Arab Foundations Forum’s Annual Members’ Meeting and General Assembly 2017 (AGM) was held in Beirut, Lebanon on September 13 & 14, 2017 at the American University in Beirut’s beautiful campus. The meeting included a one-and-a-half day members’ meeting with speakers and activities tailored to its membership; while the second half of day two was devoted to the General Assembly and Board elections. Please click here to read more about the outcomes of the meeting and all the reports of our forum, including the General Assembly session, which is open to all members and interested parties as part of AFF’s commitment to transparency and accountability. You can also find all of AFF’s financial audits and annual reports on our website!

AFF and some of its members contributed to a comprehensive report on philanthropy in the Arab region. This report is authored by Caroline Hartnell and published by Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace in association with  Alliance  , Arab Foundations Forum, John D Gerhart Center for Philanthropy , King Khalid Foundation ,  Philanthropy Age ,   SAANED and WINGS . A summarized translation of the report is provided by the Arab Foundations Forum and SAANED for Philanthropy Advisory in the Arab Region.

This report on philanthropy in the Arab region is part of  a larger study , started in 2016, to review the current state of philanthropy in emerging economies and the role philanthropy is playing in the world today. This is the third report from the study, which we hope will eventually form part of the Philanthropy Bridge Series.

AFF founding member, Hani Qaddumi Scholarship Foundation , shares their report from a recent Learning Journey to Finland. Their trip was inspiring and amazing, and they learned about the top-ranking Finnish Education System. This study serves as an excellent starting point for initiating a dialogue around the education we aspire to see in Palestine.   Read the full report  that outlines their findings!



“AFF ACADEMY”

We are working on creating an “AFF Academy” portal on our website exclusively for AFF members to access content from our tailored capacity development modules. The “AFF Academy” will be hosted under our Members’ Zone, password-protected page on our site and will serve as a hub for all our content from AFF’s Capacity Development Modules. Stay tuned for this development!

CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT MODULES 2018

We are planning exciting capacity development modules for this year, and we’ve already hosted 3 modules in 2018. Read complete details on past and upcoming modules here .

We began the year with a module held in Muscat, Oman under the sponsorship of our member (and board member), the Oman Development Foundation . The module was held in January and was on the topic of “Social Marketing and Behavior Change Communication.” In February, we hosted a capacity development module on Public Speaking and Presentation Skills, and last month our topic was "Turn Impact into a Useful Management Tool."

Our full calendar of capacity development modules will be updated regularly on our website and, as always, you will continue to receive invitations and updates from our team as each module is planned. Stay tuned!

NETWORKING EVENTS 2018

As with our Capacity Development Modules, we will be updating our website regularly with new networking events.

WE'RE PUBLISHED! AFF CEO, Naila Farouky, has co-authored a chapter on board governance and best practices for NGOs in collaboration with Tariq Cheema, CEO of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists in the book ‘Global Best Practices for CSO, NGO, and other Non-Profit Boards: Lessons from Around the World’ (Published by BoardSource and Wiley, Edited by Penelope Cagney).

The chapter also includes case studies of two AFF members, Emirates Foundation and A.M. Qattan Foundation. Please find the link to the book here .

AFF elected to the Board of WINGS! AFF CEO, Naila Farouky, was elected to the WINGS Board of Directors in January 2018 for a term that ends in 2023. Naila is also serving on the Governance and Finance committees for the WINGS Board.

WINGS Funders’ Meeting in Barcelona! AFF was represented at the WINGS Funders’ Meeting on ‘Investing in Philanthropy and Giving Development’ in Barcelona on March 26 and 27. The meeting was also attended by AFF members Oman Development Foundation (ODF) where Sheikh Khalid Al Massan (ODF CEO) presented the unique case of ODF’s commitment to supporting philanthropy infrastructure, and Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC). AFF was able to showcase its Impact Report 2014-2017 at the meeting at a special “poster session” reserved for WINGS network members with noteworthy impact to share. To read Alliance magazine’s report on the meeting and more, please click here . If you need your access login for your subscription to Alliance magazine, please email us here and let us know.

For more information on how to join our growing network of members, please email Haneen Khatib , Network and Membership Services Manager, or visit our website for a membership application .