Problem

Questions of how best to achieve poverty reduction, or defend civil liberties, or secure citizen participation in government, are not new. They have been asked around the world, by state leaders and community groups, but still the problems persist. New ideas are obviously needed. These are often proposed by dynamic, local organizations close to the issues, but which lack the support needed to test their theories.

The Gift

Your gift will help encourage innovative thinking and support creative solutions to some of the critical issues facing community organizations and civil rights groups around the world today. This will be done through schemes like the CIVICUS Nelson Mandela Graça Machel Innovation Awards . These awards are presented annually to recognise organizations or groups of individuals that have developed innovative ways to promote social justice and citizen participation. The winners are awarded a small grant to trial their projects and asked to share their results. Providing ‘seed funding’ to enable the testing of new ideas and approaches, allows valuable lessons to be learned and supports the development of more effective programs for social change. Identifying strong, new ideas is vital if we are to successfully address issues of poverty and injustice around the world.