From the 19^th to the 22^nd of April, 2016 Filantropi Indonesia attended the Colombia Peer Learning Meeting in Bogota, Colombia. Filantropi was invited by the SDG Philanthropy Platform (SDGPP), which is a partnership project between the UNDP, Foundation Centre and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. The meeting was also attended by representatives from Ghana and Kenya. The main purpose of this meeting was for the other three pilot countries to learn from the philanthropy sector in Colombia and to take those lessons, adapt them to their local contexts, and apply them to their respective home countries

AFE (Asociación de Fundaciones Empresariales), the chief philanthropy association in Colombia, was the host of the meeting between the four pilot countries of the SDG PP. For four days, the participants met with representatives from several corporate and family foundations (members of AFE), governmental agencies as partners of AFE, and local NGOs. AFE, which has maintained its reputation as a credible and trustworthy philanthropy association in Colombia since 2008, shared its successes and challenges in running programs and building partnerships with the government and NGOs. The partnerships began with the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and are still ongoing with the announcement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

One of the most important lessons from the Peer Learning Meeting was the knowledge management concept, which acts as the core idea of all AFE’s programs and activities. For AFE, sharing information, knowledge, and best practices between members, government agencies, and other partners is essential in achieving social transformation in Colombia. This concept was apparent in almost every session during the meeting, especially in the stories of the partnership building process between AFE, the government and local and international NGOs.

The next step for Filantropi Indonesia following this meeting is to start the mapping process of philanthropy organizations in Indonesia, inspired by the platform made by AFE, improve the quality and quantity of partnerships between philanthropy sector with the government in achieving SDGs, integrate the SDG Philanthropy Platform brand in our activities, and to involve AFE and APC (the Colombian Presidential Agency of International Cooperation) as guest speakers in Indonesia Philanthropy Festival 2016. This meeting also served to strengthen the network between Filantropi, the UNDP, and the other pilot countries of the SDGPP, and to expand our network and partnership base with other philanthropic organizations on the international level.