The Aid Files

Once again we are hearing from Kakuma refugee camp in Northern Kenya where the numbers continue to grow due conflict and climate ravages further north. These people may be safe but their conditions are poor. But this group is another like Seth Mugenyi and his team, trying to help from within. https://lnkd.in/e89vFnuH There are 85,000 women and girls of menstruating age in the camp and no sanitary products. This is a severe risk to health, dignity and wellbeing. So they have established the production of reusable cloth pads as a project under the heading 'Her period - her right'. This is an effective solution which we have also seen in India worked by Goonj under the title 'Not just a piece of cloth'. Follow the link to read the full story. Creating social enterprise of this sort creates a virtuous circle and is the core of the Catalyst Now vision and mission. Respect, dignity and agency all come from locally led initiatives from wonderful people like Ssenyange A. and his team. If you can find a moment to support them that would be wonderful at this time.

For Africa’s teeming youth, it has always been about jobs and economic opportunities. Ghana’s recent election placed jobs and the economy at the forefront of national discourse, reflecting the urgent need to address these critical issues across the continent. On the latest episode of  Charles Speaks on Alternative Convos, I delve into Re-energising Job Creation and Entrepreneurship in Africa sharing insights and practical solutions for empowering our youth through innovative approaches. Listen now: Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eFDCRKhs Afripods: https://lnkd.in/eaiT8-Cj Apple: https://lnkd.in/eeae-JDX Let us shape a future where Africa’s young people lead the way in transforming economies! #YouthEmpowerment #JobCreation #Entrepreneurship #AlternativeConvosPodcast #AfricansRising #EconomicTransformation #CharlesSpeaks Association of African Podcasters and Voice Artists [APVA] Afripods Black Podcast Coalition Africans Rising Development Report

Please vote for us! Our documentary "We Don't Do Charity" is entered for this year's Smiley Charity Film Awards! We need YOUR help to get to the judging stage - only those films with the most votes will get into the finals so we're depending on you! And yes, if you haven't seen the film yet you can now watch it completely free until voting ends on January 29, 2025, so get watching and voting! https://lnkd.in/dddAPBKY Enjoy and thank you! #charityfilmawards #cfa25 Charles Kojo Vandyck Arbie Baguios Alan Braithwaite Amanda Campbell Issifu Sulemana Antoine Le Guennec Brian Donaldson Hannah Clarke Jonathan Glennie Nsimire Aston Christie Peacock CBE Ben Gori Anshu Gupta

Dr. Monika Wünnemann Zoila Reyna, MPH Zee Faridi The Aid Files

This COP29 is at risk of treating the Global South with disdain. This underlines Issifu Sulemana's sentiments in this previous post - https://lnkd.in/djFq6tSg

Far away from the spotlight of COP 29, with its private jets and hosts seeking new oil investments, hundreds of thousands of people are having to deal with the daily fight that climate change brings. Issifu Sulemana is based in Wale-Wale, Northern Ghana where he leads CEAL Ghana, an organisation dedicated to supporting smallholder farmers. He warns that climate change is making life for farmers "a living hell." He says: “As global temperatures increase with huge cost from floods, droughts, disease etc., making farmers and other vulnerable populations feel like they’re living in hell. I was shocked to learn that the leader of climate change Cop29 from the host nation Azerbaijan was secretly negotiating deals to open new oilfields in his country. And the big guys refused to appear! Where was the USA President? The India prime minister? Australia prime minister? Canada? Germany? China? “We are being fooled by these guys because they are not concerned about our plight, but only interested in money and profit. “Have the leaders of the polluting nations managed to change things to their advantage? My question is why are we so silent on this most important issue? Why is civil society so quiet and weak? Knowing very well that stopping fossil fuel expansion could mitigate this climate crisis, why are we running away from the bold solution at last year’s Cop 28 in Dubai? “CSOs and all stakeholders must insist on a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels now. Profit must not be the reason that so many are dying.”

🌍 How Philanthropy Can Lead the Way to Locally Led Development: A Global South Roadmap 🌍 At UNGA 2024, Adeso and our wonderful partners convened a dynamic group of leaders from the Global South, philanthropic organizations, and international development experts. 💙 Thank you Degan Ali Salih Booker Anita Kattakuzhy Tariq Cheema Maria Amalia Souza Benjamin Bellegy Toyin Saraki Fanta K. Toure ✨ Want to dive deeper into actionable strategies to dismantle barriers to locally led development? Check out the insightful dialogues with our partners from the UNGA 2024: https://lnkd.in/ewwVRurD Now let's explore how some of our partner organizations are forging the path for systemic change in locally-led development: 🗣️ Empowering Local Voices for Real Change Systems change is about shifting the power ♻️ : elevating local civil society organisations (CSO) and placing them at the heart 💙 of decision-making. CSO's are uniquely positioned to understand the challenges their communities face — and they hold the keys to effective solutions. ➡️ The approach of Adeso and our partner organizations focuses on building capacities from the ground up in combination with innovative high-level advocacy, fostering empowered partnerships rather than imposing top-down directives. 💡 NEAR (Network for Empowered Aid Response) NEAR is a movement of local and national CSO's from the Global South rooted in local communities who share a common goal of promoting fair, equitable, and dignified partnerships in the aid system. NEAR focuses on genuine local participation at all levels of development and disaster management, to ensure effective aid is delivered to people in need. ▶️ Read the Strategic Plan 2024-2026: https://lnkd.in/enpX44zh ▶️ Become a member: https://lnkd.in/e8beHsbg 💡 African Philanthropy Forum African Philanthropy Forum is a strong and vibrant community of partners which, through their strategic giving, investments and influence, foster shared prosperity on the African continent. ▶️ Read the Blog Post 'Stewarding Wealth': https://lnkd.in/eKB8JenC ▶️ Read the Report 'Disparities in Funding for African NGO’s': https://lnkd.in/eah9tvM4 💡 Casa Socio-Environmental Fund The Casa Socio-Environmental Fund is a non-profit organization that seeks to promote environmental conservation and sustainability, democracy, and social justice. They have developed a powerful network of support for civil society initiatives that mobilizes resources, provides support and strengthens their capacities, ensuring increasingly greater autonomy for these groups. ▶️ Read the Study 'Supporting Solutions from Traditions': https://lnkd.in/evmNuCcY ▶️ Read the Article 'The sheer size of inequality and how philanthropy can do more': https://lnkd.in/d-Xy_UHu #DecolonisingAid #DecolonizingAid #ShiftThePower

Thank you so much Catalyst 2030 for hosting an amazing online screening of an edited version our documentary 'We Don't Do Charity'. Held yesterday, Nov 13, the 30 minute short was followed by an impassioned Q&A session with panelists Anshu Gupta of Goonj, Nkunzurwanda Olivier of Refugee Innovation Centre, Ayesha F. from Comic Relief, and Exec Producer Alan Braithwaite. Thought-provoking stuff! Thanks especially to Debbi Brock for hosting so brilliantly. We've had some fantastic feedback scoring 4.9/5.0 on the recommendation rate. A full recording will be published on the Catalyst YouTube channel soon. Thank you so much to everyone who attended and well done team for an amazing session!

We’ve put a 25 minute edit of ‘We Don’t Do Charity together (so painful having to drop so much material 🤦🏻♀️!!) BUT it is really fab to have Anshu Gupta on the panel, as he was very much the inspiration that drove the doc. Join us and the Catalyst 2030 family tomorrow (Wednesday) and be a part of the movement that values knowledge, community, respect, sustainability and self-determination above self-promotion and flag waving. Hope to see you there 😊

This is fantastic work from Nkunzurwanda Olivier and his team at Refugee Innovation Centre .