According to a mapping of independent donor organizations carried out by the Comuá Network in association with the pontAponte consultancy service, there are currently 31 organizations in Brazil supporting initiatives in the field of socio-environmental justice
Philanthropy is presented as a strategy that turns the idea of donations into a notion of social investment capable of driving transformative actions for communities and groups in vulnerable situations. Despite its recent contributions to democracy, philanthropy is permeated with colonial aspects in terms of the distribution of resources around the world, which poses challenges to the beneficiaries. This is what we understand from the article “Is the Decolonization of Philanthropy Moving Forward?”, written by Allyne Andrade e Silva and Graciela Hopstein, for Comuá Network.
I ended 2022 with a health scare and I have spent the majority of 2023 so far preoccupied with the notion of collective care and solidarity in movement building. As part of my exploration, I have been reading Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey where she argues that rest should be a form of radical political resistance and that “To uplift rest from a community care ethic is to interrupt the dominant culture while giving power back to the people where it belongs.” While Hersey's message is specifically targeted to black communities in the United States and rejects society's hustle-grind culture, it resonates with me on the need for a cultural mindset shift in the philanthropic and international development fields, and why rest is important in the fight for liberation and larger systems-change.
A diverse, multifaceted movement aiming to promote greater visibility to the agendas and practices of community and social justice philanthropy in Brazil
By Graciela Hopstein
In September 2022, the Comuá Network organized the Philanthropy, Social Justice, Civil Society and Democracy Seminar to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Around it, the Network managed to mobilize 220 participants, who attended the seminar in São Paulo during the two days of debates, 360 people online, 110 organizations, 50 speakers, in addition to 35 institutional supporters and 6 funders who sponsored the event directly.
During those 21 hours of activities, Comuá, its members and partners debated and reflected on a variety of topics, such as decolonizing philanthropy, building trust and creating new arrangements, to reach new horizons that ultimately change the existing power dynamics and foster initiatives to build a less inequitable society (in terms of access to rights) and recognize political minorities.
Celebrating World Environment Day and LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, a reflection on how community philanthropy for socio-environmental justice supports LGBTQIA+ people facing climate change.
By Yasmin Morais and Mica Peres
An estimated 12% of all Brazilians, or about 19 million people, identify themselves as LGBTQIA+, however, contrary to what we might assume when presented with the demographic data of a population, this is not official data produced by a Brazilian government agency such as the IBGE (in English, Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics). This estimate is the result of a study developed by Unesp and USP, published in Nature Scientific Reports, since the IBGE only began collecting data on sexual orientation in Brazil in 2019, and even so, in a highly experimental manner, excluding any aspect of gender identity or sexualities beyond homosexuality and bisexuality.
So, how can we know how many we are, where we are, our level of education? How can we know what affects us, what we need, what rights to claim?
By Samra Ghermay, associate director of client engagement, Wingo NYC Fundraising Studio
Anyone who knows me, knows I love a good African proverb. I grew up hearing these sayings as commentary on my actions — the not-so-silent judgments on the quality of my cries, the are-you-sure-about-that questions about my decisions, the life lessons waiting to be discovered from a respected elder waiting to impart them on me. Proverbs are built into our stories and were how my elders communicated messages to my sisters and me, how we were implicitly told to do certain things. Proverbs were essentially a coded game. And we happily accepted the challenge and grew all the better for it.
In philanthropy, we have all heard and have possibly even used the African proverb: “It takes a village to raise a child.”
Over the past few years, a growing chorus of voices calling for the decolonization of aid has emerged, necessitating a reevaluation of the way programs are designed to the way they are delivered. Evaluation—the process of critically and systematically assessing the design, implementation, improvement, or outcomes of a program—is part and parcel of this broader decolonization conversation.
When it comes to evaluating a project or program, it is worth reflecting on several questions. What constitutes “effectiveness,” how is that determined, and according to whom? Whose values, priorities, and worldviews are shaping the evaluation?
Mapping identifies independent organizations working with donations to civil society groups and movements that focus on the fields of social justice and community development in the country
By Mônica C. Ribeiro
Produced by the Comuá Network in association with PonteAponte, the mapping of thematic, community funds and independent community foundations working with donations to civil society organizations, in the fields of social justice and community development, identified 31 of them in different regions, with different priorities agendas.
We are just days away from the second round of elections in Brazil (on 30 October) that will choose a new president for the next four years. In the view of several analysts, these are perhaps the most challenging in recent times, or perhaps in the Brazilian history. It is important to highlight that voting is mandatory, therefore, Brazilians will go to the polls to choose between the re-election of a far-right candidate, Jair Bolsonaro, and a former president, candidate of the Workers' Party (PT), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who ruled the country for two consecutive terms, between the years 2003 and 2010.
By Regilon Matos – Casa Socio-Environmental Fund
Youth no longer want to be just a token of inclusion; they want to have a voice and a place in conferences that discuss the future of the Planet and the Climate Emergency.
Because of the current economic, social and environmental situation, it is important that the already awakened young become ever more vigilant and determined to take their place where decisions are being made, to enter into the political arena and the halls of civil society, becoming multiplying agents who will positively influence other leaders with their enhanced vision of present day actions and their determination to insure a better future for all.
