‘Go Far, Go Together’: Credit Suisse on Collaboration
5 min read
Liza Green believes in collaboration. “Collaboration has always seemed to me the best way to amplify impact”, states Credit Suisse’s Head of Corporate Citizenship and Foundations APAC, who over-sees the regional grant making and impact for the company’s philanthropy portfolio.
10 Opportunities to Build Resilience to Climate, COVID and Economic Crises in Asia
3 min read
In June, a forest community in northern Thailand was awarded the prestigious Equator Prize by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). With some support from RECOFTC and our partners, the Wetland Forest Conservation Group of the village Boon Rueang convinced the government to conserve the largest wetland forest in the Ing River basin rather than develop a special economic zone. Since that momentous achievement, made through advocacy and dialogue, the Group has pioneered a community forestry model that is successfully protecting biodiversity, storing carbon, providing food and livelihoods, and enabling the community to preserve its identity and culture. This model even helped the community successfully weather the COVID-19 pandemic.
6 Lessons for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in the Time of COVID-19
5 min read
With schools across the globe closing, the COVID-19 health emergency has brought unprecedented change and uncertainty to 1.5 billion learners in 165 countries1. Students are learning to adapt to the online educational opportunities that government and schools are hurrying to deliver to meet the challenge. For millions of young children at the pre-primary level, however, sources of safety and comfort – found in the familiar routine and structure provided by planned activities at school – are now dramatically altered.
7 Ways to Reboot the Indian Rural Economy Post COVID-19
3 min read
As India enters into the 4th phase of lockdown, we are caught between the dilemma of savings lives or protecting livelihoods by keeping the economy open and running. The most marginalised, daily wage earners, unorganised labour class and those at the fringes of our society have been disproportionately affected. With the migrant labourers returning home with no cash or savings, village communities are stressed due to the loss of remittance income, and the added mouths to feed.
Averting a Crisis in Preventive Healthcare
4 min read
As various regions of India now begin to emerge from lockdown, an important step will be confronting the consequences of disruptions in routine services provided by government health workers, including immunisation, antenatal checks, and nutrition drives. These preventive healthcare services form the backbone of India’s aspiration to be a healthy country with low rates of infant, child, and maternal mortality and morbidity, and systematic measures to correct for recent disruptions are essential.
AVPN 2020 Annual Review
2020 has forced us to acknowledge the depth of our interconnectedness. Many of our members have stepped up quickly and delivered practical and concrete support where it is needed. Our Annual Review highlights how our members have connected with each other, learnt from one another, and led the sector towards systemic change.
COVID-19 Impact on Food and Nutrition Security in Asia
6 min read
How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the food nutrition security situation in Asia? The global pandemic of COVID-19 is affecting people all over the world. Beyond its impact on the health sector, the disease has had major implications on social, economic and psychological aspects of life. It has disrupted education, work, and food systems and shattered the livelihoods for millions of people globally.
Educate the Communities on NPIs for Mitigating the Health Crisis
5 min read
There is an urgent need to educate the masses about the importance of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) for combating COVID-19. Based on learnings from the past pandemics, building awareness about executing the NPIs and promoting leadership at community level to ensure its compliance, may help in mitigating the crisis.
Engaging Slum Communities to Combat COVID-19
4 min read
An understanding of community engagement models can be illuminating for those working—or aspiring to work—with slum communities in the context of COVID-19. The Bridgespan Group has identified critical ways for policymakers, funders, and practitioners to better engage communities and build back better.
ESG Investments Emerge Strong Amidst COVID-19 Uncertainties
4 min read
The public health emergency triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a substantial contraction in economic activities globally, wiping off jobs, engulfing ‘business as usual’ scenarios and pummelling stock markets.
Fund Resilience: Create Systemic Change by Working at the Nexus of Climate and Gender
6 min read
COVID-19 has made very visible how climate change will affect us all on a global scale, which has stirred renewed energy to “build back better” through climate resiliency. Some of us, however, will be harder hit by climate change than others.
Gender and Climate – Scaling Impact with a Cross-Cutting Agenda
4 min read
“COVID 19 has been seen as a test run for a major climate event. The parallels are clear: both are silent threats of global scale, they move quickly through borders, they do not discriminate between rich or poor, young or old or race or religion. Both are existential threats against humanity where complete solutions are still unclear. Although both threats are known, we have not taken them seriously enough and hence this urgent call to action,” says En Lee, Head of Sustainable and Impact Investments Asia, LGT.
Gender Matters in Business: Five Takeaways for Corporates from the AVPN Virtual Conference 2020
6 min read
2020 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action – the UN Women-led blueprint to advance women’s rights, when women empowerment should have achieved significant success. We are far from that, and will actually need another century to reach gender parity. That is certainly not helped by the ongoing pandemic, which threatens to negate even the limited gains made. Across every sphere, from education and health to economy and security, the impacts of COVID-19 have been exacerbated for women and girls.
How are Grantmakers Supporting Public Schools and Students Affected by COVID-19?
3 min read
Preventive measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak necessitated a global economic lockdown, prompting abrupt closures of all schools and educational institutions worldwide. As per UNESCO estimates, this has negatively impacted over three-quarters of the world’s roughly 1.5 billion school children impeding their learning and psycho-social development.
How Could COVID-19 Change Philanthropy in China?
4 min read
Andre Shen, founder and CEO of Bridge Consulting in Beijing, argues that COVID-19 could mark a watershed moment for Chinese philanthropy, as donors turn their attention to pharmaceutical research and development.
How Philanthropies in Asia Can Transform for the New COVID-19 World
3 min read
As the global pandemic escalates, we are seeing new challenges and previously unimagined responses arise on a nearly daily basis. From school closures to fines for non-essential outings to mass job losses, COVID-19 is disrupting life, business and the economy in unprecedented ways. While COVID-19 affects all echelons of society, we are already seeing evidence that vulnerable and marginalized populations will be the hardest hit.
How the Funds Community is Tackling the Impact of COVID-19
3 min read
The COVID 19 pandemic has triggered what is being referred to as the ‘Great Cessation’. We are not only dealing with its health consequences, but also its profound economic and social impact as economies grind to a halt and countries slip into recession. There is increased anxiety as to when this will end, but the impact is greatest amongst the world’s poorest and vulnerable.
How to Enhance Collaboration on Environmental Sustainability in China
3 min read
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis that has reminded everyone of the fragile interconnectivity between human beings and the ecosystem, China is showing greater willingness to prioritize environmental protection. Beijing’s latest environmental guideline issued in March highlights collaboration efforts between the government, corporates and the public to build a “modernized environmental governance system”. Collaboration between the public and the private sector is a theme that SEE Foundation, one of only a few environmental grant-makers in China, is very familiar with as we have been contributing to the country’s environmental sustainability development over the last two decades.
How to Leverage Corporate Expertise to Empower People With Disabilities in China
3 min read
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted marginalised groups in China, particularly the disabled population of 85 million people. At the moment, advocacy for extra care for the disabled mainly focuses on access to medical care and financial benefits from the government. Little attention has been paid to long-term challenges linked to education and employment, which the pandemic has worsened.
In the Fight for Gender Equality, Nutrition Is Key
5 min read
Why Investment in Nutrition is Critical? Malnutrition is a global crisis. Poor nutrition has far-reaching implications. On an individual level, it causes people to be more susceptible to illnesses due to weakened immunities. From a wider perspective, malnutrition strains healthcare systems, and causes losses in human capital and workplace productivity. During his sharing, Martin Short, CEO of The Power of Nutrition emphasised that malnutrition costs an estimated US$3.5 trillion annually worldwide.
India in the Time of COVID-19: How Women in Local Governance Can Make a Difference
8 min read
Women’s representation in local governments is essential and has proven to be more impactful than bodies with unequal gender balance. One of the reasons is that women leaders have the same kind of preferences and development priorities as the people in their communities. The following article deals with the situation of women in local governance in India and gives a concrete example of how local governments with an increased influence of women are effective in crises like the current Covid-19 pandemic.
Innovation in Action: How Founders Are Responding to COVID-19 With These Innovative Solutions
5 min read
The unprecedented uncertainty brought about by COVID-19 is one that has affected all of us globally. While navigating this new unknown, interventions and public services are set in place to ensure the needs of the communities are met. The unpredictable nature of this pandemic means that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to address localised challenges exposed by traditional support systems. This is when social purpose organisations with expert knowledge on the ground could come in to address these challenges and enhance conventional systems. These solutions are designed to help the communities in times of distress and provide support through their different innovations.
Lessons Learnt: Philanthropy’s Response to COVID-19 Across North Asia
4 min read
COVID-19 started its spread in Asia and has since become a global pandemic. It is clear that we are facing unprecedented challenges through the widespread disruption to healthcare, financial markets, economy, livelihoods, travel and supply chains.
Looking Beyond the Pandemic – Global Impact Investing Priorities
5 min read
We are living through an unprecedented time that is testing the preparedness and resilience of countries around the world. Antonio Gueterres, the UN Secretary General referred to it as “the most challenging crisis we have faced since the Second World War”. As the pandemic takes its course, we believe this will have far reaching consequences for societies and economies. How the global economic system survives and recovers, however, lies in the effective combination of public sector capacity, private sector engagement and fiscal strength.
Philanthropic Opportunities to Systemically Mitigate Pandemic Impact
5 min read
Against the backdrop of the global epidemic, the COVID-19 outbreak has surfaced global role models whom we can learn from to respond effectively and efficiently to the threat. It has proven that no one-off responses can tackle such unpredictable outbreaks; instead, systemic, collaborative, and long-term efforts are required. As communities step up to tackle this disease, it is an opportune time to reflect on how philanthropy can take proactive steps to prepare for future outbreaks.
Philanthropy Under the Magnifying Glass: What are Short and Long Term Priorities?
5 min read
“There’s never been such an existential challenge to the future of the nonprofit sector,” according to Ford Foundation President Darren Walker. This sentiment was echoed consistently by speakers and delegates over the course of the AVPN Virtual Conference 2020 Philanthropy Day, as was the view that the COVID-19 pandemic is placing the philanthropic ecosystem under the magnifying glass from several different perspectives.
Protecting Mental Health Beyond COVID-19 Times
4 min read
In the past months, measures taken to slow the spread of the coronavirus have led to greater isolation and severe financial distress for many. Researchers are warning that these measures could inflict long-lasting emotional trauma, and have an undeniable impact on mental health. As nations slowly recover from the pandemic, it will be important to ensure mental health impacts are taken into account. In fact, the effect of augmented stress in past epidemics and natural catastrophes has been proven to have long-term disastrous consequences.
Public-Private Collaborations for Impact in the Time of a Pandemic
2 min read
As the COVID-19 pandemic presents one of the most urgent and widespread global challenges today, it is also a defining moment; the efficacy of a country’s response reflects how well-coordinated efforts are across public, private, and people spheres in society. In the current scenario, we discuss how increased joint collaboration between public and private sectors can present plenty of benefits and drive resources to where it is most needed now.
The (Deadly) Silent H: Prioritising WASH in the Time of COVID
3 min read
Handwashing with soap is priority in fighting this pandemic – and the next one. It is even more effective than hand sanitizer. Even before COVID19, handwashing with soap has saved lives. Over 500,000 child deaths each year are due to diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections. Handwashing with soap cuts that number by half.
The Impact of COVID-19 on CSR Funding for Indian NGOs
5 min read
Since the COVID-19 pandemic reached India, the focus of NGOs and CSR funders has been—correctly—on immediate relief activities, from providing supplies to migrants to giving targeted support to end-beneficiaries. This near-term work, however, may have an unintended adverse long-term impact on NGOs, especially those with significant CSR funding.
Three Impactful Business Models to Manage Supply Chains Better
5 min read
Cramped living conditions for migrant workers in corporate supply chains have contributed to an acceleration in COVID-19 infections in Singapore, leading to a temporary halt in construction projects. The living conditions of these workers and the unequal access to healthcare and welfare have caught the attention of the public as they now realise how the well-being of this otherwise isolated group is so intricately tied to their own well-being and their ability to recover from the pandemic as a nation. There are now questions around the responsibilities of private sector players and public-listed companies further down the supply chain- ranging from property developers to major companies in marine and manufacturing in ensuring better equity in treatment.
Three Ways AVPN Members Have Responded to COVID-19 in Greater China
4 min read
Two months since coronavirus (COVID-19) first made headlines, over 110,000 people in more than 100 countries have been diagnosed with the virus, and thousands of deaths have been reported. Described as a “once-in-a-century pathogen”, the virus has wiped $50 billion off global exports in February alone.
Three Ways Companies Can Increase Corporate Value through Social Impact
4 min read
In the midst of this watershed COVID-19 pandemic, companies recognise the reputational risks in ignoring the plight of vulnerable groups such as the minorities and gig workers. Lacking insurance coverage and job security, some 38% of the global workforce or 1.25 billion workers in the affected industries have experienced or are facing imminent job losses, putting renewed pressure on governments and the social services in addressing emerging needs.
What COVID-19 Is Teaching Us About the Value of Collaboration
5 min read
Melting ice caps in faraway Siberia releasing ancient viruses. Consumption of exotic wildlife by privileged thrill-seekers. Staff in small businesses deprived of sick leave in order to keep costs low. These issues represent climate change, wildlife conservation, sustainable livelihoods and irresponsible business practices. Few would have thought that these issues are interconnected and could emerge as contributors to the COVID-19 pandemic; but they have. In today’s interdependent world, pursuing one’s own needs and self-interest could be harmful to the individual or organization.
What’s Next for Climate Action in Post COVID-19 Recession?
5 min read
COVID 19 – a prelude of things to come? Even though the COVID-19 global outbreak has been termed a black swan event, it should not have taken us by surprise.
Where Does Eye Health Services Fit in a World That Has Changed?
3 min read
While COVID-19 is impacting everybody, everywhere, eye care is among the health interventions most significantly affected by the pandemic. Like many other “non-urgent” health services, eye health care was suspended in many countries to increase capacity to fight the pandemic.
