Our Work
Below are some examples of the organisations supported by the Giustra International Foundation and the life-changing work they do.
International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group is an independent organization working to save lives by preventing, mitigating and ending deadly conflict. In a more polarized, fragmented and dangerous world, Crisis Group’s work points a way forward. War is not inevitable; it is a man-made disaster. We can be part of the solution: we combine expert field research, analysis and engagement with local, national, regional and multilateral policymakers in order to effect change in the crisis situations and build support for the good governance and inclusive politics that enable societies to flourish. Crisis Group’s work is urgently needed as the world is confronted with both new and chronic existing conflicts, each of which has devastating humanitarian, social and economic costs. Efforts to resolve conflicts are complicated by the profound shift in geopolitics, as well as the increasing prominence of non-state actors ranging from religious militants to criminal gangs. We engage directly with all sides of a conflict to seek and share information, and to encourage intelligent action for peace.
Since our founding, Crisis Group’s analysis, associated with policy engagement and advocacy, have had a significant bearing on the field of conflict prevention and resolution, enabling deadly conflicts in numerous locations to be better managed and/or resolved.
Funded by the Giustra International Foundation, the Giustra Fellowship program has supported nine fellows since its inception in 2016. The program places post-graduate fellows across Crisis Group’s regional programs to work in tandem with their analysts, learning how Crisis Group organizes local and regional conflict research, conducts interviews with conflict actors and civil society members, drafts reports and carries out advocacy engagements.
What started as a program for three talented young analysts quickly grew into a successful initiative that has seen fellows gain first-hand experience in Crisis Group’s method of research and analysis, with some joining Crisis Group as full-time analysts. The fellows have greatly contributed to Crisis Group’s work of preventing and mitigating deadly conflict, including on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution process, the Syrian refugee response plan and the security situation in Chad.
The Giustra International Foundation also supports Crisis Group’s communications and advocacy work. As part of their advocacy, Crisis Group analysts have conducted more than 1,000 briefings for senior officials, diplomatic representatives and lawmakers over the past year, detailing their conflict analysis and policy recommendations to reduce the loss of life and livelihoods.
INARA
INARA’s vision is a world where every child has the agency to create a dignified life. Committed to its vision, INARA takes on the mission of filling in the gaps in access to life-altering services for children in communities impacted by human-induced and natural disasters. INARA, a 501(c)(3) registered charity, was founded in 2015 by Arwa Damon, CNN’s Senior International Correspondent, after spending more than a decade witnessing wounded children in warzones fall through the gaps, unable to access the medical care that they needed. INARA has operations in Lebanon, Turkey, Gaza, Ukraine, and Afghanistan. INARA’s holistic approach to the treatment of impacted children is at the core of their medical treatment program, mental health program, and family interventions. This is in addition to the Rapid Response Program activated in emergencies and crises. Besides offering access to needed medical care, INARA provides impacted children with case management services, mental health support, and full coverage of beneficiaries’ medical treatment until they are fully healed.
INARA has received funding from the Giustra International Foundation to support its medical program and its COVID-19 Relief campaign. Through the COVID-19 campaign, INARA provided hygiene and food packages to 1,500 refugee families in Lebanon and Turkey, reducing the coronavirus impact on already vulnerable communities while continuing to offer medical services to children under their care.
The Quincy Institute
Acceso
Acceso is revolutionizing food systems in Latin America and the Caribbean to put smallholder producers and food system workers first. Acceso’s mission is to create fundamental and lasting economic change in the lives of rural farming families and communities. Adopting a pioneering model developed for over a decade, Acceso (Spanish for “access”) builds and scales local agribusinesses that are designed to enable smallholder farmers in developing countries to fairly participate in high value domestic and international markets. Acceso’s agribusinesses in El Salvador, Colombia and Haiti have generated $60m in income for 15,000 farmers, farm workers and their families and brought 45k MT of sustainably produced smallholder produce to market. The charity’s work has provided 11 million meals to vulnerable populations including Venezuelan migrants, earthquake victims and children facing food insecurity in Haiti, and those affected by COVID. Acceso’s reforestation program has pupdated lanted nearly two million fruit trees as part of market-linked reforestation efforts.
Acceso is growing rapidly and will be replicating its pioneering local agribusiness model in other countries across the region.
Acceso, with funding from the International Giustra Foundation and other donors, has provided 9 million locally-sourced nutritious meals to feeding kitchens in Colombia and Venezuela reaching more than 1 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants, many of whom are women and children. This has been in partnership with local and international organizations including World Central Kitchen, the Wayuu Taya Foundation, and Nueva Ilusión.