Philanthropic organizations invested more than $1.18 billion

On the map of the social responsability and the private sector sustainability plansinvestments are key family and corporate foundationswhich last year exceeded $1.18 billion, some US$260 million.

This is the conclusion of a report by the Association of Family and Business Foundations (AFE)which brings together 85 of the most important philanthropic organizations in the country and which demonstrates the impact of private cooperation in vulnerable communities and in different social areas.

(More: Mental health and changes in labor legislation, risks in the workplace).

In total, these institutions that are part of AFE They developed more than 800 projects during the last year with coverage in the 32 departments of the country.

For its part, The number of people served reached 6.4 million directly, while the number of people served reached 11.5 million indirectly..

(You can read: The impossible plane: how a special fuel allows it to defy gravity).

According to Aura Lucía Lloreda, executive director of AFE, “Family and corporate foundations have demonstrated that their ability to leverage and execute private cooperation resources drives shared prosperity in Colombia”.

The directive added that “These organizations have worked for decades in the territories in a coordinated manner with the populations served, governments, companies and international cooperation, contributing to overcoming social challenges faced by vulnerable communities.”.

The areas of work

It should be noted that 30.8% of the private cooperation resources of these organizations were invested in programs related to educationbeing the focus of attention of most of these organizations (66) linked to AFE.

(Read more: Santiago Montenegro resigns from the presidency of Asofondos).

In the educational field, these entities have addressed areas of work such as Access, quality, infrastructure, scholarships, school coexistence, strengthening of institutional capacities, learning processes and technology and innovation.

The education sector is followed by health projects (25.4%) and income generation (12.8%).

Education

iStock

In the first, 35 institutions work and in the second, another 59. Other fields in which these philanthropic organizations concentrate have to do with habitat, environment and sustainability; culture, recreation and sport, rural development, and democracy and participation.

Regarding the territorial distribution of the projects, most have a presence in the region Peaceful (264), followed by the Caribbean (225), regions that in turn present the highest rates of multidimensional poverty calculated by Dane.

(More: Which are the most valuable beer brands in Latin America?)

“For AFE, shared prosperity is a broad concept that consists of the fact that the generation of wealth in a society must leverage concrete and multidimensional efforts to address inequality and inequity in the country.“Lloreda explained.

“In this sense, and in light of these results, we are convinced that it is feasible to build a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable country, by articulating and strengthening family and business foundations.” he concluded.

CONSTANCE GOMEZ GUASCA
Portfolio Journalist