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The Sathirakoses Nagapradipa Foundation (SNF) was founded by Thai intellectual, writer and social critic, Sulak Sivaraksa, in 1969. SNF is one of the first social organisations set up in Thailand - with a broad mission of supporting struggling artists and writers, and facilitating educational, cultural and spiritual activities that encourage detachment from consumerism. Named after two prominent writers and scholars of Thai culture, the foundation has acted as an umbrella for a number of sister organisations, which have sprung up under its auspices, through the encouragement and support of Sulak Sivaraksa. Together, they have been working modestly for social transformation and an end to structural violence, as well as promoting peace and justice in the region. What distinguishes SNF and its sister organisations from other social organisations is a deep commitment to social change through combining spirituality with social action. This approach is guided by the practice of 'engaged spirituality'. The main objectives of the foundation are as follows - (1) To support and promote persons who create art and cultural work, and to promote any activity which makes progress in the fields of arts and culture. (2) To support and give assistance in activities which will bring about the progress of Thai literature and arts. (3) To support and promote the conservation and/or development of arts, culture, education, as well as environmental and antiquity preservation for the progress of humanity. (4) To publish news concerning domestic and international issues. (5) To support and collaborate in social work for the benefit of society. (6) To support and promote all work of the foundation without political aims. The following is the broad organizational structure of SNF - Patronage SNF is under the patronage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama SNF Sister Organizations Wongsanit Ashram Santi Pracha Dhamma Institute (SPDI) International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) INEB Institute School for Wellbeing - Studies and Research Spirit in Education Movement (SEM) Social Enterprises Suan Ngen Mee Ma Publishing House and Social Enterprise Siam Baandin Natural Housebuilding Social Enterprise SNF is closely associated with - Foundation for Children and Moo Baan Dek (Children's Village School) Buddhika Suksit Siam and Kled Thai Publishing Houses Komol Keemthong Foundation Institute for Contemplative Learning Sekhivadhamma Areas of engagement Some key themes being addressed through the foundation and its sister organisations include: Alternative Economics Through the School for Wellbeing, SNF is collaborating with the Centre for Bhutan Studies and Chulalongkorn University on theoretical and practical applications of Gross National Happiness in Thailand. Two social enterprises have also grown out from the Foundation, providing models of social engagement that contribute to new paradigm thinking and sustainability. Art and Culture SNF continues to support local artists in their contribution to commentary on social and political issues, aesthetics, and their own personal journeys of exploration and expression. INEB is also supporting the rediscovery and exchange of Buddhist art traditions across the Mekong region and beyond. Youth Activism INEB's Young Bodhisattva programme includes exchange of youth among partner organizations, and a foundational Socially Engaged Buddhism training integrating spirituality with social analysis. Strengthening Civil Society Grassroots empowerment has been a foundational approach across many of the programmes under SNF's organisations. The Assembly of the Poor - a social movement representing vast networks of grassroots people across Thailand - continues to be supported through the Santi Pracha Dhamma Institute (SPDI). Both the Spirit in Education Movement (SEM) Laos and Myanmar programmes focus on grassroots empowerment, community organizing and public awareness raising as a means to strengthen capacities of civil society and create platforms for social change. Sustainable Living and Environmental Integrity Wongsanit Ashram is a core member of Global Ecovillage Network - Asia and Oceania, and with its partners, has facilitated the International Ecovillage Design Education training since 2007, which seeks to provide models for sustainable community living. The 'Towards Organic Asia' programme under the School for Wellbeing also focuses on sustainability and wellbeing of communities through supporting organic agriculture farming and mindful markets across the Mekong region and Bhutan. INEB is also involved in recent initiatives on interfaith approaches to Climate Change and biodiversity conservation, which seek to bring a moral voice to the growing urgency for action to stem the current climate crisis. Gender SPDI and the Assembly of the Poor continue to organize capacity building activities for women groups within the network. INEB also contributes long-term thematic work on gender regarding women's' ordination and women's empowerment across Asia. Peace and Justice The 'Cross-Ethnic Integration in Andaman' project is working with migrant workers from Myanmar, including upholding and advocating migrant worker rights at policy and practical levels, and building trust and solidarity among migrant workers and local communities through cultural and social celebrations. INEB and its partners have collaborated on peace and justice initiatives in the Asian region for decades. Over the last years, focus has been on roles of the Buddhist Sangha in communal violence in Myanmar, Sri Lanka and restorative justice for Tamils during and after the civil war, and the impacts of the devastating Fukushima disaster of 2011. Alternative Education SEM Thailand works specifically on empowerment education for the Thai public, focusing mainly on inner growth and relationship building; and with organisations, government agencies, universities and private businesses to build workplace environments that support wellbeing. Under SEM Myanmar, the Coalition for the Promotion of Monastic Education is supporting local schools to become more open and democratic in their management, alongside encouraging holistic child-centred learning, engaging parents, and breaking the walls which separate the school, monastery and community by becoming starting points for wider community-driven development. Media SNF continually publishes books and magazines in both English and Thai languages, including the long-running Pacasaraya magazine, Puey magazine (in memory of Dr. Puey Ungpakhorn), and the Seeds of Peace. SEM Laos has also continued providing materials in Lao language on Buddhism and social engagement.

We are an NGO that promotes and protects the rights of vulnerable and marginalised through community empowerment, action oriented research, policy dialogue, and legal aid in Uganda.

Seva Mandir's mission is to make real the idea of society consisting of free and equal citizens who are able to come together and solve the problems that affect them in their particular contexts. The commitment is to work for a paradigm of development and governance that is democratic and polyarchic. Seva Mandir seeks to institutionalise the idea that development and governance is not only to be left to the State and its formal bodies like the legislature and the bureaucracy, but that citizens and their associations should engage separately and jointly with the State. The mission briefly, is to construct the conditions in which citizens of plural backgrounds and perspectives can come together and deliberate on how they can work to benefit and empower the least advantaged in society.

Earth Trust works to give tools to tribals and villagers to farm their land in a sustainable way, to develop responsibility for Primary Health solutions with traditional answers and to give rural children inspiration, skills & passion for revitalising their communities & land. Email: earthtrust@gmail.com

Friends of Humanity SA is a Geneva-based non-profit organization supporting initiatives and projects in five essential areas: - Human rights and dignity - Education and training - Healthcare and medicine (including alternative medicine) - Environmental protection and conservation - Microfinance

MY Project USA aims to protect and empower American youth. It is committed to address the issues including drugs, gangs, sex-trafficking, bullying, drinking, violence, radicalization and others that are faced by our youth in contemporary American society. It also aims to empower the youth by creating opportunities for them to become productive citizens and strong community leaders of the United States of America.

Their primary purpose is to: Foster principles of equal rights/opportunities ​Promote awareness of African American culture Provide a forum for Black women to address educational, political, social and health-related issues​ Develop the potential for effective leadership and participation of its members in civic affairs Cooperate with other organizations to achieve common goals

We are an organization that is driven by American students to make a better world for their fellow students in Afghanistan. Our mission is to provide humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, including returning refugees, to create an opportunity for cooperative efforts between the United States and Afghanistan, and to develop and enhance educational and cultural understanding and exchange opportunities. Our goals are to re-establish equal educational facilities for boys and girls, provide humanitarian assistance and develop opportunities for economic self-reliance which will facilitate refugee repatriation

Orb Media is a nonprofit journalism organization dedicated to telling stories that matter to billions of people around the globe. Fusing original research and data analysis, on-the-ground multi-country reporting, and social journalism - turning the public into a reporting resource - Orb Media examines systemic issues that cross national and cultural divides. We publish in partnership worldwide with agenda-setting media to catalyze global public dialogue to generate constructive change. Orb is fully digital and we deliver incisive and compelling stories in multiple formats and languages, making them accessible to anyone with a cell phone, tablet or computer.

Almost 800 million people around the world live in a rural area. In Colombia, around 20% of the population live in the rural area. Of that 20%, 40% live in poverty while the remaining 60% are still in inequality conditions. The main drivers that we seek to address are those that cause inequalities, which namely are: household having limited access to education and training, technology resources and technical assistant to improve their quality of life and economic development. Mas Por TIC has born to lead the digital transformation in the rural area, mainly in Colombia. We are building a RURAL DIGITAL SOCIETY: 1. We provide the framework, content, and tools for digital literacy training in rural areas 2. We can ignite a new market of technology solutions that effectively improve the farmer's quality of life. So, we connect small farmers needs with partners who develop technology and ICT solutions through Cultivo Red platform to promote the ag-tech industry Our main purpose is to improve the quality of life in the rural area and reduce the digital rural/urban gap through technology and innovation.

Bridge of Hope NGO is strong local non-governmental organisation, with an effective management and well established financial system, material resources and technical expertise in the field of disability and human rights. The NGO is recognized by national and local authorities and civil society partners in Armenia as the local initiator of inclusive education in the country and an NGO committed to the rights of children with disabilities to equal opportunities in education and community life. Bridge of Hope" (BOH) Armenian NGO is founded in 1996 by parents of children with disabilities and committed individuals from the field of health, education and social protection. Since then BOH has been promoting the disability as human rights issue and promotes the social inclusion of children and youth with disabilities so that their basic human rights are respected and implemented, they are able to make decisions on issues affecting their lives, live independently and with dignity and as active citizens participate equally in all community affairs. BOH programs are developed based on human rights and inclusive approaches for all children and youth including those with disabilities and with other forms of vulnerability. Thus, the organization's development work has influenced paradigm shift in existing approaches to disability issues in Armenia towards the reinforcement of social model of disability in Armenia. BOH has got strong cooperation with Local and National Governments, international organizations and civil society networks for promoting inclusive education and disability rights in Armenia. Since 1999 BoH projects have been focused on promoting inclusive policies, services and education to enhance equal protection and respect towards the rights, potential and dignity of all children who face exclusion, isolation and neglect because of disability and vulnerable social background. More than 25 different projects are realized since that time with financial support of many international organizations in collaboration with governmental and nongovernmental institutions. All the projects have had impact on education and social protection policies in Armenia. Due to this successful advocacy and cross-sectorial cooperation, inclusive education became a reality in Armenia. The development of inclusive education in has become a state policy and the government is committed to further the sustainable development of inclusion and equity in its education policies and the development agenda. For the contribution in development of inclusive education in Armenia, NGO "Bridge of Hope" has been awarded the Highest Award of the Ministry of Education of Armenia - Gold Medal. In 2014 "Bridge of Hope" became the winner of UNESCO Emir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah International Prize 2013 to Promote Quality Inclusive Education for Persons with Disabilities (also please visit www.bridgeofhope.am). BOH community based services is another direction of its development work directed to creation of equal access for children and youth with disabilities to community life and independent living. In between 2001-2004 BOH has opened 5 centers for "Child Development and social inclusion" in Yerevan and 4 regional centers of Tavush Marz - Dilijan, Ijevan, Berd and Noyemebryan. These centers have become doorways from exclusion to inclusion for hundreds of young children and youth with disabilities and their families. The municipalities of Dilijan, Ijevan, Berd and Noyemebryan have provided these centers big buildings free of charge and cover 15% of running costs of the centers through the community budgets. Every year BOH raises funds from different national and international donors to keep the centers functioning and serving to more than 500 children and youth with disables and their families. Up to date about 1200 children and youth with disabilities (with physical, hearing and visual, intellectual, mental, behavioral and emotional problems) benefitted from BOH inclusive services, many of them have become a productive and active adolescents and youth leading independent and dignified lives. "Bridge of Hope" NGO is member of European Association of Service Providers for People with Disabilities (EASPD): https://www.easpd.eu/ , and Inclusion International: https://inclusion-international.org/.

Mission Statement Nicaragua Projekt provides health care for campesinos and their families in remote mountain villages surrounding Ocotal, Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua. Nicaragua Projekt supports a day shelter for girls in Barrio Sandino, Ocotal, providing free meals, educational tutoring, counselling, and scholarships. Background Dr. Katrin Hennings and Reinhart Bein started creating and running a mobile clinic in 2005 in the Ocotal region, northern Nicaragua, on behalf of the German NGO German Doctors. Since then, they have directed the mobile clinic and Dr. Hennings has volunteered several times as a doctor. Through this work, they met Dulce Maria Calderon and Viola Castillo learned about their project Casa Maria de Nazareth, which has existed since 1999 and supports girls who have grown up in extremely poor problem families with backgrounds of alcohol, drugs, prostitution and sexual abuse. In 2006, Dr. Hennings and Mr. Bein, together with other volunteer supporters, founded the German NGO Nicaragua Projekt e.V. Nicaragua Project is dedicated to medical and social projects in northern Nicaragua. Members promote health care as physicians and organizers and help raise funds to make good use of them in projects in northern Nicaragua. The association is engaged in the Ocotal region, Nueva Segovia and Somoto, Madriz in the north of Nicaragua on the border with Honduras. In this rural and partly mountainous or dry region people are extremely poor and the medical care of the population is particularly bad. The Centros de Salud are many hours walk away and they are increasingly very poorly equipped with drugs, experienced doctors are hardly found. Following the logistical withdrawal of German Doctors in 2015, the mobile clinic was taken over by the Nicaragua Project. The projects of Nicaragua Projekt have three main focuses: The mobile clinic Provides free medical care for the population in the north of the country, far from clinics, practices, Centros de Salud or pharmacies. The mobile clinic travels twice a year through the region and is led by volunteers from Germany and Europe. The doctors give up their salary and pay their own travel expenses, from 2018 onwards they also have to fund the costs for four weeks clinic by donations themselves - 2600USD per clinic (medicines, examinations, salaries for nurse and driver, car costs). This clinics takes place in coordination with the governmental health system. They are are connected to the Small community pharmacies or Botequines In order to permanently and sustainably improve medical care, Nicaragua Projekt also equips small pharmacies with medicines and supplies, and we paid for basic medical training (dealing with diseases, medicines and their use) of fourteen local health care providers called Brigadistas (volunteer, committed, non-medically trained villagers), from eight villages. Each village and surrounding farm area comprises between 500 and 1500 people. In May 2017, each brigadista received a mini-pharmacy called a botequine, containing medications and first aid supplies that they had been trained to administer. In American terms, the brigadistas are between an emergency medical technician and a licensed practical nurse. Every month Alba -our nurse- visits each village to resupply the botiquines and review the records of the brigadistas regarding their patients and diagnoses. In May 2018, we are planning a continuing education program for the brigadistas. We have a doctor who has volunteered her time to offer this training. The girls' project Casa Maria de Nazareth Nicaragua Project especially supports the NGO CASA MARIA de NAZARETH in Ocotal, Nicaragua. Here are girls, who grew up in extremely poor problem families - alcohol, drugs, prostitution and sexual abuse of the young girls are the background. The girls are cared for all day and can stay in crisis situations overnight. They are assisted during school attendance, receive two meals, can use a shower and are mentally cared for. Currently, we are accepting applications for a halftime psychologist. With our social workers we work on a close contact with the parents. After completing school, we finance a visit to an evening school to learn a profession and currently we are financing three girls to visit the University of Ocotal. The aim is to provide them with a livable perspective, to enable them to graduate and receive vocational training, to strengthen their sense of self-esteem and to teach them respectful togetherness and rights and obligations in the community.