand and sustain youth, family and community development services in Mexico by 2010. It seeks to achieve this goal through the sharing of best practices in fundraising, staff and volunteer development, the creation of philanthropic strategic alliances, the introduction of new fundraising technology, and strengthened partnerships among US and Mexican YMCAs. The grant will be co-managed by YMCA of the USA and the Mexican Federation of YMCAs. The two organizations will also make their own technical and financial contributions, valued at more than $1 million each. (Philanthropy News Digest, August 26, 2005; YMCA of USA Press Release, 8/24/05)
Robert H. Dunn joins Synergos as President
Robert H. Dunn, a leader in the fields of responsible business practices, philanthropy and public policy, joined The Synergos Institute as President on November 3. He succeeded S. Bruce Schearer, who served Synergos for 18 years. Dunn has been Chairman, President and CEO of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), a nonprofit membership organization of major global companies. "Synergos and its broad network of partners are well-positioned to create innovative, sustainable and systemic change that will help create a more equitable and peaceful world in the coming years," said Dunn. "I'm looking forward to being part of those efforts." Schearer noted that like Synergos, BSR builds and supports cross-sector collaboration among government, business and civil society which is "essential to fighting poverty and other critical problems we face today. Bob brings deep understanding of those kinds of collaborative approaches plus fresh new perspectives that will greatly enhance Synergos' impact around the world." Dunn has also served as a board member or advisor of the Forum for Business Responsibility in the Americas, the International Advisory Committee to Instituto Ethos (Brazil), and Israel Business for Social Responsibility. Dunn was previously Vice President for Corporate Affairs at Levi Strauss & Co., where he led development of the company's groundbreaking Global Code of Conduct, as well as programs addressing AIDS, community economic development and racial discrimination. He is currently also a lecturer at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.
In memoriam: Waldemar Nielsen
Waldemar Nielsen, a widely recognized expert on philanthropy, died in New York on November 2 at the age of 88. Nielsen's influential books on American philanthropy, published in the 1970s and 1980s, have been credited with shaping the emerging self-consciousness of US foundations. Earlier in his career, Nielsen directed domestic and overseas programs at the Ford Foundation, becoming an expert on Africa, and, as President of the African-American Institute in the 1960s, fostered cultural and educational exchanges with a continent still struggling to emerge from colonialism. He started his own firm in 1970, Waldemar A. Nielsen, Inc., a consultancy on corporate social policy, which he ran in New York until 2001. In 2000, a Nielsen chair in philanthropy was endowed in his honor at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute. (New York Times, November 4, 2005)
© 2005 The Synergos Institute
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