FIRELIGHT FOUND ATION

PROGRAMS
The Interagency Learning Group on Engaging
with Communities for the Wellbeing of Children (ILI):
Sharing and Promoting Best Practices in Working
with Communities
As an active member of the steering committee of ILI, Firelight
brings its experience and perspective on working with grassroots
organizations to a wider discussion about how external agencies
can best engage with communities to protect children and support
their well-being.
Launched in May 2007, this multi-agency initiative aims to identify
and more broadly share appropriate, effective practices used by US
agencies in their work with communities in the Global South. ILI’s
key goal is to solicit community feedback on how external agencies
can best work with and listen to community groups and members in
developing sustainable, child-focused initiatives, and also on how
donors can create a space to empower communities to lead and
manage their own projects.
Strategic Alliances Conference Calls:
Building the Capacity of Grantee-Partners
Firelight continues to facilitate the bi-monthly phone meetings of the
Strategic Alliances group of foundations and organizations focused
on children and families affected by HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan
Africa. The goal is to share information to improve our effectiveness
as donors. Recent conference calls focused on grantee-partner
capacity building, reporting, and exit strategies.
The Strategic Alliances organizations, in collaboration with Funders
Concerned About AIDS, reached the final stages of writing and
editing a report on the impact of HIV/AIDS on NGO staff and
workplaces in Africa. Co-funded by the American Jewish World
Service, Stephen Lewis Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and
Firelight Foundation, the report reviews the challenges faced by many Africa-based NGOs as staff are increasingly affected by
HIV/AIDS, and suggests concrete actions that donors can take to support these organizations. Release of the report is planned
for late 2008.
Joop Rubens