News and updates from BCSDN and the region
First emerging in the 1970s, women’s funds and foundations focus on gender equality and other issues that disproportionately affect women and girls. Women’s fund and foundation donors serve as examples of activist philanthropists, for whom being visible as a donor is critical to propelling change. They also exemplify how, by identifying a specific set of
Read more →Around the world, extreme poverty has fallen, access to basic health care and education have risen, and deaths due to violence are at historic lows. Yet, inequality within countries is still rising, the number of forcibly displaced persons is at an all-time high, and climate change is exacerbating epidemics of drought, flood, migration, and disease.
Read more →The SDGs and targets are indivisible and interlinked whereby progress on one goal can contribute to another or, in contrast, could undermine efforts in another. According to CONCORD, the recognition of civil society’s diverse roles – as stated in the 2012 EC Communication – has not always been backed coherently. For that reason, it is
Read more →Challenging EU governments to establish a more enabling environment for philanthropy, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has published its first opinion on the topic, referring that a more philanthropic environment could make for a more resilient EU society. The opinion, which was commissioned by the current Romanian presidency of the EU and published
Read more →The report is the OECD’s annual flagship report on development co-operation. For more than 50 years, the Development Co-operation Report has brought new evidence, analysis and ideas to the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and the international community, shaping policy reform, behaviour change and promoting best practices. Each year the report analyses a fresh policy issue
Read more →The question of how grassroots groups and activists based in the global south can mobilise adequate support to overcome the growing challenges they face and achieve positive change is a serious one that requires our attention. These groups face significant challenges in accessing key resources (financial and otherwise) to sustain their work. This consultation is
Read more →Donor perspectives of the relationship between philanthropic and regional economic activity tend to fall into four broad areas: building the workforce, revitalizing the region as an attractive place to work and live, broadening philanthropic understandings to include strategic impact investing, and catalyzing dense networks of innovators and investors. These categories are identified as mapping on
Read more →Civil society plays a vital role in sustainable development, enabling people to claim their human rights, promoting human rights-based approaches, shaping policies, and providing social services. A substantial part of Swedish aid is therefore implemented in cooperation with civil society: the last few years around 40 per cent of Sida’s budget was channelled to or
Read more →The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) aims to deploy its funds more effectively and efficiently in the future to help the poorest and most vulnerable communities. In order to ensure a fair and comprehensible distribution of federal government contributions, it has established a transparent system of allocation and set new upper limits. The
Read more →EU leaders must end the political inertia on social and environmental challenges by making sustainable development the EU’s top priority for the next five years, say Europe’s leading coalitions of social, environmental and development networks who have joined forces with 150 organisations. European citizens desire an EU that will deliver social and environmental justice. Scientists,
Read more →2019 is set to be another challenging year for social change and human rights donors. With political polarisation growing in many countries and the far-right organising and making gains across Europe, this is a time for donors to come together and think about how to use their resources and influence. One of the focal points
Read more →The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has called on the EU Member States to establish an enabling environment for philanthropy in line with EU freedoms and fundamental rights, and promote it as a recognised and socially responsible form of contributing to the public good or the welfare of others. Unlike commercial companies, philanthropic foundations and private donors cannot enjoy
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