Agustus 9, 2016
International News
The SDGs: a call to collective action
November 28, 2017 – author: Myles Wickstead posted by Alliance Magazine
Myles Wickstead, Acting Chief Executive of Wilton Park and visiting professor in International Relations at King’s College London explores the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – where they came from, the role of other sectors, and where philanthropy fits in to the Goals.
'Where do philanthropists and foundations fit into all this? At the risk of over-generalising, they can bring to the table a private sector, entrepreneurial mind-set and ‘can-do’ approach combined with the inclusivity and ‘leave no-one behind’ mentality of the best civil society actors.'
Wickstead writes, 'It must surely be evident that some of the key challenges of our time – outbreaks of epidemics, climate change and environmental pollution – can only be addressed on a regional or global basis. But the spirit of international cooperation and coordination seems in regrettably short supply.'
Financing the 2030 Agenda
September 19, 2017 – UNEP
On 18 September 2017 the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) António Guterres stressed the role of the UN to help reshape “unproductive and unrewarding” finance and redirect investment to creating a better world for all. At the Financing the 2030 Agenda event held at the UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Guterres stated, “The choices we make on finance will be critical”. (…)
Financing the SDGs: UNEP Finance Initiative and Finance for Tomorrow to work together on the Positive Impact Initiative
August 3, 2017 – UNEP Finance Initiative
$5-7 trillion a year until 2030 is needed to realise the SDGs worldwide, including investments into infrastructure, clean energy, water and sanitation and agriculture. The greater part of the necessary financing and investment will need to stem from private finance. While a wide range of sustainable finance products and services are available in the market, these mobilise limited funds compared to what is needed and for a limited number of things – based on a pre-identification of acceptable sectors and activities. Hindered by often unattractive risk and return profiles, to-date the amount of private finance mobilised to achieve the SDGs remains in marked contrast to the scale of the needs.(…)
SDG Business Forum Showcases Business Support for SDGs
July 19, 2107 – written by Ana Maria Lebada, published on IISD website
High-level representatives of governments, private sector, international organizations, and civil society discussed the role of business in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), during the second annual SDG Business Forum. Participants stressed the need for: developing a clear mechanism for monitoring business investment in the SDGs; designing projects that incentivize private investments by offering enticing returns on investment; and increasing awareness of the SDGs in the private sector.
VNR Main Messages Highlight Diverse SDG Approaches
June 27, 2017 – written by Nathalie Risse, Ph.D.
The countries participating in the 2017 Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) have adopted various measures related to SDG implementation, related to institutional arrangements, monitoring, financing, accountability, integration in planning and legislative documents, localization and inclusion. Those measures are outlined in the participating countries’ “main messages,” which have been posted on the website for the 2017 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
Business Initiatives Advance SDG Reporting, Engagement
April 27, 2017 – written by Faye Leone, published on IISD website
The UN Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) have launched the Action Platform for Reporting on the SDGs. The initiative aims to provide a framework for businesses to assess and report on their contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using both the GRI Standards, a sustainability reporting standard, and the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact. (…)
UNGA Launches Global Conversation on Financing SDGs
April 20, 2017 – written by Faye Leone, published on IISD website
18 April 2017: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) convened a high-level event on financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with support from the UN Environment Programme’s Inquiry into Design Options for a Sustainable Financial System, to “foment a global conversation” on mobilizing the needed resources from a range of sources. (…)
Business, NGO and UN prepare for HLPF
April 6, 2017 – written by Faye Leone, published on IISD website
Mark Malloch-Brown, Chair of the Business & Sustainable Development Commission, describes the growing momentum of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) “beyond the development world” and among private companies’ boards and CEOs. However, they must do more to align their businesses with the SDGs in order to participate in the emerging “race to the top,” he writes.
Also in preparation for the Forum, DESA and UNDP are convening an e-discussion on specific aspects of the main theme of the 2017 ECOSOC session, and the UN Foundation is conducting a survey for stakeholders to maximize the session's effectiveness. (…)
Can the SDGs successfully compete for global investment?
February 1, 2017 by Ali Adnan Ibrahim Global Head of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Al Baraka Banking Group
With a little over 5,000 days before the Sustainable Development Goals expire, two things appear inevitable for their funding: the need for private capital and a way of ensuring it reaches SDG projects across the globe. While there is some progress towards this, have we done enough to ensure that it flows across the globe with a reasonable consistent flow? Probably not. (…)
Lending a hand, filling a gap
February 22, 2017 by Jaco Cilliers, Country Director UNDP India – published in The Indian Express
India has officially joined SDG Philanthropy Platform. Country Director UNDP India, Jaco Cilliers, wrote an op-ed titled "Lending a hand, filling a gap". In this article, Jaco wrote about how government, philanthropists and business can forge partnerships and blend financial models to achieve sustainable development goals.
SDG Philanthropy Platform Zambia: Brief Report on the Launch Workshop
February 6, 2017 – published by SDG Philanthropy Platform on SDGfunders.org
In Zambia, the SDG Philanthropy Platform operates under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator, collaborating with government and other stakeholders: foundations, as well as NGOs and businesses. It receives technical support from UNDP Global Policy Centre in Istanbul and financial support from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Zambia is the fifth country where the platform is being established, and the third in Africa, in addition to Kenya, Ghana, Colombia, and Indonesia.
Governments seize private sector data solutions to achieve the SDGs
January 10, 2017 – KPMG, posted on The Guardian website
Public bodies such as the UN are making use of big data analytics, but they require support from private companies to ramp up programmes further
The State of European Philanthropy
24 January, 2017 by Andrew Milner – originally published in Alliance Magazine
Andrew Milner, Alliance's associate editor assesses the state of European philanthropy, current trends, and how philanthropy within different European countries has developed.
Reliable data about giving in Europe is notoriously difficult to obtain. Different philanthropic traditions mean that there is no single accepted definition of philanthropy, or legal or reporting structure. This caution should be borne in mind when interpreting any statistics about European philanthropy.
New Report on the U.S. SDG Data Revolution Roadmap
On January 11, 2017, the Center for Open Data Enterprise and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data are pleased to release the report from U.S. SDG Data Revolution Roadmap event held on December 14, 2016. This report represents the beginning of an open and inclusive engagement process by the US government to outline the commitment-to-action from 2017-2018. Read the full report here:
A Look Back on SDG Philanthropy Platform in 2016
The first year of SDGs15 years target achivement has already passed. SDG Philanthropy Platform as a platform and a forum for philanthropy actors around the world, particularly in the five pilot countries – Zambia is the latest member – has done many activities and events that foster cross-sector partnerships and has shared essential data and resources. Indonesia Philanthropy Association also received tremendous support from SDG Philanthropy Platform in 2016. Take a look at the Platform's success in 2016 here: https://storify.com/PhilSDGs/sdg-philanthropy-platform-2016-a-year-in-review
#ShiftThePower: the rise of community philanthropy
29 November 2016, taken from a Special Feature article of Alliance Magazine
By Jenny Hodgson & Barry Knight
In this special feature on community philanthropy, we propose a new paradigm called ‘durable development’. This involves shifting power closer to the ground, giving agency to local people and their organizations on the principle that they should have greater control of their own destinies. The growing field of community philanthropy has much to contribute towards such a paradigm shift because it marks a distinct break with many of the conventions – and resulting distortions – of mainstream development. The ‘three-legged stool’ of community philanthropy combines asset development, capacity building and the strengthening of trust between multiple local and external stakeholders. Durable development follows John Ruskin’s maxim – ‘when we build, let us think we build forever’.
Read more: http://www.alliancemagazine.org/feature/shiftthepower-rise-community-philanthropy/
[BLOG] A View of the Indonesia Philanthropy Festival
By Karolina Mzyk Callias
The Indonesia Philanthropy Festival, which took place in Jakarta on the 6-9 October was a dynamic event and demonstrated the huge energy of local philanthropy, civil society, business and government drive towards the Sustainable Development Goals. More than 100 organizations participated, ranging from traditional charities to religious giving, to the most modern forms of impact investing. Over four days, more than 100 organizations representing civil society, philanthropy, and business, displayed their programs, participated in discussions and networked. The unifying theme for the festival has been action on the Sustainable Development Goals. (…)
Read more: http://sdgfunders.org/blog/a-view-of-the-indonesian-philanthropy-festival/lang/en/
[BLOG] Confronting philanthropy’s image problem: does participatory giving offer a way forward?
By Jenny Hodgson, Executive Director of Global Fund for Community Foundations
Jenny Hodgson, executive director of Global Fund for Community Foundations, examines why the word philanthropy 'inspires such contradictory reactions and emotions'.
She writes, 'On the one hand, there is philanthropy as a positive force. On the other, philanthropy is seen as part of the problem: the product of systemic failures of current political and economic structures, which have resulted in large concentrations of wealth in the hands of an elite and unaccountable minority.' (…)
[OPINION] What role for philanthropy in a democratic India?
By Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of the National Foundation for India
Even before the recent Brexit vote, the rise of Donald Trump and the growth of so-called Islamic State it was clear we were witnessing a moment of disruption in history. While global leaders were formulating the most ambitious international developmental compact in the form of sustainable development goals (SDGs), citizens’ anger was spilling over into the streets across the world in the form of the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement and anti-corruption and anti-rape protests in Delhi. At this moment of change it becomes critical to question established narratives if we are to shape and influence emerging ones. (…)
Read more here
24 Governments Volunteer for 2017 SDG Reviews
16 October 2016: In advance of the 2017 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), 24 Member States have announced their interest in presenting voluntary national reviews regarding implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). (…)
Read more: http://sdg.iisd.org/news/24-governments-volunteer-for-2017-sdg-reviews/