Global Fund for Children’s Learning Playground Issue IV (2022)

By Vanessa Stevens | April 18, 2022 | Africa & The Middle East, Asia, Europe & Eurasia, The Americas | Youth Empowerment

A quarterly collection of inspiring reads, listens, and updates dedicated to children’s rights, youth-led change, and grassroots power. At Global Fund for Children, we’re excited to have you join us here for a more playful approach to exploring new questions, ideas, and practices that shift power to create a future where all children and youth are safe, strong, and valued.

In this issue, we explore:

How can funder listening strengthen community-led approaches?

John Hecklinger and Ame David at the Feedback Summit

GFC President and CEO John Hecklinger and Regional Capacity Development Specialist for West Africa Amé Atsu David at the Feedback+ Summit. © GFC

Listening is one of GFC’s core practices as a grantmaking partner. GFC’s Regional Capacity Development Specialist for West Africa, Amé Atsu David, recently spoke at the Feedback+ Summit in Jacksonville, Florida, on the impact of deeply listening to partners. She highlighted how listening has contributed to building trust and strengthening a network initiative of six community-based organizations addressing violence against girls in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Here are some of Amé’s key takeaways:

Check out some great resources about feedback from Feedback Labs.

How can funders follow the lead of the grassroots community to shift power?

Philanthropy resource map

A growing map of resources to reimagine philanthropy and global development. © GFC

Over the last several years, we have mapped dozens of emerging initiatives to reimagine philanthropy and global development. We must heed the calls to shift power led by community and grassroots actors to strengthen sustainable development, justice, and equity. Here are some initiatives with bold visions for change:

What are we learning about fostering meaningful spaces for young people in participatory grantmaking?

A young woman wearing a mask

A young person participating in a Feminismd event in Moldova. Feminismd is one of GFC's new Spark Fund partners. © Feminismd

Have you met GFC’s first-ever Spark Fund partners? In December, ten youth panelists selected 12 community organizations, primarily youth-led, in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine in our newest participatory grantmaking initiative. Through the pilot, we have identified many learning questions to strengthen our understanding of youth engagement and participatory grantmaking best practices. Here we share some of our observations and initial panel feedback:

We will have more updates in our next Learning Playground, after our three current Spark Fund participatory grantmaking panels wrap up!

#INSPIRED

As the world focuses on the crisis in Ukraine, GFC has mobilized support for its community-based partners in Ukraine and in the region. Some of GFC’s longest-standing relationships in Ukraine are with community-based organizations working with children with disabilities. According to Ukraine’s State Statistics Service, as of 2019 there were more than 160,000 children with disabilities under the age of 18 in the country. We have heard firsthand about some of these children’s harrowing escapes and our partners’ courageous efforts to support children and their families in the midst of conflict. We are #inspired by their courage and #inspired by the support we have seen from around the world for our largest-ever crisis response fund.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST. . .

Children playing

Children in Serbia playing together. © Petar Markovic

What does play mean to you? Our Programs team explored this question in a recent meeting in celebration of the launch of our Partnership to Educate All Kids (PEAK) initiative and its focus on learning through play. Our reflections demonstrate that play matters well beyond childhood:

“Play is part of creation to me. It brings out my inner creator.” – Nafiz, Bangladesh

“PLAY is the soul of human existence.”– Amé, Liberia

“Play crosses many boundaries – gender, race, orientation, age, human, animal …” – Liza, United States

“The world/society divides the mind and body constantly. Play is my bodymind coming together.” – Deya, India

“Play, you sustain my spirit to remember the days of long, hot summers, secret games, uncoding the mysteries of books and wanting to know with wonder and without shame.” – Corey, United States

“Play for me is. . .

Imagining new worlds
new agreements
new languages, new colors
teaching other ways of being together
of feeling
of taking care of ourselves

Play is understanding
the profoundness of life
knowing ourselves better:
ourselves as individuals
as well as others.”

– Rodrigo, Mexico

Original version in Spanish

“Jugar para mí es…

Imaginar nuevos mundos
nuevos acuerdos
nuevos lenguajes, nuevos colores
ensayar maneras otrxs de estar juntxs
de sentir
de cuidarnos

Jugar es comprender
la profundidad de la vida
conocernos mejor:
a nosotrxs mismxs
y a los demás.”

– Rodrigo, Mexico

Header photo: Young children playing in Tanzania. © Faraja Young Women Development Organization

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Global Fund for Children (GFC) UK Trust, created in 2006, is a UK registered charity (UK charity number 1119544). We work to generate vital income, create new fundraising opportunities, and raise awareness of the invaluable work of GFC’s grassroots grantees. Our aim is to extend the reach of GFC in the United Kingdom, Europe, and beyond.

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