On the 5th of September, in honour of the recent passing of China’s new ‘Charity Law’ and of the ‘UN Charity Day’ which also falls on that day, Tsinghua University hosted a World Philanthropy Forum. The event was organized by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CRAFFC), Tsinghua University, and the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation.
The forum’s theme was ‘a new ecology and a new philanthropy’, and the discussions centered around the fields of policy, research, practice and personnel training from the perspectives of global participation, social organizations and entrepreneurs.
The event was made up of two major forums and five sub-forums. Lectures were delivered on topics including the UN’s global strategy for women and children’s health, world charity studies, and China’s experience of targeted poverty alleviation, global governance, social value investment, social work and services and foundations.
The attendees came from over 30 countries and regions, including UN representatives, academics, government officials, NGO representatives, business and media people, totalling over 400. During the forum more than 100 guests gave addresses or comments on issues of common concern. After much discussion, the forum agreed on a ‘Declaration of World Philanthropy’ to be submitted to the United Nations.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sent a congratulatory message and wished the forum success. He claimed in his message that China and its people have always been dedicated to charity, and they has made great contributions to education, health care and environmental conservation. Confronted with threats to human development, the key is to strengthen inter-regional and inter-cultural partnership and cooperation. He ended with an exhortation to spare no efforts to protect peaceful development, human rights and people’s dignity.
The leaders of the forum’s hosting organizations successively gave speeches and proposed that the World Philanthropy Forum should be held regularly, in order to integrate and build up a framework and a mechanism for global strategic cooperation. That will help different nations reach a consensus, resolve conflicts, relieve poverty and conserve the ecosystem through more involvement, academic communication, policy proposals, and sharing of experience.
The forum was also endorsed by several other organisations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the ASEAN-China Centre and Microsoft China.
