Latest trending news Ford offers $80 million to fight global authoritarianism

Ford offers $80 million to fight global authoritarianism

The Ford Foundation will commit $80 million over the next five years to work that strengthens nonprofits fighting against authoritarian regimes

The Ford Foundation will commit $80 million over the next five years to work that strengthens nonprofits fighting against authoritarian regimes.

Such groups are struggling in the face of governments that are restricting the right to protest, hobbling nonprofit organizations with an avalanche of bureaucratic requirements meant to stymie their effectiveness, and threatening the safety of people who work for such groups, Helena Hofbauer Balmori, director of Ford’s international civic engagement and government work and director of the new grant-making effort, announced Tuesday.

“There is a rise in authoritarian tendencies or authoritarian governments,” she said. “The conditions under which social movements and civil-society organizations operate are becoming harder.”

The Ford commitment, called Weaving Resilience, will not provide grants to individual nonprofits. Instead, it will support virtual “hubs” in 12 countries: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda, where civil-society groups can receive help to make their organizations stronger.

The hubs will provide consulting for groups in their regions that need a guide to navigate labyrinthine regulatory and tax systems, draw up plans and publicize their work, and protect against physical and online threats to workers and their families.

The idea behind the grants is that supporting single nonprofits has no lasting impact and does little to help a broad array of organizations. Through Weaving Resilience, Ford wants to strengthen the civil-society “ecosystem” and foster the development of hundreds of vital organizations.

“There is never a shortfall of interventions on the side of foundations doing institutional strengthening efforts but that all of them ultimately always fall short,” she said. “They never have a comprehensive vision, and they only focus on very specific issues as if those issues were enough to create resilience for the organization. The piecemeal approach to institutional strengthening has not been effective.”

Hofbauer Balori hopes other foundations will join in. Weaving Resilience’s Mexico hub, which will offer services to organizations in Central America and Mexico, has attracted $11.6 million in support including the Ford commitment and planned grants from seven other foundations including the Foundation for a Just Society and the Kellogg, Open Society, and Packard foundations.

The idea behind the grants is that supporting single nonprofits has no lasting impact and does little to help a broad array of organizations. Through Weaving Resilience, Ford wants to strengthen the civil-society “ecosystem” and foster the development of hundreds of vital organizations.

“There is never a shortfall of interventions on the side of foundations doing institutional strengthening efforts but that all of them ultimately always fall short,” she said. “They never have a comprehensive vision, and they only focus on very specific issues as if those issues were enough to create resilience for the organization. The piecemeal approach to institutional strengthening has not been effective.”

Hofbauer Balori hopes other foundations will join in. Weaving Resilience’s Mexico hub, which will offer services to organizations in Central America and Mexico, has attracted $11.6 million in support including the Ford commitment and planned grants from seven other foundations including the Foundation for a Just Society and the Kellogg, Open Society, and Packard foundations.

“They are grounded in the political context of these countries and understand the trends that are manifesting themselves.”