On December 1st, 2012, the Ningxia Center for Environment and Poverty Alleviation (the Center), a GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) grantee, became a recipient of the 2012 Transparent Action Award presented by China's One Foundation. An independent panel of judges distributed 17 awards to NGOs and foundations amongst 100 applicants for transparent model, action, and participation. The Center was granted the award for transparent action for its performance in terms of transparency and credibility.
In the words of the Center, "this achievement is greatly due to the opportunities that the GEF SGP grant provided. Since March of 2010, we received more support and help from GEF SGP in terms of organization, development and project management. We also gained the opportunity to communicate with other SGP colleagues. In this big family, we have obtained a platform to exchange with other colleagues and gain more information and knowledge in the field of commonwealth, which benefits us a lot and plays an important role to help us better develop. We are so honored and proud of joining this family."
The Ningxia Center for Environment and Poverty Alleviation (the Center) was founded in 1998 as an independent Chinese NGO, the largest in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The Center's mission is to support rural communities in overcoming the interconnected problems of gender inequality, poverty, and the environment. Using a participatory approach, the Center works with individual villages to increase their capacity to identify problems and develop solutions that work in a local context. The Center provides financial and technical support to assist the villagers in implementing these projects, mainly in the fields of microfinance, the environment, and education. The project supported by SGP aims to address land degradation and climate change.For more information on the GEF SGP project granted to the Center in March 2010, click here
The One Foundation (Chinese: 壹基金), also called the Jet Li One Foundation Project, was founded by Red Cross ambassador Jet Li, under a strategic partnership with the Red Cross Society of China. Since early 2012, the Jet Li One Foundation Project works independently to pursue its charitable mission and agenda.
The foundation believes that: "1 person + 1 dollar/yuan + 1 month = 1 big family". If each person donates at least one dollar/yuan each month, our individual donations can be transformed into a much greater fund. When we combine our charitable strength, we can make sure that the most vulnerable members of our global family will receive the help they need.
Embodying the Red Cross' spirit of humanity and philanthropy, the Foundation believes that in helping others we will also find our own happiness. Starting in China, their goal is to build a sustainable, professional, and trustworthy foundation platform to encourage social sector development and bring out mass participation in philanthropic giving and volunteerism.