ISSUE #1 | MAR-APR 2015
ISSN: 2312-0924
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48TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS
ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
Funds | Partnerships | Learning COUNTRY FEATURE
The year can very well be Azerbaijan’s. In May it will host the 48th Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors; and just after a month it will gather over 6,000 athletes for the first European Games. All build-up aside, Azerbaijan must showcase more than just its infrastructure progress; it will need to convey to the rest of the world – particularly the aid sector – its readiness for positive change.
AZERBAIJAN: surviving and steering the spotlight
Grooming for the world stage At the May event in Baku, delegates – ADB executives, finance ministers, central bank governors, corporate giants and industry leaders, civil society advocates and NGOs – will tackle global and regional development, climate change, gender equality, health, governance and inclusive growth. Azerbaijan will take this moment to showcase its newfound, ‘investmentready’ business landscape, as a platform to legitimise its position in the region. Aggressive promotion has not been very modest – and for good reason. “Our geographic location and economic potential require us to be an active player in the regional integration process,” says Elmar Mammadyarov, minister of foreign affairs. ASAN, service provider of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations through online applications, flaunts their use of social media “to ensure public participation and raise citizen awareness on its works”. Established in 2012, World Bank Executive Director Jorg Frieden has said “ASAN is a best-practice” for countries in the Eurasian Caucasus and Central Asia to learn from.
A soldier silhouetted at the Heydar Aliyev Centre, one of the venues for this year's ADB Annual Meeting of Board of Governors in Baku. (Image: Ian Redding)
Cont. page 4
Setting up an NGO?
IN THIS ISSUE Featured Grants Page 3
Guest Writers: Humanitarian aid, security and justice
Learning Resources Page 13
Grants and Project Opportunities Page 16
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AsianNGO Exclusive: Clipped wings only make voices louder
Anti-violence women advocates cited Page 5
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Calendar of Events Page 14
Creating a non-government organisation may be a very exciting idea; but in reality it can be an extremely challenging endeavour. Many lose sight of the important aspects of building an NGO that they end up making mistakes that could prove unsustainable for the organisation in the long run. Social workers and advocates share their advice here on how to start and maintain an NGO. NGO should make a positive impact An NGO promote a specific advocacy. If you are driven to set up one, make sure there is a need for it. “There are hundreds of tiny organisations struggling to get by and you need to ask yourself whether you would be better off supporting them instead,” said Vicky Ferguson, director of Glad’s House in Kenya. Cont. page 15
FEATURED INITIATIVE
Giving without borders
Givology is a P2P (peer-to-peer) online donation platform to directly connect donors to students and grassroots projects across the world. As a 100% volunteer-run social enterprise, Givology connects users to grassroots education projects and student scholarships around the globe. From teacher training and school lunch programmes to library construction and scholarships, it emphasises transparency and maximising impact for every dollar donated. Givology is easy to use. Once registered for an account, users check out the student and project profiles on Givology through partnerships with grassroots education organisations, and post their highest priority funding needs. Once a donation is made to the user’s Givology wallet, they allocate it to the different education projects and scholarships that resonate with their advocacies. The dashboard makes it easy for you to track your impact portfolio and monitor for updates. For special occasions, consider giving a customisable gift certificate to your loved ones,
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EU grant to enhance Azerbaijan culture sector The European Union has opened a call for proposals to support a twinning project entitled, Support to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) of Azerbaijan for the modernisation of its policy and management system in the culture sector. The call is open to twinning programming between public administration agencies and mandated bodies of EU Member States, and those of their counterparts in Azerbaijan. The grant amounts to EUR1.2 million. Applications close on 20 April 2015. This project aims to modernise current policies of the culture sector through adapting best practices from the European models. It also aids the MCT in improving the management model for the culture sector focusing on the cultural heritage needs that include tangible and non-tangible [heritage]. Cont. page 14
Management solutions for a better world
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EDITORIAL COMMUNICATING DEVELOPMENT MORE EFFECTIVELY Communicate to the beneficiaries: You need to communicate to the communities you’re working in, not just to the donors and general public. This is critical for strengthening relationships. Victoria Okoye (Ghana), Senior Communications Specialist Abt Associates, www.abtassoc.com
Share communications tactics with local organisations: Wealthy countries’ role should be to share their knowledge of communications with others to tell people’s stories without imposing views. Daniel Balaban (Brazil), Country Director WFP Centre of Excellence against Hunger, www.wfp.org
Campaign for justice, not pity. Focus on access to the rights of the people you work with. Get participants to make videos to showcase the voices of the communities they work with. Move beyond simplistic case studies: to meet media demands for personal appeal, we over-rely on case studies. But we need to re-evaluate how we can still deliver nugget-size communication, but giving a stronger representation of the cause. Maria Schleimann (Denmark), Communication Officer International Dalit Solidarity Network, www.idsn.org From The Guardian Development Professionals
EDITORIAL TEAM CEO & PUBLISHER Sreenivas Narayanan
All that NGOs need: the right knowledge and the proper channels
EDITORIAL
Even in more progressive societies, tools like anti-corruption and anti-sexual harassment reporting mobile ‘apps’ that proliferate in the region still impose anonymity as a mandatory feature. Naïveté aside, it’s as if speaking the truth and Recently a fellow protecting our rights have become a dirty secret that victims conference delegate, themselves should be ashamed of doing. Of course, we don’t browsing through her latest live in an ideal world. copy of AsianNGO [she had contributed articles in The works of Transparency International in Cambodia, for example (see Page 12), in tracking and reporting cases of previous issues], turned bribery; as well as the initiatives that The Asia Foundation to me: ‘Why stick to the age-old formula of country awarded recently, which focuses on reporting cases of sexual harassment (see Page 5) – are fine examples of filling the features – do they matter needs of society in making it better, one issue at a time. to readers elsewhere in the region where it is of no Indeed, some realities are easier to evolve from; while others concern to them?’ remain a challenge to even confront, let alone having the access to resources that can empower institutions and societies. That I thought there would be MIKE SAYCON an easy, standard response. is the kind of work that NGOs, wherever in the region, have mike@asianngo.org the moral obligation of upholding – especially in working Yet the question actually with local partners. Because despite the activist nature in what yielded a curiously new we do, NGOs are bound to the same level of integrity and answer resonating with much weight: ‘There’s hardly any accountability to our donors and our communities. link between small, local NGOs across the region – let alone the chance to benefit from each other. At best it We also filled this issue with more Learning Resources, both opens them to the fact that somewhere, their struggles are the ones that can be downloaded for free and those that are also felt and there is something new to learn. Wouldn’t it be on paid subscription basis. As this has been the direction a relief that someone else has it tougher to crack through that we at AsianNGO has committed to take through the mundane daily challenges?’ course of its two-year history, we have advocated for the We laughed it off for a bit, but it left us both pondering for a sheer access to learning for non-profits and NGOs and help them overcome operational barriers. more elaborate reasoning. This issue is very special to me. For the first time at AsianNGO, we run an interview with someone requesting for anonymity – mostly to avert threats of retribution from their government for speaking to a non-local media outlet. As we feature Azerbaijan, in time for the hosting of the ADB’s Annual Meeting – a tradition we have held here at AsianNGO, we learn so much from our friends in Baku and elsewhere in the ex-Soviet country.
I have always believed it is only with knowledge and the right channels that NGOs can push for their advocacies and break any barriers – language, culture or politics; that no one can silence us for so long as we have partners that empower and enable us to get on with our works.
Ironically, as in any of ADB’s Annual Meeting, there will be local NGOs and IOs protesting in Baku against the Bank’s practices, questioning the legitimacy of its works in the region. It happened in Hanoi and in Manila; it happened in Delhi and It was eye-opening how local NGOs can struggle on so many in Astana – and who would bet against it happening in Baku levels: donor support is clipped, their government seems to this year anyway? Not many of us may question the validity of disable them to carry out their operations, and any critical these protests as an expression of our freedom to criticise and word of the current regime is tantamount to imprisonment. influence policies that affect our communities. In this age, and for those of us who enjoy the civil liberties of press freedom and the sacred right to expression, it is by But in the case of our fellow NGOs and advocates in default a no-nonsense to question public policy and fight for Azerbaijan, we can only keep watch until after the events in our causes without fear of arrest. Yet that’s something not May. ■ many societies enjoy.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mike Saycon SENIOR EDITOR Karthikeyan Subburaman DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Robert Ferguson PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER Olga Babina PARTNERSHIPS ASSOCIATE Nicole Razo SENIOR RESEARCH AND EDITORIAL ASSOCIATE Chona Montecillo RESEARCH AND EDITORIAL ASSOCIATES Veda Bongalos Kristine Fernandez Ashley Venerable WEB ADMINISTRATOR Chris Daria LAYOUT ARTISTS Rose Ann Dela Cruz Rozelle Tiru CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kelvin Tee For Subscriptions: subscribe@asianngo.org For Partnerships: partner@asianngo.org For Sponsorships & Advertising: advertise@asianngo.org For General Enquiry info@asianngo.org PHOTO CREDITS FLICKR www.flickr.com PHOTO STOCK EXCHANGE www.sxc.hu ISTOCK PHOTOS www.istockphoto.com AsianNGO is a publication of Asian Development Media, with address in 21B, Kwong Fat Hong Bldg No.1, Ramsey St. Central, Hong Kong 1226. The print edition of AsianNGO is released on a bi-monthly basis. Opinions expressed in this magazine are solely those of the writers and not necessarily endorsed by Asian Development Media. For contributions, please get in contact with the editorial team at info@asianngo.org. For more of AsianNGO and its database of grants, partners, learning assets and events, visit www.asianngo.org.
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Revise social innovation concept - urgently There is a credible and fabulous history of innovation in the non-profit sector; and those of us in the social innovation space need to ask ourselves some critical questions. The examples are many and mostly borne out of a sense of justice for those being left behind in society or are disadvantaged one way or another. These TARA ANDERSON innovations have been tanderson@dragonflycollective.com.au often totally ignored by governments because they question what the government is doing. This is nowhere more clearly the case than with a project called ‘Sanctuary’ in Melbourne, Australia. It is an integrated housing model for asylum seekers at risk of homelessness, due to the Australian government’s disgraceful and inhumane policies that treat asylum seekers as less than human. And there are many more examples like Sanctuary. Social innovations that have direct and positive impact on the lives of disadvantaged people are not co-opted by governments or big business precisely because of the reasons for which they exist; and because they exist in a space where there is no market or product to sell. This suggests we need to think carefully about how we use language, especially when language can be so easily coopted and neutralised by those in power. With such broadbrush description of social innovation, social enterprise and social entrepreneurship, and the active call now in the public discourse around social innovation to ‘bring it into the mainstream’ and stop it being a ‘cult’, perhaps it is more urgent than ever to recover what social innovation is and what it is not. If anything can qualify, the term becomes vacuous. Worse, the language of social innovation will be submerged within the language of ‘good capitalism’ - whatever that is. Perhaps it is time to recover some original definitions of social innovation. Rather than broadening, refocus the definition on some specific language distinguishing what
COMMENTARY
it is and what it is not. This focus needs to identify the intention, effect and outcomes of a social innovation within the context of social justice. We support all things ‘social’, including the development of the ‘social economy’, when they benefit the community; or more specifically, when social innovations provide new approaches to social challenges that aim for equality, justice and empowerment. This requires a revised discourse around social innovation where the focus is on equality, justice and empowerment for those who are disadvantaged or vulnerable in society. Not on savings made for neo-liberal political economies where those savings will not be fed back into the community; and not on innovations designed in public services to make staff feel better. Rather than being co-opted by people in power, social innovation needs to call into question and critically analyse how people in power can be the cause of disadvantage and suffering in the community, and not be seduced into the mainstream by the lure of money and the ordinary. Social innovation and social enterprise are at their best when operating on the edges, filling in the gaps and creating new ways of addressing social challenges; not mere, unwittingly supporting the status quo. Politicians won’t change the system. People will. ■ ABOUT THE AUTHORS Tara Anderson founded the Marketing For Good project in Australia in partnership with the Australian Marketing Institute. She is currently co-director of The Dragonfly Collective, and the Head of Marketing and Communications at London Early Years Foundation. She is currently completing a Masters of Social Innovation at the University of Danube in Austria, with a focus on tackling systemic inequality in the UK through collective impact. This piece appears in the ProBono Australia blog page at http://bit.ly/1an1mOS, which Tara co-authored with ANDREW CURTIS, who has written this three-part analysis of social innovation based on their works at the University of Danube and the Centre for Social Innovation in Austria. Andrew holds an MBA with a focus on opportunity evaluation and innovation, strategic planning and strategic foresight. As co-director of The Dragonfly Collective, he has been engaged with social enterprises and ‘third sector’ charities in Australia.
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FEATURES Cont. from page 1
FEATURED GRANTS
UN Women’s Fund for gender equality In celebration of the International Women’s Day in March, the United Nations Women’s Fund for Gender Equality announces its third call for proposals for women-led local, regional and national NGOs and civil society organisations that have programmes for women’s economic and political empowerment. The grant amounts from USD200,000 to $500,000. Online application will close on 5 April 2015. Women-led CSOs will also be entitled to a package of monitoring and technical support services and impact tracking through results-based management support.
Giving without borders or buying Givology merchandise in which 100% of profits go to our projects and students. Givology also makes the act of giving, even if done online, to be as interactive as possible: create a community and full experience around giving. Through the messaging feature, users can send a letter to their sponsored students that Givology can translate and deliver. In the regular updates received and posted online, users find that students often respond. “We started Givology with the philosophy that small dollars and small volunteer hours aggregate into a powerful force for change. We wanted to create an online community where personal connections really matter and that regardless of the size of our donation, we'd get regular updates, full transparency, and maximum impact per dollar spent,” says Joyce Meng, co-founder and CEO, herself very passionate on education, travel, impact evaluation, and data analysis in philanthropy.
Proposals should focus on the following thematic areas: women’s economic empowerment, which seeks to provide opportunities for women to gain access to decision-making, land, technology, credit, livelihoods and other means of production and social protection; and women’s political empowerment, to support them in taking on leadership roles and enable them to participate more in political processes. Since its launch in 2008, Givology has raised more than USD300,000 to help over 2,800 students in 26 countries through Proposals should have a two to three-year implementation 46 grassroots partnerships. With more than 2,600 donors, schedule, and held only in OECD DAC list of ODA recipient 90 global volunteers, 11 chapters globally, and 30 core team countries in Asia-Pacific Africa, Central Asia, the Americas members, Givology pioneers a new model of "crowd-sourcing" and the Caribbean, Arab States, and Europe. philanthropy to make the largest impact at the lowest cost. Asia-Pacific countries covered for this grant are: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Nepal;
“Our philosophy is Give to Learn, Learn to Give – where every person has a responsibility to the world and has something powerful to offer. We emphasise transparency and impact monitoring through web interface; our donors receive regular updates, send letters to our students, blog about their experiences, connect with other donors, and learn about education policy globally,” Meng says. The platform aims to create an online community connecting donors to high-impact pre-screened investments in education; identify transformational grassroots education organisations to bring to networks and facilitate sharing of best practices; raise funds and support for partnership network through online and offline channels; spread awareness and generate research on effective education initiatives globally; promote cross-cultural relationships through blogging, messaging, and social media; and crowd-source its impact at the lowest cost through its volunteer base. Givology received the Intelius Award for "Best StudentRun Social Enterprise", "Top Education Non-profit" by GreatNonprofits, "Technology in Education" prize by Education Without Borders, Ford Focus Finalist, as well as being featured in Nicholas Kristof 's inspiring book Half the Sky, Vivanista, Knowledge@Wharton, Philadelphia Inquirer, MTVAct, among other print and media sources. For more information or to get involved, visit www.givology.org. ■
FEATURED EVENT
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EU grant to develop agriculture in Uzbekistan
Philanthropy takes spotlight in Singapore summit This year’s Asian Venture Philanthropy Network will host delegates from 170+ members of venture philanthropy organisations, impact investment funds, private equity, wealth management, academic and grant-making institutions to advance the practice of venture philanthropy in Asia.
Hosted on 20-23 April at the National University of Singapore UTown campus, the annual four-day event will include a mix of keynotes, panel discussions, breakout sessions, workshops and facilitated networking. Some of the world’s best known leaders from the social finance, business, governmental and academic sectors will be joining us to examine the latest (Image: USAID developments Cambodia) Image: ADB in the philanthropic and social investment community. The European Union invites non-profit organisations to apply for a grant to improve Uzbekistan’s agriculture industry Among this year’s key speakers at the event are Melissa in driving economic growth and enhance the living standards Berman, president and CEO of Rockefeller Foundation’s in rural areas. The grant amounts to EUR 10 million, and Philanthropy Advisors; Kavita Ramdas of Ford Foundation; deadline for applications is on 28 April. Wang Zhengyao, executive director of the Beijing Normal University One Foundation’s Philanthropy Research Institute; The call aims to share EU know-how and technologies in the agri-food value chains with the help of local government and Lawrence Lien, chairman of Philanthropy in Asia. agencies and economic players for improvement of rural areas in Uzbekistan. The applicants should propose The conference will be structured according to a new programme/s focusing on income generation, capacity capability development model on specific phases of the venture development and institutional strengthening. philanthropy journey: due diligence, impact assessment, investee support, portfolio management, or multi-sector The programme will be implemented in six Uzbek regions collaboration. including Namangan, Andijan and Fergana (together constituting the Fergana Valley), Djizak, Syrdarya and Kashkadarya.
Highlights at the event will be the expanded Investment Showcase with 16 different organisations to showcase ‘the power of crowdfunding’. The AVPN Knowledge Centre Room allows delegates to talk with the team on matters of interest; and the upgraded AVPN Connector will connect other resource providers with similar geographical or sector interests. Panel discussions will focus on: • Venture Philanthropy in Practice: the challenges and success of pioneering engaged philanthropists • Disruptive vs. Sustaining social investing: cycles of innovation in the social investing space • Scaling social innovations: featuring innovative corporate foundations • Engaging governments: learn about efforts pursued by government agencies and how to collaborate closely with them Meanwhile, parallel breakouts cover topics such as getting started in engaged philanthropy, due diligence and understanding the landscape of social need, capacity building of social organisations and how to channel human capital effective, impact assessment and choosing among various costefficient frameworks, portfolio management and allocating Cont. page 14
The agriculture sector comprises 38 per cent of the country’s GDP and 60 per cent of the population depends on agriculture for food and livelihood, making it one of the top priorities of the Government of Uzbekistan. Through the project, results are expected in terms of developing commodity value-chains mainly related to the agri-food sector (livestock breeding, gardening, vegetable growing and services sector); improving skills and techniques of economic players, which includes the youth; usage of technologies and training on their application; re-training of farmers and improvement of agri-product processing methods; and training of local authorities to make local development plans. Other piloting activities are improving seeds and breeds, quality control, distribution and marketing- business workflow, veterinary services improvement, post-harvest facilities (conservation, storage, processing and packaging technologies), and other related areas with tailored training and technical assistance. Particular attention is sought in cross cutting issues like promotion of gender equality, integration of environmental issues, demonstrative effect, and energy-saving technologies. Initial run of proposed projects may not exceed 48 months. Funds | Partnerships | Learning
For more details, visit http://bit.ly/1vbZxrW. ■ www.asianngo.org
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COUNTRY FEATURE Cont. from page 1
Azerbaijan: surviving and steering the spotlight
Then-US Secretary Hillary Clinton and the US Embassy's Chargé d'Affaires Adam Sterling met with civil society representatives in 2012. (Image: US State Department)
“It has been successful in ridding the public sector of red-tape, eliminating windows for corruption among public sector staff, and enhancing transparency in public transactions,” says ASAN Chair Inam Karimov, on how his company has enabled open lines of communication with civil society. But enabling civil society has been more of a question than a piece of promotion – with government and general public, at least those able to speak, maintaining opposite views. Hikmat Hajiyev, foreign ministry spokesman, says there are 3,000 domestic NGOs registered in the country that the government is prepared to support – a sentiment echoed by a former ADB director who refuses to be named, as she now holds a key position in another multi-lateral institution. “In the spirit of the still-effective trend of the GONGOs (government NGOs) in exSoviet states, the Azerbaijani government has certainly funded institutions that have done very good work. However, there is also no clear delineation of the extent to which the government exercises influence on these projects,” the ex-ADB executive said. Mr Hajiyev is quick to add that NGOs who receive funds from abroad use the money for dubious purposes; to provoke disorder and instability. "We all know how some countries have seriously suffered from this type of foreign intervention," he says. "Azerbaijan is determined not to fall victim to such kind of ‘charity’." While tension is brewing at home Meanwhile, two of the country’s most prominent civil society figures, Leyla and Arif Yunus, spent long years in different prison centres after being charged with high treason for their human rights campaigns. Last year, a hundred human rights activists, journalists and bloggers were detained on charges that range from espionage, drugs and weapons possession, hooliganism to tax evasion. Robert Coalson of Radio Liberty reported last year that Ramiz Mehdiyev, President Ilham Aliyev's chief of staff, accused Western forces of “using NGOs and independent media to spread false lists of 'political prisoners'; information on alleged violations of human rights; fabrications of pressure on civil-society organisations and journalists; and exaggerations of corruption in Azerbaijan." “This has resulted in the closed or suspended activities to many of the remaining human rights NGOs in the country. Parliament continues to tighten legislation related to the
Nationalism: Civilians, mostly men, flock to pay their respects at the memorial to the victims of the January 1992 Khojaly Tragedy. (Image: Ian Redding) 4|
Campaigners outside the Baku court where members of NIDA were being sentenced (Image: Jahangir Yusif/Index)
operations and financing of NGOs, cutting off vital sources of funding for independent groups and making it difficult to carry out even routine activities,” reports Rebecca Vincent at X Index. Rayhan Demytrie, BBC correspondent, added that this trend is a stark contrast to the revelry of the oil-rich country’s chairing of Europe's leading pro-democracy body, the Council of Europe. Another local charity worker said regulations and tight scrutiny on civil society have deterred NGOs – mostly for fear of the government – to cooperate with foreign donors. As a result, when EU Commissioner Stefan Fuele pledged $5 million in assistance to civil society organisations in Baku last September, NGOs expressed fear there is no one left at liberty in Azerbaijan to accept the gesture. After this year’s events Azerbaijan will continue to outpace many of its fellow ex-Soviet neighbours: in 2017 it will host the Islamic Solidarity Games participated in by 57 countries; and in 2020 it will host the games of the European Football Championships. The country has also bolstered bi-lateral ties and becoming more active in bodies like the OSCE, Council of Europe, Non-Aligned Movement, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the NATO Partnership Program, to name a few. With 13.8% of the country’s $70 billioneconomy comprising of social and non-formal services, a call to enable better participation of civil society is even more glaring. But the president of a local NGO, who insists on anonymity, made it clear at the beginning of the interview: “Please do not cite my opinions to me and to the organisation. The situation here is difficult and I do not want to endanger our work and partners right now.” Under these circumstances it is important to continue civil society work and presence: NGOs need to put more efforts in rallying local staff. This is the only way to ensure they continue to operate and promote democratic values. Along these lines, NGOs and civil society still need to strictly adhere to imposed administrative and financial rules and be as transparent and as cooperative as possible to repel accusations that they simply try to undermine the authorities. As one of our interviewees still faithfully maintain: “civil society and NGOs also should try to reach out and establish some dialogue with the authorities. It is not constructive if we are sitting at the opposite sides of the fence.” ■ With reports from Rayhan Demytrie/BBC, Robert Coalson/RFERL , and Rebecca Vincent/ Index . Photos used in this piece were sourced independently, and has no direct co-relation to the authors and sources cited herein; unless otherwise indicated.
Youth discuss priorities for global post-2015 Development Agenda in the framework of second round of post-2015 consultations last year. (UNO/UN Information Centre)
Azerbaijan pursues new strategy for WB report
Azerbaijan appoints alternative energy committee
Azerbaijan is changing the methodology of drafting its Doing Business report for 2015. At an experts' presentation for government agencies in Baku, World Bank country manager Laisa Leshchenko stated that a new business strategy was determined for the country; with the main components to be executed in six years, including reforms in the private sector, reducing dependence on energy exports, attracting private investments, and utilising existing resources and reserves correctly.
For decades now, Azerbaijan has been one of the world’s sources of oil as two thirds of the country’s land space is abundant with it. In 2009, the Ministry of Industry and Energy created the State Agency on Alternative and Renewable Energy Sources (SAARES) to address environmental sustainability – a step to attain its Millennium Development Goal.
The report is a World Bank project aimed at helping selected economies measure business regulations and their enforcement at the subnational and regional level.
To begin the groundwork, SAARES teamed up with UNDP in 2011 to start the project on “Promoting Development of Sustainable Energy in Azerbaijan.”
This project aims to develop renewable energy, since the country is hugely dependent on the exploitation of their hydrocarbon reserves, “The challenges Azerbaijan faces are not unique as well as to review and amend its existing as all countries with natural resources encounter legal and institutional frameworks to attract them; and getting oil revenues through exports potential investors. is more a more accessible method. Now the country should find a solution to create a more Recently, SAARES has joined hands with State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and favourable environment for business, and the Patents to develop a technical committee in WB is ready to provide necessary assistance charge of the alternative energy sources. to Azerbaijan to respond to these challenges,” Leshchenko said. “The work is underway on the creation of a new technical committee. This process will Leshchenko noted that the country is still be accomplished in the near future,” the State caught up in the issue of diversification of the economy. “The work in this direction has Committee said. been actively conducted for the last four to five The development of alternative and renewable years. However, the non-oil sector is growing energy sources, which they have prepared a mainly due to state investments. It is necessary national strategy up to 2020, has pooled over to actively attract private investors to this $127 million from the public fund. process,” she said. The total capacity of alternative energy sources Furthermore, Leshchenko referred to in Azerbaijan has reached to more than 12,000 the notable growth rate of private sector megawatts. Solar energy is seen to be the development. "It is necessary to remove the country’s strength with an estimated capacity barriers hindering business as quickly as of 5,000 MW: 4,500 MW on wind energy, 1,500 possible,” adding that this will "ensure the MW on biomass and 800 MW on geothermal development and sustainability of the sector." energy. The Bank’s current strategy for cooperation for Azerbaijan covered the years 2011-2014; and the new strategy is expected to be ready by May 2015. Since its membership with the Bank in 1992, the amount of loan agreements signed between Azerbaijan and WB has reached $4.086 billion. (ABC)
A 20 percent increase in the share of alternative energy sources is expected by 2020, a great difference from today’s less than a percent share. In addition, the government also aims to have up to 100 objects for alternative energy in the next five years. ■
Developing housing, microfinance in Azerbaijan
Image: Habitat for Humanity International
the number of active borrowers has increased six-fold, according to the Azerbaijan’s Microfinance Association benchmarking report. This led to an expansion of operations and opening of new branches throughout the country. Initially, micro-finance loans were primarily seen to develop small businesses. But a Habitat for Humanity study, along with its local partners, revealed that about 30% of micro-finance loans were used by families for housing improvements or repairs.
Over the last 20 years, Azerbaijan has seen rapid economic development, boosting demand for housing particularly in the capital city Baku. Fueled by oil exports and construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, confidence in the economy improved, the state’s budget expanded, and incomes rose.
When Habitat and the Micro Finance Centre carried out more extensive research in Europe and Central Asia, it showed only 32 microfinance institutions in the region offered small housing loans as a separate product; and only 8% offered construction assistance to their clients. And while some helped finance small home repairs, they did not offer housing loans.
Impressive economic gains led to a real estate boom in the capital and recreational areas across the country. But new housing construction lagged behind with only 1.5 to 2 completions per 1,000 inhabitants, according to OECE data collected for the Housing Review on Europe and Central Asia carried out by Habitat for Humanity in 2013. Unfortunately, many low-income families were not able to get on the property ladder or improve their living conditions.
Realising this boiling demand, Habitat started working with micro-finance groups to develop housing finance programmes. By providing small loans between USD1,000 to 1,400 to low-income families, the programme sought to fund small home renovations and repairs. In addition, Habitat offered technical assistance through construction specialists who advised families on what needed to be done and the budget required to undertake construction work.
The government responded by setting up measures to help resolve housing problems: since 2000, it re-established its social housing construction programmes that now account for 15 percent of total new construction. But there was still a need to improve housing conditions for many families who live on small incomes.
Housing micro-finance programmes have started making a real difference, making it possible for more families to access the funds they need to help do incremental repairs and a small construction projects and improve their living conditions faster. With the increased involvement of civil society and nonprofit organisations these types of housing programmes help ensure that many low income families have a decent place to live. ■
This situation changed with the expansion of the housing micro-finance sector. Since 2004,
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FEATURES
Six youth projects on environment presented at ADB summit SEED in Lao PDR raises awareness among students on environment protection and biodiversity, working in partnership with the government and NGOs in the field of agro-paddy system. The organisation is led by students of National University, with the aim to empower youth groups, mobilise volunteers, and involve the youth in activities to support, promote, and raise awareness about environmental issues.
Cambodia activists awarded for fighting violence against women
Three women were recognised in February for their work combining technology with efforts to combat violence against women, a major problem in Cambodia. The inaugural VXW Award will provide them assistance to further promote their efforts on smartphones and online, two fast-growing sources for information in the country.
who suffer violence often feel. She said technological innovations can help spread information quickly and improve women’s understanding of Cambodia’s domestic violence law, and their access to legal aid.
Silas Everett, head of The Asia FoundationCambodia, which set up the Award, said the technical assistance will help the winners Bunn Rachana, one of the winners, has been further develop their efforts online and on involved in combating violence against women smartphones. for eight years. Her latest project, working with Myanmar’s ECD Communication, Education British non-profit ActionAid, is an initiative to “We have youth who connect to each other, and Public Awareness (CEPA) solution reduces promote safety for women in urban areas. connecting to a globalised world of norms the loss of biodiversity, promotes conservation, and values, and sharing information with and implements activities. Their projects The VXW Award includes technical from each other. The activists are tapping into that In line with theme of this year’s Greater include awareness-raising campaigns, capacity software developers to create apps for with the technology. As they develop their Mekong Subregion Fourth Environment building initiatives, and networking with smartphones in Khmer to pace efforts to apps, they will be addressing a particular Ministers Meeting (EMM4), “Investing in stakeholders to create policies and develop counter gender-based violence. This can lead challenge that they see, and they will leverage Natural Capital,” Youth4Asia invited six youth incentives for the public to participate. to new ways to help women discreetly report the network, information-sharing, the ability groups to present their solutions under three threats; or log geographic locations where to show video, images and interactive content thematic areas: environmental management; The Community-Based Forest Solution of women are routinely harassed, to help push through their apps,” he said. biodiversity restoration; and poverty reduction the Utokapat Foundation (Thailand) engages the government to improve public safety. and social entrepreneurship for environment communities to develop, conserve and restore preservation. Rachana thinks the situation for Cambodia’s natural resources for better livelihood and Harassing women in Cambodia, Rachana said, women has improved in recent years but said sustainable development. The foundation The six organisations awarded at EMM4 is common. “Especially when we travel by works on projects on water, disaster more is needed to help them, particularly last January in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar ourselves, we get harassed most of the time. prevention and sustainable use of water for when it comes to economic independence. were Solid Waste Management Center There are lots of mockery or sexually-charged And although men are at the heart of the livelihood and economic development. (Cambodia), Youthink Center (China), Social remarks about our appearance. I think that is scourge, she would like future awards to Environmental Education and Development Viet Nam’s Green Ribbon is a project funded one very important issue we face as women, recognise works that some Cambodian men (Lao PDR), Environmental Conservation by the youth that aims to raise awareness yet it has become the norm and not discussed are doing to combat violence against women. Department (Myanmar), Utokapat Foundation against littering; the green ribbon represents a lot,” she added. (Thailand), and Ruy Bang Xanh (Viet Nam). the campaign to educate people not to litter. “It would be good if we had one man sitting They have successfully launched the Green Phat Sreytouch, second winner, helps women The project by the Solid Waste Management there and talking about women’s rights, Ribbon Campaign in different universities who work in the entertainment industry; Center reviews the solid waste management women’s issues, women’s efforts. So I hope through the youth. in Phnom Penh City, looking at the Municipal such as beer promoters, karaoke singers next time there will be more equivalence Solid Waste Management (MSWM) and waitresses, who all suffer harassment or The ADB’s NGO and Civil Society Center between men and women,” she said. characteristics, treatments, potentials, benefits and ADB Youth Initiative has collaborated worse. She said women don’t know where to and paths for improvement. It develops with ASSIST in the Solutions Search, bringing run when they encounter problems in the Meantime, plenty of challenges remain. capacity of the youth and encourages together a competition and an online workplace. She hopes to improve the resources It’s common enough, for instance, to see projects in the academe and by youth groups knowledge platform to be used as repository available to them to learn their rights in the violence meted out against women on national promoting efficient solid waste management. of solutions to showcase, disseminate workplace and services available to them. television. A successful anti-violence effort, and promote the youths’ strategies for experts say, needs action from all segments of ThinkBIG Initiative’s Youthink Center aims development in the Asia-Pacific. University graduate Sum Dany, the third to preserve the natural capital through Cambodian society, including its media. (R. 2015 137x198mm.pdf 4:47 pm winner,WasteMET blogs onChina women’s issues to raise 1 9/2/15Carmichael/VOA) youth-based social enterprise by providing In 2013, the ADB NGOC launched the ADB project incubation. This think tank promotes awareness and reduce the shame that women Youth Initiative to empower the youth of advanced green technology and environment- Asia-Pacific as partners for development by friendly system nationwide particularly in highlighting the youth’s participation in ADB Yunnan and Guangxi province, providing operations. ■ communities with the technical and capital support to run their enterprises.
UNIDO project improves PHL industrial energy sector Recognising the critical importance of energy management system standards and optimisation to advance and accelerate energy efficiency improvements in industries, the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE), in cooperation with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), is implementing the Philippine Industrial Energy Efficiency Project (PIEEP). With funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and technical assistance provided by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), this five-year initiative addresses the need to implement energy efficiency measures specifically in the industrial sector. This project introduces energy management system (EnMS) standards compliant with ISO 50001; systems optimisation (SO) for steam, compressed air, and pumps; and expansion of financing opportunities for energy efficiency investments.
wide improvements for efficiency gains. Through this approach, the project brings new concepts and opportunities to Filipino industries in reducing energy consumption and energy cost, lowering GHG emissions, improving operational efficiency, and increasing competitiveness. GEF provides a USD3.17 million grant, covering technical trainings and capacity building for selected local experts and industrial facilities, policy support, awareness campaigns, peer-to-peer networking, and facilitating access to credit facilities. Since the project launch in 2011, more than 100 factories have been trained to implement energy management system. Of these, 18 factories have implemented EnMS using ISO 50001 framework. These were achieved with the help of 40 national experts on energy management system. The project also has brought together 10 national experts for systems optimisation who trained more than 400 factory personnel on optimising compressed air, pump, and steam systems.
The project promotes sustainable energy management system and aims to attain energy efficiency best practices within four of the most energy-intensive sectors in the country: metal and steel, pulp and paper, chemical, and food and beverages; with the end-goal to save energy and The enhanced capacity of local experts contribute to climate change mitigation efforts. and factory personnel trained under the project will serve as multipliers facilitating Adopting EnMS will provide a policynationwide uptake of EnMS and SO beyond driven market-based tool and best practice the project period. Along with national method to integrate energy efficiency banks, the project also seeks to increase the into industry corporate culture and daily availability of opportunities and support management; while SO will focus on systemfor industrial facilities seeking financing for energy efficiency improvement projects.
Leading-edge Solutions and Innovations to Improve Waste Management Practices in South China Business Networking Opportunities • • • • •
High Level Waste Management Conference Technical Seminars Business Forums Hosted Buyer Programme Business Matching
Strong Support from Government Agencies • Housing and Construction Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality • Urban Management Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality • Human Settlements and Environment Commission of Shenzhen Municipality
SPACE BOOKING Emily Chua emily@singex.com 65 6403 2105 Jayong Kim jayong.kim@singex.com 65 6403 2203
Regional Industry Associations Confirmed Support • Indonesia Solid Waste Association • Waste Management Association of Malaysia
Mark your calendar for WasteMET China 2015
Learn more about the project by visiting the PIEEP website at www. iee-philippines.com, or contacting Jun Baclay at pmu-ieep@unido.org. ■ www.asianngo.org
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GUEST WRITER
Strained humanitarian aid systems aching for reform
LAHPAI SENG RAW daw.seng.raw@gmail.com
Thirteen aid organisations mounted the Dutch Humanitarian Summit last February in The Hague, with the goal to provide better humanitarian aid in times of crises; and formulate recommendations to the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. For the summit to be really successful even after its staging, all actors in the sector must take a good look in the mirror.
Chronic disasters, increasing insecurity and complex political situations are forcing us to drastically review our humanitarian approach. Local organisations and governments that now often play a marginal role, must become the biggest actors in the humanitarian field. The urgency of the summit is clear. Horrors in Iraq and Syria, bombing of the Gaze Strip, incessant conflict in South Sudan and the Central African Republic, natural disasters and the Ebola crisis have created huge refugee flows and humanitarian needs. In many countries the security situation has deteriorated and the number of refugees and displaced continues to rise. By the end of 2013 over 51 million people had been driven away from their homes, for the first time since the Second World War. And we are spending more money on humanitarian aid than ever. It rose by 27% in 2013, to US$22 billion. The Dutch cabinet allocated no less than EUR570 million extra to humanitarian aid until the end of 2017. The need for humanitarian aid is, however, growing much faster. Current humanitarian aid system, directed or implemented by UN and international organisations (INGOs), is already unable to meet the urgent demand for aid. Let alone be able to prepare a future with yet more natural disasters and man-made crises. The humanitarian sector responds too slowly and bureaucratically to announced or predicted disasters. Humanitarian aid is often a little more than just a band-aid solution after the event. The role of local actors
is also systematically under-exposed in discussions on more effective humanitarian aid. This, while more lives can be saved when local humanitarian organisations and governments take the lead. The Philippine government demonstrated last year it had learned from the unprecedented impact of typhoon Haiyan in 2013. As a result, when another typhoon (Ruby, 2014) approached the country, the [Philippine] government organised mass evacuations and prepared all communities. Likewise, a strong locally rooted organisation is demonstrated by Metta in Myanmar, the largest civil society organisation in the country and has been working closely with Oxfam Novib for years. When the 2004 tsunami hit Myanmar, Metta encouraged people to organise in village committees. When cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar in 2008, committees quickly mapped what aid was needed where, and the needs of the most vulnerable groups such as children, single mothers, disabled people and the elderly. While foreign organisations were at first kept out by the government, humanitarian aid was already being delivered. This illustrates why we need an alternative model for the future. Local organisations know the context of a disaster or crisis best and can therefore provide aid more quickly and effectively. They are closest to the local communities and know very well what kind of aid needs to be provided. But they often lack the power and the resources. In 2012, for instance, only 0.1% of all humanitarian aid money went directly to local and national NGOs in crisis-affected countries. Only 0.3% went directly to the governments of these countries. Industrialised countries in the top 20 humanitarian aid donors have a lot to contribute to the World Humanitarian Summit next year; but it is our task to advocate a reform of the humanitarian aid system, whereby we recognise that local actors often provide the suitable solutions. Reforms would imply a new role for international humanitarian organisations like Oxfam.
organisations, and ensuring that they get the power and the space to implement and lead humanitarian operations. At the moment, we decide the success of humanitarian aid on the basis of the number of people we provide with water, food and shelter. But in the future we must also look at how successful we have been in preventing human suffering when disasters and crises hit. To make this happen we must give local actors the space to take the lead, both in prevention and in the response after a disaster. To achieve this, the international community must quickly raise its investments in local capacity above the less than 1% that the latter is getting now. International aid will always be needed in extreme disasters and crises, but should be more supportive of and complementary to what local governments and organisations are doing on site. ■
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Laureate of the 2013 Ramon Magsaysay Awards for “quietly inspiring an inclusive leadership in the midst of deep ethnic divides and prolonged armed conflict” in her home country Myanmar, Lahpai Seng Raw co-founded the Metta Development Foundation, the country’s longest-running NGO. Under her leadership since 1997, Metta has established over 600 farmer field schools, trained more than 50,000 farmers in effective farm and forest management, built schools and training centres in early childhood education, introduced community water and sanitation systems, and funded technical support for livelihood projects. With a staff of 600, branches outside Rangoon and three research and training centres, Metta has been implementing programmes to over 600,000 people in 2,352 communities in Myanmar. This piece was originally delivered as a keynote speech at the Dutch Humanitarian Summit last 12 February 2015 at The Humanity House in The Hague, in the Netherlands. The piece is co-authored by Farah Karimi, general director of Oxfam Novib.
In that new role we must focus more on strengthening local
As aid landscape shifts, security and justice remain critical Last October, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Jose Ramos-Horta, former president of Timor-Leste, Nobel Peace laureate, and former head of the UN political mission in Guinea Bissau, to lead a high-level independent panel on peace operations. Having hosted five UN missions in TimorLeste and two separate TODD WEASEL mult-inational military todd.wassel@asiafoundation.org forces for 13 years, RamosHorta can influence the status quo. UN and multi-lateral work were remarkably effective at humanitarian interventions and stopping violence in both 1999 and again in 2006. But they proved less effective in establishing long-term stability and developing responsive institutions that prioritised space in the new nation for locally owned processes resistant to local self-interests and political capture. Despite these challenges, security sector reform and access to justice have been standard Security Council mandates of UN missions, as well as those of a broad range of donor countries over the past 15 years. This is especially true as the aid attention has shifted to fragile and conflict-affected states, such as Timor-Leste, where recent policy research has highlighted the importance of security and justice programmes in particular. Much of the donor-focused work on security and justice concentrates on technocratic solutions coupled with
infrastructure investments. Yet these reforms often lack politically minded, locally based initiatives that draw on the history of the state, elite politics, customary justice practices, and social linkages. Ironically, the main conflict resolution and peace enforcement programmes that first helped establish stability often created not only nuanced political and interest based assessments, but viable community-based conflict resolution mechanisms such as during the IDP return process in Timor-Leste that focused on truth and reconciliation over punitive justice.
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For large scale justice and security programmes, local knowledge should not be contained to a specific political section; rather it used as an approach to problem solving across all programming.
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It is notable that, despite a decade of community police training and development by successive UN missions, community policing as a formal mechanism for state-sponsored conflict prevention and resolution has only taken hold in Timor-Leste recently. Last February the Australian National University and The Asia Foundation co-hosted the 2015 Australasian Aid Conference, which gathered over 200 researchers and experts to examine aid effectiveness. Two crucial topics highlighted at the conference were on advancing institutionalisation of community oriented policing in Timor-Leste by moving to flexible, iterative modes of programming; and the role of customary justice partners in security sector reform. While there has been much rhetorical support for working politically in the aid effectiveness world recently, little has been accomplished in moving outdated bureaucratic project management systems in line with new modes of adaptive and creative thinking. Likewise, while there are a multitude of projects working with communities and customary leaders, few are tied into the larger security and justice sector reform processes.
Image: Conor Ashleigh/The Asia Foundation 6|
Moving beyond technical inputs and linear pathways to change There is growing discussion in the aid sector on the need for more flexibility in programming to ensure that logical frameworks remain adaptive and useful as planning tools. This is particularly true in conflict and fragile states where project implementation typically occurs up to a year after the
initial design and the environment has changed substantially. However, the logic set at the beginning is usually tied to overall objectives and is thus difficult to change due to administrative and donor constraints allowing little ability to integrate iterative and adaptive approaches. There are models being used effectively including the development entrepreneur approach, the use of theories of change, and political economy approaches that allow for flexible, quick changes to programme design. But projects often become trapped in a process of appeasing the technical requirements of logframes rather than remaining open to criticism or learning by trial and error. One way to help ensure a nuanced and nimble approach is to work with politically informed and socially embedded organisations able to adapt to changing circumstances and needs. Locally based professional development organisations, rather than military or police installations, can ideally lead the design and drive programmes after the humanitarian dust has settled. Integrating police and military factors directly into professional development organisations’ programmes are new ways to bring technical and political skills together. Specifically for large scale justice and security programmes (such as UN missions), the perspectives of local and political knowledge should not be contained to a specific political section but used as an approach to problem solving across all programming. Recognition that justice occurs outside of formal institutions Despite the positive lessons learned from IDP reintegration schemes in 1999 and 2006, almost all large-scale international funding for justice and security reforms in Timor-Leste was allocated to the state police and formal justice institutions. The relative absence of the formal state in much of rural Timor is accompanied by a strong reliance on customary structures that fulfill dispute resolutions functions. These can be hierarchical, which may perpetuate local power dynamics and can be oriented toward wider village and family cohesion, and not necessarily performed in the interest of individual justice. But customary forms are still the most accessible forms of governance and still the first place most people seek help when faced with a dispute or crime. Community policing is increasingly seen as a preferred model of donor assistance to police reform, and that policing thus involves more than just the uniformed police officer. However, the competing argument of long-term donor assistance along Cont. page 12
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Responsible business for sustainable impact UPCOMING CSR EVENTS Supply Chain Management and Social Responsibility 24 March 2015, UAE Community Investment Forum April 27, 2015 Singapore Disaster Preparedness Forum 2 July 2015, Vietnam CSR Asia Summit 2015 7-8 October 2015, Malaysia For more events and full details, visit www.csr-asia.com.
ASEAN business, human rights agenda take leap forward “As ASEAN continues to improve competitive strength in business and integrates into the global economy, there is a necessity that the region maintains appropriate standards in corporate governance, accountability and transparency in respecting environment, human rights and fundamental freedoms,” Rafendi Djamin, Indonesia representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), said. Djamin was addressing over 100 speakers and delegates as keynote speaker at a Consultation co-organised by ASEAN CSR Network and the Singapore Management University School of Law in Bali last February. The event saw AICHR representatives from Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia; Commissioners of Human Rights from Myanmar and the Philippines; and members of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights representing Asia and Africa. Discussions centred on developing National Action Plans as a strategic roadmap to carry out the UN Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights, “Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework (Guiding Principles). These have become the main reference to streamline efforts to address adverse corporate-related human rights impacts. Noting the Guiding Principles delineation on the role of the state to protect, the business to respect, and that access to remedy, judicial and non-judicial, be provided, Djamin said that “this should be the common goals where every effort made should lead to this objective. And in doing so, every party should be transparent and be accountable of their actions.” The Indonesian Representative later shared his countryalready has plans in place to develop a National Action Plan and expects the process to be completed this year. At the closing session, Aung Tun Thet Economic Advisor to the President of Myanmar, announced his country’s intention to develop National Action Plan on implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. He emphasised the importance for Myanmar, being a latecomer to the global economy, to engage at the regional and international levels in order to learn lessons from the experience of others and ‘leapfrog’ its development. (ASEAN CSR Network) www.asianngo.org
ASEAN raises the bar on CSR
B Corp sees Asia expansion
The next time you’re deciding whether to buy a service or product from a company, A network of CSR practitioners in Southeast you may want to check if it’s a B Corp – a Asia has initiated a three-year plan to put sustainable social enterprise that maintains responsible business practices at the heart of companies’ higher standards of transparency, the regional integration of the ten-country accountability and performance. It considers bloc. The Asean CSR Network (ACN) earlier stakeholders other than just investors and in March presented their ‘Asean CSR Vision shareholders. Over 1,200 firms in 38 countries 2020’, an initiative to mainstream responsible and 121 industries are now certified B Corps, business in the region by setting up a common with more being added every week. framework on CSR among the Asean business community and civil society. B Corp wants to be globally recognized and be the business world’s equivalent of Fair As Asean community integration opens Trade label. B Lab, the non-profit organisation vast economic opportunities for the region, behind the B Corp certification, now seeks to institutionalise the concept and expand its challenges naturally come with it. Economic growth in the region, if not achieved equitably, membership in Asia. will create tensions in society – and thus Having made some headway in the US – will not be sustainable, ACN CEO Thomas its base – and Europe, B Lab founder Bart Thomas told partners and members of the network at the launch event held in Singapore. Houlahan says the time may be right to bring the concept to Asia. “The region’s interest The ACN added it will work with Asean in sustainable business, for-profit social governments and business and non-profit enterprise, and impact investing is growing,” groups over the next three years to map a shared strategy and practices on CSR based on Houlahan said at an event in Singapore. “Our community of Certified B Corporations hopes international CSR principles. to be helpful in accelerating this momentum for people using business as a force for good.” The launch of the ‘Vision 2020’ is supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA); and builds on B Lab is talking to organisations across the initial work of the Asean Foundation, Asia, including the National University of which paved the way for establishing ACN in Singapore and The Family Business Network 2011 and has integrated CSR as an essential Asia, to find ways to raise awareness of component in building the ‘Asean sociosustainable businesses and of the B Corp cultural community’. Thomas explained that through the CSR network, ACN aims to implement the Asean vision of sustainable development by creating strategies based on established CSR principles; including respect for basic human rights, raising the standards of labour practices, protecting the environment and eradicating corruption. Furthermore, ACN said it will conduct workshops and forums to promote these principles in partnership with the UNIDO. The Asean CSR Vision 2020 also emphasised collective action, specifically on key issues that include tackling corruption and building integrity in the business; enhancing food security, environmental sustainability and agri-business competitiveness in the region and globally; and implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Particularly, the ACN will offer knowledgesharing, peer learning and partnershipbuilding in collaboration with the UNODC, the UN Global Compact and national-level partners, with the support of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office. It will also work with key stakeholders in the agriculture sector to promote the adoption of the Food and Agriculture Business Principles by the UNGC. Finally, it will work with partners such as the Human Rights Resource Centre for Asean and the Singapore Management University’s AsiaPacific Business and Rule of Law Programme to ensure adoption of the said UN and human rights principles.
concept in the region. It is also keen to use Singapore as a base, where a handful of companies are certified B Corps and is already home to about 140 international non-profit organisations with a social, humanitarian or environmental focus. Meanwhile, Mongolia’s New Media Group is the so-called Founding Certified B Corp in the region. It is made up of subsidiaries focusing on commerce, design, investment, marketing and technology; and deems itself a social enterprise ‘empowering human-centered business’. Across Asia, there is one B Corp in Vietnam, one in Taiwan, two in Hong Kong, three in India and seven in South Korea. How does a company become a B Corp? First, it must receive a minimum score on an free online assessment for ‘social and environmental performance’. Then it needs to add B Lab’s requirements, a list of commitments to stakeholders, into governing documents. The annual certification fee ranges from USD500 to 25,000, depending on the size of the company. The certification gives many tangible benefits to businesses such as access to other companies with a similar social missions, the ability to attract talented employees and long-term investors, as well as favourable Cont. page 9
The 7th Annual TM
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“We must balance our quest for economic expansion with CSR principles – responding not just to the need for profits but also ensuring all the people in Asean benefit in the long-term,” said Thomas. The ACN is composed of Asean business organisations that include: Singapore Compact for CSR, League of Corporate Foundations (Philippines), Indonesian Business Links, International Chamber of Commerce-Malaysia, Thai Listed Companies Association CSR Club, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the Asean Foundation. (Medilyn Manibo/Eco-Business)
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ASIAN CSR
Forum on inclusive development, migration The recently concluded Inclusive Development and Migration Forum 2015 brought together policy-makers, thought leaders and industry practitioners from across Asia-Pacific to share their knowledge and ideas on financial inclusion and economic empowerment of migrant workers; and tackle the lack of access of migrants to basic financial products and services. The forum was organised by ASKI Global in partnership with Citi Foundation to help migrant workers by finding opportunities on four critical areas including leveraging remittances for development, financial capability and technology, cross-border micro-financing, and encouraging social entrepreneurship for an inclusive future. “In 2013, there are around 230 million migrants globally, 30 million of which are in Asia-Pacific. Despite this large number, most of them do not have access to appropriate financial products and services. The forum thus facilitates regional collaboration and exchange of ideas among public, private and non-profit sectors to unlock the potential of migration for inclusive development,” said ASKI Global Chief Executive Officer Irma L. Cosico. Delegates from across Asia-Pacific attended, with speakers including Commission on Filipino Overseas Secretary Imelda Nicolas, Asian Venture Philanthropy Network Managing
Director Kevin Teo, Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia President Marie Lisa M. Decanay, and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Financial Facility for Remittances Manager Pedro De Vasconcelos. Citi Foundation and ASKI Global partnership was started through the Citi-ASKI Overseas Workers Financial Stability Programme, which aimed at helping migrant workers in Singapore through capacity building activities and enhancing their skills on financial management. They have reached around 500 migrant workers, of whom 90 percent have savings account, while 50 per cent invest in microenterprises in the Philippines. An Advanced Financial Education Course covering topics of personal finance, investments and insurance will be added in the next implementation of the programme. ASKI Global also seeks to collaborate with churches, hospitals and construction companies to reach 600 low-income migrant workers in Singapore and provide them with financial education training. According to Citi Commercial Bank Head for Singapore Hsiu-Yi Lin in her welcome remarks, “financial inclusion may be achieved by providing financial access as well as enabling financial capability.” ■
3M sets greener paper source policy Maker of Post-it notes, 3M will take new steps to ensure its suppliers of paper, pulp and packaging provide materials that come from sustainably logged timber. Its new policy, aimed at preventing destruction of fragile forests, came after pressure from environmental activists. The company, which also manufacturers Scotch tape products, now requires some 5,000 direct suppliers, located in more than 70 countries, to provide data, including the source of their harvested wood fiber. 3M says it may sever ties with suppliers that fail to meet its standards. While other companies have set conservation standards for their suppliers, 3M is expected to have broad ripple effects because of the size of its supply network, said Todd Paglia, executive director at ForestEthics, a forest and climate advocacy organisation that led a campaign against 3M, and is now lauding the company’s new standards. “No other manufacturer adopts such rigorous policy with such reach around the world,” Paglia said. 3M is the latest to take voluntary steps to reform supply chain practices amid pressure from environmental groups. The company will issue its first public progress report in May.
The company said it developed its policy in collaboration with environmental groups. 3M works with The Forest Trust, an NGO, to help ensure suppliers do not run afoul of conservation standards. Greenpeace has also hailed the new policy. “We are taking responsibility to make sure our pulp and paper suppliers meet the requirements of the policy, and help them to raise their performance if necessary,” said Jean Sweeney, 3M’s VP for environmental, health, safety and sustainability operations. As a result, 3M has entered into discussions with Canada’s Resolute Forest Products Inc, which has been criticised by Greenpeace for its logging practices. Although 3M does not purchase material directly from Resolute, some companies that supply it with paper products do. Sweeney said that for now, 3M will not initiate new business that includes Resolute. A Resolute spokesman only said the company “adheres to the letter and spirit of the law, and in many cases exceeds regulatory requirements.” “We actively speak with customers and prospective customers and tout Canada’s leadership and our own leadership in forestry practices and in overall sustainability matters,” said Seth Kursman, Resolute’s vice president of corporate communications, sustainability and government affairs.
Under 3M’s new policy, all paper-based products and packaging suppliers are expected to harvest in ways that don’t threaten peatland ecosystems and intact forest landscapes. The As part of its new initiative, 3M has created positions in each policy also aims to protect dense, high-carbon stock forests of its four regions around the world to oversee implementation and ensure the rights of indigenous peoples. of the paper-sourcing policy. (Reuters/Eco-Business)
Global complaint system against companies needs reform London-based GCM Resources is eyeing to turn 14,000 acres of fertile land in Phulbari, Bangladesh into a coal mine. Over 40,000 locals will be displaced from their homes and lose their livelihoods. Residents have been resistant to the coal mines; and it has been over a decade since the struggle began. Three died and many more were injured when they had a protest against the project. It took the United Kingdom’s NCP (National Contact Points) two years to complete the process after the complaint was filed. The findings stated GCM failed to “foster confidence and trust in the society in which it operates.” Yet it skimmed over more pressing matters: the death of the protesters, the impacts of the coal mine to the community, and the risk of violence escalating. The NCP, a global system to hold corporations accountable and as implementor of the OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) guidelines for multi-national enterprises, may have to be reformed after a series of complaints from aggrieved NGOs and communities worldwide are either dismissed or minimally acknowledged. Ideally, OECD helps its members practice corporate social responsibility; and through the NCP, communities and organisations can file a complaint against corporations that do not adhere to the guidelines. After the NCP receives a complaint, it looks into the issue and determines if it deserves further investigation. It then serves as a mediator between two parties as dialogue ensues, until they arrive at a guided agreement, backed by recommendations from the NCP. Many of the concerns raised against multi-nationals revolve around two common issues: destruction of natural resources and violation of human rights. Meanwhile, Canadian NCP was unwilling to review a complaint about a controversial mining project in Ecuador. NCP South Korea allegedly favours big companies and rejects cases. Other NCPs have done the same or reached decisions that do not entirely give the complainants a clear picture of what was to happen after. Although the NCP’s efforts lead to improvement in some cases, reform is still needed in order to establish a more rigorous system that takes firmer moves to shape better companies and provide more protection to human rights. (The Guardian/OECD)
Infosys Foundation repairs children recreation home India’s third biggest IT company proposes to invest some $500,000 dollars through its CSR arm for the renovation of Jawahar Bal Bhavan, a state-run children’s recreation centre in Bangalore, India. After a three-month evaluation of Bal Bhavan, Infosys decides it necessary to refurbish the 30-year old centre even if it’s not yet entirely dilapidated. “It will be like getting an old lady operated all over,” says Sudha Murty, chairperson of the foundation. Initially the company intended to invest first on replacing chairs and other equipment such as audio and video systems; but eventually they planned to have a “complete facelift” of the Bal Bhavan. They will also be reconstructing the toilets and green room. “Since the amount that will be going into this project is significant, we will have a board meeting in April to finalise our plan and once approved we will start the work immediately,” Murthy said. The foundation aims to ensure that children from government schools have access to quality facilities in what is possibly the only such free recreation centre available to them in the city.
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Indian actor and Bal Bhavan chair, Bhavana Ramanna, stressed the need for a better maintenance of the said centre and she also plans to repair the playing equipment including the toy train which it is known for. She added that the retaining of the artificial lake at the Bal Bhavan is also in need of a major reconstruction. “We are expecting more membership at Bal Bhavan with better infrastructure and facilities for children,” Ramanna said. (Times)
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ASIAN CSR FREE DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES
How do they do it? [ CSR Asia, 2015 ] Companies invest significant resources in community investment (CI) as part of their broader sustainability strategy. Individuals with responsibility for CI within their organisations receive greater recognition as specialist professionals who perform a valuable and important function. But while corporate reporting on CI initiatives is increasingly common, substantive information on the role and responsibilities of CI professionals remains relatively rare. This report aims to shed light on what goes on behind the scenes for CI professionals – How do they do it? To download the full study: http://bit.ly/1A7hysJ (CSR Asia)
Multi-Stakeholder initiatives: Cooperating to achieve responsible and inclusive business [ CSR Asia, 2015 ] This paper explores the functions and characteristics of multistakeholder initiatives (MSIs), the role they have to play, and how to evaluate their effectiveness and impact. The report based in a dialogue with a range of stakeholders says that the role of the private sector will be crucial and companies will have to be committed to working with others to finding solutions to social and environmental challenges. Businesses will therefore play a crucial role in any MSI but will also want to be sure that the MSI will provide new opportunities for them or help reduce risks; and will have to work with a range of stakeholders and, not least, some of their competitors. To download the full report: http://bit.ly/1HkQcFe (CSR Asia)
DONORS SPECIAL
Supporting Grantee Capacity: Strengthening Effectiveness Together [ The Foundation Center ] Published by GrantCraft, a service of Foundation Center, helps grant-makers make informed decisions when making investments aimed at improving organisational capacities. The guide tackles many themes and blends data from many sources to provide a comprehensive and in-depth view of the field. Learn more at www.grantcraft.org/ supportingcapacity. Cont. from page 7
B Corp sees Asia expansion publicity. Most importantly, B Corps should aim to become a movement that leads to a redefinition of a successful business. “Government and the non-profit sector are necessary but insufficient to address society’s greatest challenges,” B Lab says. “Business, the most powerful man-made force on the planet, must create value for society, not just shareholders.” (Singapore Business News/EcoBusiness)
Connect with leading local
B Corp aims to be the de facto certification for sustainable and social enterprises globally, which has more than 1,200 adherents globally. B Lab is the non-profit behind the certification. Singapore-based Eco-Business is Asia Pacific’s leading publication on responsible business and sustainable development. ■
affect the implementation of sustainable initiatives in your municipality.
governments and key partners to share best practices.
Learn how international processes will
Strengthen your decision-making
Cont. from page 3
UN Women’s Fund for gender equality
Register today at
Worldcongress2015.iclei.org
India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam; and China, Malaysia and Thailand.
Gain international recognition for your sustainability commitments and achievements.
The Fund for Gender Equality dedicates support in advancing economic and political development for women. All proposals should consist of the following elements: • Linking Local Implementation Efforts to National and Regional Commitments • Rights-Based Approaches • Strategic Partnerships • Engaging Traditionally Excluded Groups Applicants should have legal status with national authority and have at least 50 % women on its board. For the full request for proposals, visit: http://bit.ly/1GaD0ov. ■ www.asianngo.org
toolkit with innovative solutions to future-proof against causes and effects of climate change.
Look ahead to COP21 in Paris, France (30 November-11 December 2015).
(c) Seoul Metropolitan Government 2014
Follow @ICLEI #CitySolutions
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DONORS AND PARTNERS
A space for the next big solutions The Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center promotes innovation to identify impact-oriented solutions to critical global problems. Through conferences and residency programmes, it supports scholars, artists, thought leaders, policy-makers, and development practitioners who share in the Foundation’s pioneering mission to “promote the wellbeing of humanity.” With the aim to generate new knowledge to solve some of the most complex issues the world faces and create works that inspire reflection and understanding on global social issues, the Bellagio Residency programme offers participants an environment conducive to focused, goal-oriented work, and unparalleled opportunity to establish new connections with fellow residents from a stimulating array of disciplines and geographies.
The programme is open for practicing professionals in governments, corporations or non-profit organisations, whose work contributes to the well-being of humankind and connects with the Rockefeller Foundation’s focus areas of advance health, revalue ecosystems, secure livelihoods, and transform cities. Residencies last between two to four weeks. Applicants from developing countries are particularly encouraged to apply. As applications are reviewed on a rolling basis throughout the year, the Center is currently accepting applications for a residency after mid-August 2015. For more information on the requirements and the application process, visit http://bit. ly/1CY37hd. ■
Taiwan to expand partnerships with NGOs At a December reception at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei, Foreign Affairs Minister David Lin said his government is exploring opportunities to work with more non-government organisations in a broad range of charitable initiatives and raise Taiwan’s profile in the international development arena.
“They were also successful in expanding Taiwan’s international space and ‘flew the flag with honour to the nation’,” he added.
“We are a committed provider of humanitarian aid through solid partnerships forged with Taiwan’s NGOs and the global community; and we plan to take these cooperative relationships to the next level,” Lin said.
At the event, some of the country’s most effective NGOs received honours from Lin; including Bliss and Wisdom Charitable Foundation, Red Cross Society (ROC), Rotary International District 3520, SimplyHelp Foundation, Taiwan Alliance in International Development, Taiwan Health Corps, Taiwan Kiwanis of Children Foundation and Taiwanese Women’s Entrepreneurs Association.
The minister believes that soft power promoted by NGOs is key to expanding Taiwan’s footprint abroad, with 2014 having marked a fruitful year of achievement. “These organisations delivered results in such fields as arts and culture, gender equality, humanitarian concerns, medical care, sport and youth exchanges.
The Taiwanese government is planning more collaborative tie-ups with NGOs moving forward, said Lin, with the aim to advance disaster relief and humanitarian aid around the globe. “We hope to achieve even more in 2015 and ensure Taiwan lends a helping hand to those most in need.” (Taiwan Today)
Istanbul to become global humanitarian hub The Turkish government is eyeing to turn Istanbul into a global humanitarian hub as it introduces new approaches in providing humanitarian aid. “I may comfortably say that Turkey is far ahead of all countries, even the UN, in humanitarian actions thanks to the system we have developed – based on the principle of interoperability,” said Fuat Oktay, Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) Director General at last February’s preparatory meetings in Hungary for the World Humanitarian Summit next year. The summit will be hosted in Istanbul, gathering the UN, NGOs and private sector representatives in May next year to tackle more efficient and better function system to deliver humanitarian aid. Oktay pointed out reasons why Istanbul is a suited hub
for humanitarian aid, including the fact that Turkey hosts a number of UN bodies and that it is the third largest humanitarian donor in the world. The country also has an “increasing role in global affairs.” He added: “Turkey hosts more than 1.6 million Syrians and Iraqis. No other country in the world can handle this in the way that we do. We received 60,000 Iraqis over one night and 200,000 in only two days. This is a performance we should be proud of.” Since the said World Humanitarian Summit will be hosted in Istanbul, Oktay said it is fitting for the stakeholders to discuss Turkey’s plan on turning Istanbul into a humanitarian hub: “This summit will be another step toward making Istanbul and Turkey a humanitarian hub. Istanbul has become an important centre in recent years.” (Turkish Weekly)
Japan foreign policy stays unchanged There is no change in the Japanese government overseas development assistance (ODA) policy, according to Akihiko Sunami, director of the Development Assistance Policy Planning Division of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Sunami told journalists in a briefing this March that revisions to Japan’s ODA Charter in 2014 did not affect commitments to other countries, especially humanitarian development and disaster preparedness aid. “There’s no change from what we have previously done. There are cases where the military plays an important role in the development of humanitarian (activities), disaster humanitarian assistance,” he said, explaining that it helps if military forces could play a better role in humanitarian assistance. “It is going to be very much for development purpose – that is what we have been doing in the past.” He stressed that with natural disasters occurring across the world, there would be instances of such assistance being given to other countries. The anticipation for more military training assistance has made the Japanese government feel “it is appropriate to spell out what it is doing,” Sunami said. Earlier, the Japanese Embassy in Manila announced its government’s revision of the ODA Charter. The embassy said the new charter aims “to enable Japan to contribute more to securing peace, stability and prosperity in the international community based on the principle of international
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cooperation.” But the announcement was greeted with suspicion and concern last year despite assurances that military assistance would be for foreign military engaged in non-combat activities. The revision of the charter, now known as the Development Cooperation Charter, highlighted the fact that Japan can expand the scope of its activities abroad, previously limited to grants, aid, technical cooperation and infrastructure development “contributing to peace and prosperity through cooperation for non-military purposes.” The Japanese government has tasked the JICA to implement technical cooperation, grant aid and yen loan programs of its ODA in developing countries. Japan became the largest ODA provider in 1989. From 1991 to 2000, it was the largest donor in the world. A copy of the Development Cooperation Charter provided by the Embassy in Manila showed that the basic policies laid down by the new ODA charter are focused on “contributing to peace and prosperity through cooperation for non-military purposes”. “Japan will continue to uphold this policy and comply with the principle of avoiding any use of development cooperation for military purposes or for the aggravation of international conflicts.” the Charter states. (Philippine Star)
Cont. from page 12
Can transitional justice bring peace to Thailand’s deep south? With the conflict in the Deep South continuing, it is hard to see how TJ will change local views towards the state. Providing reparations, with Baht7.5 million ($231,778) now given per victim, is seen by many as an attempt to co-opt dissidents. The security approach of the government since the May 2014 coup, which saw the military outsourcing security work to local villagers and increase attempts to hunt down militants, may have slowed violence with incidents plunging from 1,298 in 2013 to 793 in 2014. But it provides little room for any benefits from TJ. Third, TJ only works well if implemented with strategies that forge an “elite” deal – between those who control power on either side of the conflict. Even if initial grievances are addressed, violence will not ebb unless those who control the means of violence on both sides board the peace train. Any such elite agreement between the government, military leaders, and insurgents is likely far off. Peace talks in early 2013 stalled. A new three-step plan has seen the government establish a negotiation team. But few see fresh talks as imminent or agreement being reached in the near term. Indeed, steps necessary to bring insurgents in may run counter to TJ goals. A major obstacle is the refusal of the Thai state to provide amnesty with one reported pre-condition for talks being a list of ‘wanted’ men as presented by insurgent leaders. Legal assurances will be needed if senior insurgents are to participate in talks. But TJ aims to fight the impunity that such an amnesty accord would imply. It may be that there is a need to delay key TJ activities such as prosecutions and truth seeking until after any peace agreement is reached. Is TJ not suitable for Thailand’s South? Yes and no. Most TJ initiatives are likely to be ineffective while an elite peace deal has not been reached, there is lack of political will, and military offensives continue. But important preparatory work can be undertaken now that could be useful later. First, research can be undertaken on the ways in which Thailand’s legal framework allows for future implementation of TJ activities. Second, it is worth thinking through what elements of regional and international TJ experience fit with the Deep South. Exposing those working in the South to other contexts can be useful. Understanding the demands and needs of those who have suffered from abuses is also important. Third, there is a need to build local capacity to advocate for and undertake (future) activities such as fact-finding and ensuring access to justice. Work is already underway in this area but more can be done. Capacity can take years to build and investments now may bear fruit later. Fourth, work on institutional reform is important. Institution-building work is typically neglected until the later stages of peace processes. Yet assistance in key areas such as criminal prosecutions, access to justice, and community policing can provide foundations for the future. ■ ABOUT THE AUTHOR Patrick Barron is the Bangkok-based regional director for conflict and development at The Asia Foundation. In this capacity he provides support to peace-building and state-building work across 12 Asian countries and manages a number of cross-country regional initiatives. He previously worked for the World Bank, where he managed a large programme of support to the Aceh peace process, developed the Bank’s programme for Myanmar following Cyclone Nargis; and worked across the region, including Afghanistan, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. Trained as a political scientist at Harvard and Oxford universities, Patrick has published widely on conflict, governance and development issues in Asia. His book, Contesting Development (Yale University Press), was awarded ‘Book of the year on international development by the American Sociology Association.
www.asianngo.org
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
One of the biggest flashmobs of youth in Azerbaijan with nearly 200 participants that got the whole country talking about this event in 2012. (Image: IREX/Flickr)
Clipped wings only make voices louder
A first for AsianNGO, we run an interview with a friend and partner who requests for anonymity – for security reasons and the threat of retribution from the Azerbaijani government for speaking to non-local media. We negotiated to name at least their organisation but in the end, we felt it is also our duty to protect the identity of our sources and their organisations. With the rising embargo of information outflow from Azerbaijan, we share with you an almost-verbatim interview in this issue. has become an extremely difficult process. Likewise, the arrests of activists, NGO leaders, human rights defenders and advocates, journalists and opposition politicians prove this point. Finally, women are not able fully participate in public life in many districts because of a paternalistic mentality. In the southern regions there are still problems with child marriages and abortion of female children. What is the present level of participation of civil society – NGOs in particular – in these sectors? The government puts on a show that NGOs are involved in different commissions, but only GONGOs (government NGOs) are really involved and able to benefit. Independent NGOs are not [involved] in such works and even constructive opinion for better changes are not listened to.
Which sectors do you think need the most intervention - whether from the government, from other local NGOs or from international Generally, all our social services (education, organisations? public health, child care) are in poor Reforms, democratisation and citizen condition. The government provides a lot participation should be considered by the of funds to build and repair schools and government as a main priority. The same for kindergartens; but still, many children have no NGOs, we should and can certainly better access to proper pre-school education. Most advocate our rights and stand in one position schools in villages function but only until – but it can be impossible because of many the 9th grade level. Few children continue GONGOs. Foreign NGOs and international their education in city centers because of organisations should also focus on the financial conditions. Also, the number of monitoring of public finance management, adults entering university decreases annually when the government should be transparent as a result of frequent changes and lack of and accountable, as well as provide correct education system. There are corruption and numbers and data. bribery cases in schools and universities, and this has affected the level of education How are you and your organisation able to and growth of professionals. Access to health work to improve these sectors? care is free, but some doctors ask for bribe We work in civil society support by from all patients because they are underpaid. providing research and advocacy initiatives The government is fixing and building new related to development. We also implement hospital in cities, but the number and quality projects in the education and public finance of doctors decrease each year. management sectors. In the agriculture sector, we implement programmes aimed to raise In terms of governance and public financial awareness and build capacity. We have had management, the situation is very dramatic; partnerships with international NGOs but at considering nobody is able to check the the moment they are suspended due to our numbers. The government does not provide donors and partners having been questioned. correct statistics and data. Most of government We work in many other issues, including funding is spent on infrastructure where gender equality, civic participation and public there are more windows for corruption. sector reform, but given how the government Monitoring of government expenditures is is not interested to listen to NGOs, it gets impossible, as they do not respond to official difficult to create deep, positive changes. letters and requests. Even some GONGOs and government donors ask for bribes from What are other current challenges for your grantees. organisation in implementing projects? Changes in legislation early last year have Reforms in democratisation and citizen totally paralysed the functioning of NGOs. participation are almost irrelevant to our Many, like us, were not able to register projects country. The changes in NGO legislation at the Ministry of Justice. Local NGOs’ directly restrict CSOs, as bank accounts of international partners or donors received bank many local and international donors are arrests and have been unable to financially arrested. For the latter to provide funding to support us since then. When these new local NGOs, they have to register – which legislations will be adopted, 80% of donors www.asianngo.org
will not able to register at the ministry, as the government sees them as enemies. So we are just trying to save some of staff members and our office; and see what will happen after the new legislation will be adopted. Conversely, are there opportunities for you as an organisation in Azerbaijan’s overall civil society? We are one of the largest NGOs, and one of those who have fought independence. Our experience of close to 20 years in capacitybuilding, transparency and accountability have helped us grow and implement larger projects in different regions of Azerbaijan. But with these changes in legislation, and having lost international support, it’s difficult to see
A Asian Venture Philanthropy Network
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWEE Our featured interview is with is a local Azerbaijani NGO whose main mission is to support socio-economic development in regional Azerbaijan. They concentrate on civil society and economic development, youth empowerment, public sector reform, European Integration and gender issues. At the same time, through their policy research work, they concentrate on civil society, business environment and labour policy issues. The organisation has implemented projects in different regions with the support of local and international donors. (Ed: image used in this interview was sourced independently from other contributors; and has no direct relation to the interviewee.)
AVPN Conference 2015 20-23 April, Singapore Venture Philanthropy in Practice
PN .................................................................................
Conference 2015
The 2015 Annual Conference is a 4 day event that will be held in Singapore on 20-23 April 2015 at the National University of Singapore UTown campus and will include a mix of keynotes, panel discussions, breakout sessions, workshops and facilitated networking. The 2015 conference will be structured according to a new capability development model on specific phases of the venture philanthropy journey: due diligence, impact assessment, investee support, portfolio management, or multi-sector collaboration.
HIGHLIGHTS Expanded Investment Showcase with 16 different organizations and the power of crowdfunding
Drop by the AVPN Knowledge Center Room and talk with the team
Upgraded AVPN Connector: link up with other resource providers with similar geographical or sector interests
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Venture Philanthropy in Practice –challenges and success of pioneering engaged philanthropists Disruptive vs. Sustaining social investing- cycles of innovation in the social investing space Scaling social innovations – featuring innovative corporate foundations Engaging governments – learn about efforts pursued by government agencies and how to collaborate closely with them
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Walk us through the state of various public and social sectors in Azerbaijan. Despite the fact that Azerbaijan is an oil- and gas-rich country, our infrastructure sector (energy, public transport, urban services) still leaves many rural areas with lack of the gas. The government is trying to address this issue, but local authorities are unable to because of lack of funding. Public transport functions, but there is a lot to do for train and old bus systems. Local authorities are not able to use innovative approaches to improve urban services; and frankly, not much changed since the end of the Soviet era. Our agriculture, too, faces a lack of in-depth research on competitiveness. The government provides funding for the development of the sector, but because of bureaucracy and corruption, farmers do not benefit. One core priority of the government should be adopting cooperatives legislation and procedures, and create an enabling environment for development of this sector.
future opportunities for the organisation while there are no mechanisms for NGOs and donors in the country to work. ■
.................................................................................................. For full programme, confirmed speakers and conference updates please visit www.avpn2015.com
LEAD PARTNERS
Tickets are 80% sold out so register now! By invite only! Please email your name, designation, organization, and your interest in the conference to conference2015@avpn.asia
KEY SPEAKERS
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Melissa Berman, President & CEO Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
Kavita Ramdas, Representative Ford Foundation
Wang Zhengyao, Executive Director Beijing Normal University One Foundation - Philanthropy Research Institute
Lawrence Lien, Chairman Philanthropy in Asia
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ACROSS ASIA
Can transitional justice bring peace to Thailand’s deep south? The conflict in Thailand’s Deep South, which has killed almost 7,000 people since 2004, is currently the region’s deadliest. What role might transitional justice play in nudging the South toward peace?
• Longer-term institution-building efforts that seek to reform dysfunctional security and judiciary These mechanisms are seen as promoting peace by redressing grievances that underpin conflict, building state legitimacy, and enhancing confidence between belligerents. But history shows that at least three conditions are necessary if TJ is to succeed: one, it is backed by political will; two, it is accompanied by policies that limit new grievances; and lastly, an agreement between those that control both sides can be achieved. Unfortunately, none of these conditions currently exists in southern Thailand.
TJ only works when backed by strong political will. Prosecuting crimes requires governments to agree that some of their own will be indicted. Launching TRCs, and Transitional justice (TJ) following their recommendations, creates vulnerabilities. And is a set of temporary pursuing longer-run reforms can be difficult given politicalmechanisms, such as PATRICK BARRON prosecutions or tribunals, economic incentives to maintain the status quo. Without strong leadership, TJ is likely to be confined to the provision of patrick.barron@asiafoundation.org that improve access reparations, watered-down fact-finding missions (if at all), and to justice and help the prosecution of small fry. states and societies respond to widespread human rights violations after periods of conflict or political disruption. It This been apparent in Thailand’s recent approach to TJ. is built on the assumption that a lack of justice is a cause of Pressure from ASEAN neighbours and members of the King’s conflict and instability and that there must be responses to Privy Council to address escalating violence led former injustices if peace is to be achieved and for it to be longlasting. Employed in countries in South America, East Asia, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to create a National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) in 2005. The commission and Eastern Europe as they were swept along by the third assessed the causes of violence; yet the final report made wave of democratic transition, which saw the number of democracies double between 1974 and 1990, TJ has more little impact on policy, with most recommendations ignored. recently been used as a peace-building tool in negotiations A NRC fund of THB5,000 ($155) allocated per family was in the Bangsamoro (Philippines), Aceh (Indonesia), Nepal, established to compensate victims, but these were simply oneand Timor-Leste. off payments. No senior security personnel were prosecuted. From 2004-2012, 12 additional case-specific fact-finding TJ focuses on boosting access to three types of justice: committees were established. None had an impact on the retributive justice (bringing those who have committed government’s strategy. abuses to justice), restorative justice (providing compensation), and procedural justice (fixing systems Second, TRC mechanisms are only effective when they are to ensure injustices don’t recur). To achieve this, four accompanied by policies that limit the production of new mechanisms have been used: grievances. This is difficult, and perhaps impossible, during times of conflict. Counter-insurgency, even when executed • Prosecutions, either using domestic or international well, inevitably heightens perceptions of victimhood among tribunals or hybrid systems. many locals. For this reason, TJ initiatives, beyond reparations • Truth-seeking processes, such as Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (TRCs) that establish facts and some efforts at institutional reform, are almost never successful when conflict is raging. and generate a common narrative. • Reparations that provide cash to conflict victims, and Cont. page 10
Malaysia NGOs: logging caused floods The worst flood in Malaysian history hit its East Coast in 2014 causing destruction and loss of property and affecting victims with psychological issues. But floods are common in the East Coast, caused by the Northeast Monsoon that often occurs from November through March. Yet the unusual flooding in 2014, recorded to be on unprecedented scale, left the nation asking how a disaster could have happened. Until today, the real cause of the flooding is yet to be determined. And for many environmental NGOs, the disaster was due to massive environmental destruction. One NGO formed to stop the destruction of natural resources, Pertubuhan Pelindung Khazanah Alam Malaysia (Peka), claimed it had reminded the government and the media of the importance of protecting the forests and natural resources to prevent disasters like floods. “Perhaps the state government may gain a RM20 million ($6.7 mn) of revenues from logging; but it will cost them even billions more in recovery costs when floods of this scale occur,” Peka president Puan Sri Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil said. Syed Akil added that if logging activities continue, those responsible should adopt ways to ensure conservation of the ecosystem in the affected area. According to the president of the Environmental Protection Society of Malaysia, Nithi Nesadurai, Malaysians need to understand the importance of natural forests and the effects of logging and illegal land clearing. He believes public knowledge on environmental issues is still very low, which has caused a number of environmental abuse. “Almost everyone is aware of the phenomenon, but no one gives it due attention,” he said. Meanwhile, Datuk Abdul Malek Yusof, president of Sahabat Alam Sekitar Malaysia (Friends of the Earth Malaysia), said vast and widespread logging in the region had created a ripple effect in the long run causing severe floods. (EcoBusiness)
Cont. from page 6
As aid landscape shifts, security and justice remain critical technical lines, devoid of political nuance lays in stark contrast to the desire for more community oriented policing. The history of police development in Timor-Leste shows that there is an integral link between working politically, and helping to bring uniformed police officers together with customary leaders. Greater emphasis is needed to integrate police with communities early on, and providing equal support to both formal and the “informal” systems that handle the bulk of justice work during periods of state weakness. The benefits of such a focus are that programmes are forced to work with the political relationships across a wide variety of levels, and help transition newly formed police services through trust building and integration with communities early on. ■
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Todd Wassel is deputy country representative of The Asia Foundation in Timor-Leste, managing programmes that help build responsive state institutions to prevent crime and conflict through community-oriented policing and strengthening local governance at the community level. Previously he served as a Tourism Advisor with UNDP where he developed a participatory tourism policy for a municipal development plan in a rural, ethnically-mixed area in Southern Kosovo. Before that he was the Area Based Development Program Coordinator under the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, managing six UN agency service delivery and conflict prevention programmes in the city of Mitrovica in Northern Kosovo.
In 2010, Todd helped develop land and conflict strategies for USAID’s mission in Sri Lanka looking at the postwar environment; and in 2007-2009 he was Sri Lanka Country Director for the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), where he managed programmes on land disputes, return and restitution for IDPs in the North, gender-based titling and inheritance reform, and the prevention of forced evictions. Todd has extensive experience working with both local and international NGOs in conflict and post conflict countries and helping governments develop inclusive decisions making structures for good public policy. This piece appears on The Asia Foundation website.
Transparency International: on reporting bribery in Cambodia For most countries in Southeast Asia, corruption remains one of the most serious challenges to good governance. An increasing number of NGOs have thus started to address this, trying to create awareness of the problem and getting governments to implement anti-corruption reforms. Transparency International Cambodia (TI Cambodia) is one of these organisations, and the most important NGO in Cambodia to address the rampant corruption present in the country today. TI Cambodia follows the principles of the global TI movement, with local chapters in over a 100 countries. TI Cambodia cooperates with citizens and other civil society partners, the Cambodian government and the business community, in a view to build a broad social movement against corruption. TI Cambodia supports citizens who want to speak out against corruption and gives them advice on doing so. One core work of TI Cambodia is the Advocacy and Legal
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Advice Centre (ALAC), offering citizens a possibility to report incidences of corruption, giving them legal advice and helping them eventually file a complaint with Cambodia's government Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU). While citizens sometimes do not feel the position to report corruption or bribery publicly, blowing the whistle can carry high personal risk in Cambodia, where critics and defenders of their rights sometimes face intimidation or even arrest and prosecution. Citizens may also refrain from reporting corruption due to peer pressure at the work place. With this in mind, TI Cambodia is cooperating with Bribespot, a service to report bribery anonymously and safely. Bribespot functions both as a website and as a mobile app for Android and iOS smartphones. It has an intuitive user interface and is available in eight languages (English, Hindi, Indonesia, Khmer, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian and Thai). Throught their smartphone or the website, users can report bribes, stating their location, the amount that was paid and a
short description of the incidence. The report will go through a series of algorithms to ensure user anonymity and prevent spam or fraudulent reports. Following this process the bribe report will automatically be published and displayed on a map. Bribespot users thus help to map and visualise bribery hotspots in their country and beyond. They can browse and read through other reports, as well as comment and follow up on them. TI Cambodia has put together a team to help analyse reports submitted via Bribespot and give assistance to users about reported situations and who might seek legal advice. Reports can serve as an indicator of the nature of corruption in Cambodia and other countries. They can be used for advocacy, when showing authorities the nature of the problem of corruption, or serve as leads for research or journalistic investigation. Most importantly Bribespot is freely available for use and gives a voice to citizens who are afraid to speak out about corruption. (Niklas Kossow/ niklas.kossow@mercator-fellows.org) ■
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LEARNING AND RESOURCES FREE DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES
Are incubators making a difference?
From Charity to Change [ Lien Centre for Social Innovation ] This publication defines social investing broadly for the region as including both impact investing as well as evolving practices in philanthropy. The study focuses on Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand and examines the emerging ecosystem for social investment in each of these countries, with a view to identifying gaps and obstacles to the advancement of the field. A section containing reports on current social investing developments in Cambodia and Vietnam is also included in this publication. This research study was carried out with the aid of a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, and was launched last January. To download the full book, visit http://bit.ly/180CCKC. (Lien)
Market and enterprise-based solutions for development objectives are on the rise among actors both old and new. So why aren't more problems being solved? To partly tackle this question, the authors examined the proliferation of impact enterprises, organisations that aim for financial and social returns within the systems in which they operate. As part of the ‘Innovations in Accelerating Impact Enterprise’ project that commenced in 2013, and in collaboration with Monitor Deloitte, the authors focused on the growing field of accelerators and incubators supporting these organisations to better understand the barriers to sustained enterprise growth in achieving systemic change and impact at scale. Effective accelerators play many roles – educator, mentor, and funder, among others – in helping impact enterprises solve complex social problems, and a recent University of Cambridge study suggested that successful accelerators also increase enterprise survivorship rates by 10-to-15 percent. After scanning hundreds of successful models, The Rockefeller Foundation supported five high-performing accelerators to pilot different innovations in enterprise support. The authors then took a deeper look at the challenges and opportunities encountered by each, their strategies to grow enterprises, and insights into the advantages and disadvantages of the various models to share lessons with others in the field. (A. Bliss/R. Nathoo/Rockefeller Foundation) To download the full publication: http://bit.ly/1CjXFjk
ASEAN 2030: Toward a borderless economic community [ Asian Development Bank (ADB) Institute, 2014 ] The book’s main message is that through closer integration, ASEAN can form a partnership for shared prosperity, regionally and globally. It investigates long-term development issues for members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); and finds that with a proper policy mix including domestic structural reforms and bold initiatives for regional integration, by 2030 the ASEAN will reach the average quality of life enjoyed today in advanced economies and fulfill its aspirations to become a resilient, inclusive, competitive, and harmonious (RICH) region. At the same time, it presents key challenges such as enhancing macroeconomic and financial stability, supporting equitable growth, promoting competitiveness and innovation, and protecting the environment. Overcoming these in building a truly borderless economic region implies the need to eliminate the barriers of the flow of goods and services; and strengthen competitiveness and the institutional framework; while updating some governing principles. It warns, however, not to copy the European Union (EU) model. Rather, it must maintain its flexibility and pragmatism, without creating a fat regional bureaucracy. To download the full publication: http://bit.ly/1BG9Fks
Making Globalization Work Better for the Poor through Contract Farming [ Asian Development Bank ] With the evolving structure of agricultural trade in a globalising world is the need to integrate the wider global insights to be part of effective rural development. In this context, contract farming has emerged as a promising rural development strategy that has gained momentum in the region, providing technical training, production inputs, and market linkages to smallholders. Contractors, often multi-national agribusiness companies, in turn benefit from a steady supply of consistent quality produce. Contract farming is also evolving and now comes in modified forms to better address the needs and capacities of all parties involved. Its service of linking producers and markets, however, remains unchanged, along with the gains it brings to smallholder producers, agribusiness firms, and eventually consumers. To download the full publication: http://bit.ly/1E3hRZh (ADB)
The Advocacy Toolkit: Influencing the Post-2015 Development Agenda [ Amy Cutter, Ian Fenn (Stakeholder Forum); Freya Seath (CIVICUS), 2015 ] The advocacy toolkit is for civil society organisations and other stakeholders that wish to influence the post-2015 development agenda, including the design of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Part 1, ‘The Post-2015 Development Agenda: What Is It and How Can You Engage?’ provides a full background on the post-2015 processes and identifies key entry points for engagement and influence. Meanhile Part 2, ‘Developing a Post-2015 Advocacy Strategy’ guides you through the necessary steps for developing your own post2015 advocacy strategy, building on the information and opportunities identified in Part 1. To download the toolkit, http://bit.ly/1yVczhv. (CIVICUS)
www.asianngo.org
Shall we dance? Welfarist incorporation and politics of state-labour NGO relations in China [ Jude Howell, 2015 ] State-labour NGOs relations in China have been particularly fraught: in 2012 these took an interesting twist as some local governments made overtures to labour NGOs to co-operate in providing services to migrant workers. Howell argues that this shift is part of a broader strategy of a ‘welfarist incorporation’ to redraw the social contract between state and labour. There are two key elements to this: first, relaxation of the registration regulations for social organisations; second, governmental purchasing of services from social organisations. These overtures have both a state and market logic to maintain social control and stabilise relations of production. Download the article here: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/60219/. (LSE)
Primitive accumulation and ‘progress’ in Southeast Asia [ John Sidel ] More than any other scholar, James Scott drew attention to the significance of what Marx termed ‘primitive accumulation’ in the historical transformation of the societies of Southeast Asia. Taking Scott's work as its point of departure, John Sidel in this article sketches the broad contours of primitive accumulation across the region from the mid-nineteenth century up through the early twentieth century. The article shows how primitive accumulation unfolded in different ways in different parts of Southeast Asia and suggests how the different modalities of primitive accumulation have continued to shape the trajectories and parameters of politics across the region to this day. Download the article here: http://bit.ly/1JP5EOQ. (LSE)
Philanthropy and the Social Economy: Blueprint 2015 [ Lucy Bernholz/The Foundation Center ] Philanthropy and the Social Economy: Blueprint 2015 is part of an annual industry forecast written by leading philanthropy scholar Lucy Bernholz about the social economy — private capital used for public good. What buzzwords will take off in the social sector in 2015? What exactly is an Artivist? Bernholz answers these and other questions in Blueprint 2015, released on Foundation Center's GrantCraft (http://www.grantcraft. org/) site last December. It provides an overview of the current landscape, points to major trends, and directs your attention to horizons where you can expect some important breakthroughs in the coming year. To download the publication: http://bit. ly/1wcwKqG. (The Foundation Center)
Measuring the State of Disaster Philanthropy 2014 [ The Foundation Center; Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) ]
The Foundation Center and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), the only full-time resource devoted to disaster philanthropy, released a new report in December to help donors, NGOs, government agencies, and the media to gain an increased understanding of how much foundation funding is spent on disasters each year, by whom, and for what activities. Measuring the State of Disaster Philanthropy 2014: Data to Drive Decisions presents the first-ever snapshot of funding for disasters by the largest U.S. foundations. It finds that, in 2012, 234 foundations made 884 grants totaling $111 million for disasters. The project was funded by the Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation; while an expert advisory committee of foundations, humanitarian organisations, and philanthropic support organisations also provides ongoing guidance and insights. To download the full version of the report: www.bit.ly/17NciDR (ReliefWeb)
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LEARNING AND RESOURCES CALENDAR OF EVENTS 9-20 March 2015 CSW59/Beijing+20 (2015) New York, USA 19 March 2015 Small Business Expo - Philadelphia 2015 Philadelphia, USA 19 March 2015 The Conference The Green Cultural Heritage Malmo, Sweden 19-20 March 2015 7th Annual Global CSR Summit and Awards 2015 Yokgyakarta, Indonesia 23-24 March 2015 Green India Energy Summit Gujarat, India
24-26 March 2015 DIHAD 2015 Dubai, UAE
23-25 April 2015 Green Summit 2015 Bangalore, India
21-23 May 2015 Everything About Water Expo Mumbai, India
25-27 March 2015 Water Philippines Expo Manila, Philippines
27 April 2015 Community Investment Forum: Investing in Education Singapore, Singapore
25-27 May 2015 2nd Annual International Conference on Accounting and Finance (ICAF2015) Colombo, Sri Lanka
26-27 March 2015 ASEAN Corporate Sustainability Summit and Awards 2015 Manila, Philippines
4-7 May 2015 SuiteWorld2015 California, USA
3-5 June 2015 Power and Electricity World Philippines Manila, Philippines
8-12 April 2015 ICLEI World Congress Seoul, South Korea
23-27 March 2015 Intergovernmental Negotiations on Post2015 Development Agenda - Third Session New York, USA
12-17 April 2015 7th World Water Forum South Korea
24 March 2015 Supply Chain Management and Social Responsibility Abu Dhabi, UAE
14-16 April 2015 INTERPOL World 2015 Singapore, Singapore
24-25 March 2015 1st Annual World Conference on Women studies’ 2015 Colombo, Sri Lanka
20-23 April 2015 2015 AVPN Conference Singapore, Singapore
5-8 May 2015 Power and Electricity World Asia Singapore, Singapore 6-7 May 2015 Responsible Business Summit Asia 2015 Singapore, Singapore 12-14 May 2015 Safe Cities Asia 2015 Singapore, Singapore
3-5 June 2015 Philippine Semiconductor & Electronics Convention and Exhibition (PSECE) Manila, Philippines 10-12 June 2015 Sustainable Agriculture and Global Food Security Colombo, Sri Lanka 16-18 June 2015 AIDF Asia: Aid & Response Summit Bangkok, Thailand
18-20 May 2015 CSR Summit Dubai 2015 Dubai, UAE
For further information and more events, visit www.asianngo.org
PAID SUBSCRIPTION
The securitisation of NGOs post-9/11 [ Jude
Howell, 2014 In Conflict, Security & Development (Volume 14, Issue 2, 2014) ] Development NGOs have become associated as potential ‘secondorder’ security issue related to the macrosecuritisation after 9/11. After the launch of President GW Bush's War on Terror, United States and allied governments shifted their approach to development NGOs: from one of enthusiastically courting them as coproducers of development and security, to an approach that cast greater suspicion on their activities. Aware that development NGOs still had a positive role to play in development and security, Western governments adopted a bifurcated strategy of containment and engagement towards development NGOs. (LSE/Taylor & Francis)
9-13 March 2015 Leadership and People Management Yangon, Myanmar 16-20 March 2015 Human Resources Management in an International Context Colombo, Sri Lanka 23-27 March 2015 Training of Trainers Bali, Indonesia 20-24 April 2015 Disability Mainstreaming Hanoi, Vietnam
Creating Shared Value: Impacts of Nestlé in Moga, India [ A.K. Biswas, C.
Cont. from page 3
Cont. from page 1
Philanthropy takes spotlight in Singapore summit
EU grant to enhance Azerbaijan culture sector
Image: Asian Philanthropy Forum
Image: TEAS/EU
resources across grantees, and multisector collaboration among businesses and government.
Applicants should propose activities around the review of culture sector policy and governance system in Azerbaijan and development of new model; amendments to legal framework of such new culture sector policy and governance model; capacity building of the MCT, its regional offices and relevant stakeholders who manage, coordinate, and network for the enhancement of culture sector based on the European best practices; creation of an effective model of management of national cultural heritage; and the formation of a regulatory framework for preservation, protection and promotion of cultural heritage.
Tortajada, A. Biswas-Tortajada, Y.K. Joshi, A. Gupta ]
Since the inception of its factory in Moga in 1961, Nestlé has been working with its milk farmers and ancillary suppliers towards improving quality and productivity. The study presented in this book highlights Nestlé’s Creating Shared Value (CSV) and how it contributed to the development of the region over the past 50 years through direct and indirect employment, steady income for milk and other suppliers, and technology transfer. The focus is how Nestlé fulfilled societal aspirations and expectations of the people working in and around its factory through employment, poverty alleviation, general improvements in the community’s standards of living and environmental conservation. (NUS/Springer)
MDF CALENDAR OF EVENTS
4-8 May 2015 Monitoring and Evaluation for Learning Bali, Indonesia 11-13 May 2015 Advocacy and Policy Influencing Hanoi, Vietnam 18 - 22 May 2015 Results-Based Management Colombo, Sri Lanka
A favourite among participants, the Investment Showcase will feature charities and social enterprises that AVPN members have funded, where delegates and guests can explore their respective organisations can further their social impact. For the full programme, confirmed speakers and conference updates, visit www.avpn2015. com. To pre-register, email your name, designation, organisation, and your interest in the conference to conference2015@avpn.asia. ■ 25 - 27 May 2015 Disaster Risk Reduction Dubai, U.A.E 25 - 29 May 2015 Management Skills Colombo, Sri Lanka 1-5 June 2015 Leadership and People Management Hanoi, Vietnam 8-12 June 2015 Change Management Bali, Indonesia
Azerbaijan has a rich culture and wealthy history; but the country’s cultural heritage is not managed effectively leading to hampering the development of internal and international tourism. Developing internal and international tourism has high potential to help the country be less dependent from its oil industry. Maximum duration for the project is two years and an additional three months for the start-up and closing of the project. For more details or to download the application package, visit http://bit. ly/1DODVVQ. ■
(www.mdf.nl) 14 |
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LEARNING AND RESOURCES Cont. from page 1
Setting up an NGO? Nick Turner, founder of Street Action, was confronted with the nagging sense of how he and his wife could help the street children of Burundi: “We realised we had neither the skills nor resources to do that. We knew we were the kind of people who could commit to a small project and visit regularly. But we lived in the UK, so it made sense to raise money and awareness in the UK, and search for networks here for the charity in Burundi. That was what they needed, not well-meaning folks from London coming to volunteer inefficiently for a few years.” Where to start You have identified the core to establish an NGO and you are certain to start one. Now what’s next? Charities and NGOs have to follow strict legal guidelines and are advised to contact the regulating bodies of the country where you plan to set up your NGO, like the Charities Commission in the UK. In India, you can register an NGO under any of these three Acts: Indian Trusts Act, Societies Registration Act, and Companies Act. In Cambodia, NGOs are registered under the Ministry of Interior. Raising enough funds for the organisation is another challenge to take on. Ferguson started off with her father’s £5,000 ($7,711) capital. One Life International founder Nick Crowder
said he started operating “under the legal umbrella of another charity” which helped develop his initiative’s identity. Things to consider Feguson emphasised that one must have a long-term commitment to your organisation since there will be long-term implications you may not see yet at the beginning. “There are 27 people working for the charity now so I have to keep going for the staff and their families, as well as for the children it helps directly,” she added.
FEATURED AUTHOR
Kumi Naidoo in 'The World that Changes the World' The world has many problems, but civil society is rising to deal with them. While most of these civil society organisations are local and national, a growing minority are international and making waves. Global civil society has its own set of problems. Some are similar to those it champions against in governments and businesses: accountability, the rich/poor divide, and self-interest.
The fact that the charity is a “vehicle to show commitment to a group of people over a long period of time” keeps Turner and his organisation going. Crowder reminds advocates to do it for the right reasons: “When you are moved [emotionally], you need to step back and consider whether your response is about yourself. Why are you, as a person, moved? Have you addressed your personal issues? If not, you may take them into the work, which can be destructive.” Keep the focus Balance in one’s life, Crowder said, is the key to avoid the work from consuming you physically, emotionally and mentally. Turner suggests to focus more on the ‘why’ rather than the ‘how’. The how can be frustrating, he said; but the why stays the same. (Jo Griffin/The Guardian)
But the reformers understand the need for reform and are responding to the challenges. Three pragmatic solutions can help drive global civil society toward its ideal: multi-lateral institutions that work, multi-stakeholder campaigns that foster solidarity, and capacity building for NGOs. Global Civil Society: Rallying for Real Change, Chapter 19 in The World that Changes the World (ed. Willie Cheng and Sharifah Mohamed, 2014), www. worldthatchangestheworld.com.
Kumi Naidoo
Executive director, Greenpeace International He is based in Amsterdam and also serves as the chairperson of the Global Campaign for Climate Action and is the co-chair of the Global Call to Action against Poverty. Prior to taking on his current role at Greenpeace International, Naidoo worked at CIVICUS where he was the secretary-general (1998 to 2008). He was active in the anti-apartheid struggle in his native South Africa and is an advocate for gender equality and labor rights. He has worked as a researcher, journalist, university lecturer, and youth counselor.
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DISEASE PREVENTION
Bayer
has been a participant in the fight against vector-borne disease for more than 50 years. We a uniqueportfolio of product solutions, covering important intervention techniques, in the fight against diseases such as malaria, dengue, leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness and Chagas (diseases which affect more than half of the world’s population). www.bayer.com FUNDRAISING
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Vanbreda International
has more than 50 years of market of market leadership in providing worldwide medical insurance to workers from international organisations. Together with Cigna we have developed a product for NGOs answering their specific needs, leveraging our unmatched experience and knowledge of global medical insurance solutions. www.vanbreda-international.com LEGAL To see your company here, please contact robert@asianngo.org LOGISTICS/SHIPPING
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builds & operates powerful technology hubs that support diverse stakeholder groups in their efforts to work together to solve the world's most challenging humanitarian crises. Our solutions enhance participation, amplify contributions, & accelerate results for humanitarian relief. 38,000 leading corporate, nonprofit and government partners leverage Aidmatrix solutions to mobilize $1.5 billion in global aid annually. Joan Bond | Director, Programs Business Development Phone: 972 869 8160 | www.aidmatrix.org
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is a recognized provider humanitarian logistics services with a global presence & 90 years of experience. We are specialized in procurement, transportation, warehousing, fleet management & supply chain set-up. By regionalizing our operational capacity we achieve substantial savings in delivering humanitarian aid. www.ifrc.org/logistics
• •
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PRIZES
Islamic Development Bank
IDB Seeks Nominations to Win US $450,000 for Prizes in Science & Technology & Women Contribution to Development Gender -NGOs Division. Phone: 966 2 646 6787 E-mail: prizeforwomen@isdb.org | www.isdb.org RECRUITMENT To see your company here, please contact robert@asianngo.org SHELTER
Bestnet
is constantly working to develop innovative & intelligent new products that offer safe and cost efficient solutions that help us build a network of life! Supply of WHO recommended long lasting Insecticide treated nets for malaria prevention & durable portable solar products for light, mobile charging and radio. E-mail: mhl@bestneteurope.com Phone: +45 30180115 | www.bestneteurope.com SOFTWARE
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is a not-for-profit organisation that works to unleash the power of not-for-profits by providing a variety of information, products, resources & programs. Our services are available in Australia and New Zealand and throughout South East Asia. We also help to develop relationships with business, community & government sectors for the development of the not-for-profit sector. E-mail: rj@connectingup.org Phone: 1300 731 844 | www.connectingup.org
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we offer training and technical assistance in support of acquisition & assistance (A&A) activities and strategies, project management, decision-making, conflict transformation, & wise use of resources to organizations for effective coordination & execution of international development programs. Training, technical assistance approaches, methodology, and strategies are designed and implemented by a knowledgeable and experienced team. Mr. Jeffery Bell | Vice President Fax : 877-464-8592 | E-mail: eff@clarokc.net http://www.clarokc.net TRANSPORT To see your company here, please contact robert@asianngo.org WATER SOLUTIONS
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LEARNING AND RESOURCES GRANTS US-Israel Collaboration in Computer Science (Grant) Donor: National Science Foundation Country: Israel Area(s) of Interest: Research Application Deadline: 16 March 2015
Training Programme for Women, Peace and Security (Grant) Donor: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) Country: Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen Area(s) of Interest: Capacity Building, Women, Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution Application Deadline: 30 March 2015 Open Grant Opportunities for International Development Funding Donor: UK Department for International Development (DFID) Country: Global Call Area(s) of Interest: Capacity Building, Community Development, Agriculture, Education, Infrastructure Application Deadline: 31 March 2015 Media Operations Center Equipment (Grant) Donor: US Mission to Afghanistan Country: Afghanistan Area(s) of Interest: Media Application Deadline: 1 April 2015 Greater Colombo Water Management Improvement Programme (Consultancy) Donor: Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country: Sri Lanka Area(s) of Interest: Environment Application Deadline: 2 April 2015
RFP for the Employee Engagement Survey (Consultancy) Donor: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country: Malaysia Area(s) of Interest: Research Application Deadline: 2 April 2015
Short-Term Training for Research Capacity Strengthening and Knowledge management (Grant) Donor: World Health Organization Country: Global Area(s) of Interest: Health Application Deadline: 12 April 2015
Developmental Housing Reconstruction Support to Internally Displaced People (Grant) Donor: Europe Aid Country: Sri Lanka Area(s) of Interest: Displacement and Resettlement Application Deadline: 3 June 2015
Countering Trafficking-in-Persons Programme (Grant) Donor: USAID Country: Cambodia Area(s) of Interest: Human Rights, Women Application Deadline: 3 April 2015
Modernisation of Policy and Management System in the Culture Sector (Grant) Donor: Europe Aid Country: Azerbaijan Area(s) of Interest: Social and Cultural Development Application Deadline: 20 April 2015
Khatlon Water Rehabilitation Project (Works and Services) Donor: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Country: Tajikistan Area(s) of Interest: Water Application Deadline: 9 June 2015
Womens Economic and Political Empowerment in the post-2015 Development Agenda (Grant) Donor: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country: Afghanistan Area(s) of Interest: Women Application Deadline: 5 April 2015
Local Capacity Initiative (Grant) Donor: USAID Country: Thailand Area(s) of Interest: Capacity-Building Application Deadline: 20 April 2015
Semey District Heating Project (Works and Services) Donor: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Country: Kazakhstan Area(s) of Interest: Community Development Application Deadline: 20 June 2015
Online Distance Education Courses for English Language Teachers (Grant) Donor: USAID Country: India Area(s) of Interest: Education Application Deadline: 7 April 2015
Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan (Grant) Donor: U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities Country: Japan Area(s) of Interest: Research Application Deadline: 30 April 2015
Civil Society Annual Program Statement (Grant) Donor: USAID Country: Cambodia Area(s) of Interest: Civil Society, Public Sector Management and Governance Application Deadline: 10 April 2015
Road Construction and Upgrading Project (Works and Services) Donor: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Country: Azerbaijan Area(s) of Interest: Infrastructure Application Deadline: 22 May 2015
North Tajik Water Rehabilitation Project, Phase II (Works and Services) Donor: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Country: Tajikistan Area(s) of Interest: Water Application Deadline: 29 June 2015
East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes for US Graduate Students (Grant) Donor: National Science Foundation Country: Global Area(s) of Interest: Research Application Deadline: 12 November 2015
For further information and more grants, visit www.asianngo.org
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