Open and diverse society

To pro­mote an open and diverse society, Somaha Foun­da­tion is com­mit­ted to open-min­ded peo­ple and com­mu­ni­ties, a strong civil society and trans­pa­rent and effec­tive gover­nance world­wide.

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Challenge

A vibrant plu­ra­lism in which dif­fe­rent social and poli­ti­cal posi­ti­ons and life­styles are respec­ted is not ensu­red ever­y­where. A lack of accep­tance of the diver­sity of peo­ple and socie­ties impairs social cohe­sion and equal par­ti­ci­pa­tion. This results in dis­cri­mi­na­tion and mar­gi­na­liza­tion of indi­vi­dual popu­la­tion groups; free­dom and secu­rity of all are rest­ric­ted.

Solution

Somaha Foun­da­tion streng­thens the par­ti­ci­pa­tion of all in social and poli­ti­cal pro­ces­ses.

In pur­suit of this, the foun­da­tion is com­mit­ted on three levels:

  • Pro­vi­ding edu­ca­tion for tole­rance and respect to con­tri­bute to open-min­ded peo­ple and com­mu­ni­ties.
  • Streng­thening social cohe­sion to con­tri­bute to a strong civil society.
  • Streng­thening pri­vate and public insti­tu­ti­ons to pro­mote trans­pa­rent and effec­tive gover­nance.

Somaha Foun­da­tion col­la­bo­ra­tes with Swiss fun­ding part­ners on a long-term basis. Within these insti­tu­tio­nal part­ner­ships, Somaha Foun­da­tion focu­ses on the joint deve­lo­p­ment of inter­ven­ti­ons to address spe­ci­fic chal­lenges and, among other things, sup­ports con­cep­tual frame­works and struc­tures. The goal is com­pre­hen­sive capa­city deve­lo­p­ment in local orga­niza­ti­ons and ulti­m­ately their ope­ra­tio­nal and finan­cial inde­pen­dence.

Theory of Change

The theory of change explains in more detail how Somaha Foundation’s fun­ding intends to con­tri­bute to an open and diverse society in line with the cor­re­spon­ding SDGs.

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Somaha Foundation

Somaha Foun­da­tion deploys its resour­ces through pro­fes­sio­nal exper­tise, cross-sec­tor rela­ti­onships, and finan­cial means. This way, it sup­ports Swiss fun­ding part­ners ope­ra­ting in Switz­er­land and abroad.

Swiss funding partners

Through the sup­port of the Somaha Foun­da­tion, Swiss fun­ding part­ners can improve their qua­lity, streng­then the rele­vance of their acti­vi­ties, and increase their reach with addi­tio­nal resour­ces. They work with local orga­niza­ti­ons on a long-term basis.

Local organizations

In col­la­bo­ra­tion with Swiss fun­ding part­ners, local orga­niza­ti­ons deve­lop their capa­ci­ties, ther­eby streng­thening their lea­der­ship and resi­li­ence. By shif­ting decis­ion-making power from a hig­her level to the local level, their inde­pen­dence is enhan­ced.

Local orga­niza­ti­ons deve­lop, share, and apply their capa­ci­ties in ope­ra­tio­nal pro­jects and pro­grams. Com­mu­nity-buil­ding is also streng­the­ned. This takes place at three levels:

  • At the first level, by pro­mo­ting edu­ca­tion that con­veys tole­rance and respect. The aim is to create and sup­port open-min­ded­ness among peo­ple and com­mu­ni­ties.
  • At the second level, by streng­thening social cohe­sion. The aim is to streng­then the cohe­sion and build net­works bet­ween dif­fe­rent popu­la­tion groups.
  • At the third level, by streng­thening pri­vate and public insti­tu­ti­ons. The aim is to pro­mote effi­ci­ent, accoun­ta­ble, and trans­pa­rent insti­tu­ti­ons.

Focu­sing on these three levels aims to con­tri­bute to the par­ti­ci­pa­tion of all in social and poli­ti­cal pro­ces­ses.

Outcome

In the theme of open and diverse society, Somaha Foun­da­tion aims to enable the par­ti­ci­pa­tion of all peo­ple in social and poli­ti­cal pro­ces­ses:

  • Pro­vi­ding edu­ca­tion for tole­rance and respect should enable peo­ple and com­mu­ni­ties to par­ti­ci­pate in an open and diverse society.
  • By streng­thening social cohe­sion, civil society is streng­the­ned through the repre­sen­ta­tion of dif­fe­rent inte­rests.
  • Streng­thening pri­vate and public insti­tu­ti­ons should con­tri­bute to trans­pa­rent and effec­tive gover­nance with par­ti­ci­pa­tory decis­ion-making pro­ces­ses.

Impact

Somaha Foundation’s objec­tive is to sup­port an open and diverse society. Through its fun­ding, the Foun­da­tion con­tri­bu­tes to the achie­ve­ment of the UN Sus­tainable Deve­lo­p­ment Goals, in par­ti­cu­lar SDG 4 (qua­lity edu­ca­tion), SDG 10 (redu­ced ine­qua­lity) and SDG 16 (peace, jus­tice and strong insti­tu­ti­ons).

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Our other themes

Peo­ple in need
Nature pro­tec­tion