ECSP Director Geoff Dabelko Joins Premier Donors at Global Philanthropy Forum

Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) Director Geoff Dabelko was among the featured speakers at this year's Global Philanthropy Forum, which took place April 9-11, 2008, in Redwood City, CA. Dabelko joined distinguished speakers—including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former UN Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, Virgin Atlantic's Sir Richard Branson, Google.org's Larry Brilliant, scholar Samantha Power, and singer Annie Lennox—in a discussion of "Human Security, Human Rights and the Shared Responsibility to Protect." Five hundred of the world's best-known and most effective philanthropists—in addition to on-the-ground advocates from the developing world, social entrepreneurs, business leaders, and policy practitioners—were in attendance.

According to the GPF's founder and president, Jane Wales, "Once a year, the Global Philanthropy Forum convenes leading philanthropists from around the world for an intense three days to consider ways to tackle large problems. These challenges—be they poverty, disease, climate change, social exclusion or mass atrocities—cannot be solved by one state or one sector. Philanthropy, and those it supports, has a role to play."

"It is very encouraging that leading philanthropists want to break out of single-sector approaches and tackle the complex links between natural resources, conflict, and human security. We need social entrepreneurs to help find solutions to these vexing challenges," said Dabelko, who discussed ways to prevent the scarcity—or abundance—of resources from contributing to conflict.

While at the GPF, Dabelko interviewed social entrepreneur Juan Dumas, the executive director of Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano (FFLA), an NGO based in Ecuador that helps facilitate peaceful resolutions to natural resource conflicts. Resting on the premise that natural resource management is conflict management, FFLA's work prioritizes resolving these disputes in a peaceful manner. In an original ECSP podcast interview, Dumas highlights FFLA's activities and details some specific actions funders must take if they wish to support efforts to break the links between natural resources and conflict.

Related Links

• Videos of Global Philanthropy Forum Speakers