Issue Highlights
Annual Holiday with the Chimps celebrated at Fort Pierce sanctuary
The 150-acre sanctuary was the setting for a festive holiday party where chimps opened presents, gathered around a Christmas tree, and ate their favorite foods. The chimps' stockings were stuffed with dried fruits and nuts. They even serenaded each other, the guests and volunteers who were present.
'Gay or not gay, Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act is coming for you,' human rights lawyer warns
“This law is only about 40% about LGBTI folks,” Opiyo says on the podcast. “The rest is about civic space, free expression, access to essential services, and it has impact on research work. Anybody who is doing research work on African sexuality could easily be accused of promoting homosexuality. Anybody who is providing any service to LGBTI folks can easily be construed to be promoting homosexuality. So, the law is much broader in its impact, and it is much more dangerous to everybody else, over and above the LGBTI community.”
Killings of Bornean orangutans could lead to their extinction
Researchers found that killings seriously threaten orangutan numbers, and that conservation projects have not yet helped.
LGBTQ Social Justice
U.S. tightens restrictions on Uganda, seeking end to repression
the United States has decided to tighten its visa restrictions on Ugandan officials in hopes of coercing them to end repression of LGBTQ Ugandans and other at-risk minorities. The names of the officials were not revealed.
Human rights advocates condemn Uganda's ongoing homophobic violence
“In almost all the attacks, the bad guys cite AHA as their motivator and the President assented to the law knowing very well that this was bound to happen. So in other words, he gave the green light to them” says a human rights defender
South Africa poised to bolster penalties for homophobic attacks, hate speech
The South African government is one step closer to ensuring any form of homophobia will be subject to hefty penalties that could include a lengthy prison sentence.
Florida students stage a walkout after transgender sports controversy
The walkout took place a day after five school staffers, including the principal, were reassigned for reportedly allowing a trans student on the girls volleyball team.
Florida says the purpose of school libraries is to "convey the government's message"
One thing that is seldom mentioned about the removal of books from Florida classroom libraries: much of this activity may be illegal.
Great Apes & Gibbons
Climate change: Saving Uganda's mountain gorillas
Uganda's first wildlife vet Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka works to save the country's endangered mountain gorillas, whose habitat is being eroded by climate change. She is the founder and CEO of Conservation Through Public Health, an NGO that promotes biodiversity conservation by enabling people, gorillas and other wildlife to co-exist, while improving their health.
Rwanda: Into the world of mountain gorillas at Volcanoes National Park | Times of India Travel
The trek takes visitors through some of the most dense forests in the world and also terrains that will test your strength, agility and will power.
Philanthropy
More than nothing, but not enough: UK funding to LGBTI communities in the Global South and East - Alliance magazine
New research released this week [link] in advance of the UK’s first LGBTQI Giving Summit is a new initiative to track UK funding for LGBTI issues in the Global South and East. It is not filled with good news. Average annual funding from the UK was £13.4 million in 2019 and 2020 from funders of all kinds. Government spending accounted for only 23 percent of this total, with 64 percent coming from trusts and foundations.
A Quiet Exodus: Funders Exit HIV Giving Even as Equity Gaps Grow | Inside Philanthropy
According to data published by Funders Concerned About AIDS, since reaching a high watermark in 2008, HIV-related giving has decreased a staggering 17% when adjusted for inflation. The report also shows an ever-increasing number of funders leaving the space.
There's a New, Extensive Guide to Sharing Power in Philanthropy. Will Funders Take Its Advice? | Inside Philanthropy
the more boat-rocking approaches in the report. These include allowing grant partners to define success, developing policies and practices “that enable a range of resources to support power-shifting,” and “having a culture open to experiencing failures, which involves redefining risk.
Darren Walker on Philanthropy and the Ford Foundation
the Ford Foundation president is a prophet who speaks truth to our world’s most troubling demons in a manner that unites and inspires all kinds. His friend and collaborator Laurene Powell Jobs finds out what makes him tick.
Increasing efficiency in grant reporting
Here we share how we turned traditional, time-consuming grant reporting into a faster, easier, and more efficient process. We’ll also share our vision for the future of grant reporting in the sector.
Participatory grant making is key to shifting the power - Alliance magazine
Ultimately, investing in process pays off. As a result of these trials, those engaged in the work were confident that by letting go of the reigns of control, Participatory Grant Making (PGM) can reduce dependency on donors and INGOs in future, whilst strengthening the hand and power of local civil societies to face the multiple challenges coming their way.
Interview: Cecilia Conrad on working with MacKenzie Scott and the Lever For Change model - Alliance magazine
we have learned that there’s an interest in a different kind of scaling, and that is what I would think of as scaling an ecosystem or scaling a field – that means giving, perhaps supporting multiple organisations in a way that allows them to become stronger and for the field itself to become stronger. That is something new we’ve been offering, and Yield Giving really fits into that because the goal there is to scale the sector. Instead of a single grant for a single project, there will be 250 $1 million grants given to organisations that are smallish by American standards (between $1-5 million in budget).