Last week I attended the launch of Committee for the Democratisation of Information Technology (Europe) at the offices of Dewey & Le Boeuf, a firm of lawyers who have provide pro bono support. CDI began life in a favela in Rio, Brazil in 1995. Today they work across Latin America creating opportunities for people in poor communities though computers and the internet.
CDI has established its office in London as a base from which to fundraise. It's an interesting example of an NGO from the South coming to Europe to seek funds. Is this going to be a growing trend?
For more see www.cdi.org.br.
The CDI Europe office space is being provided free by ABN AMRO.
Comments
Establishing a programme in Europe - the big question
Thanks for providing more background information Mauricio. I know one of the big things you are trying to work out at the moment is whether CDI should try to bring its methodology to the UK and other European countries.
Some NGOs like Oxfam and Save the Children do bring development workers from Asia, Africa and Latin America to the UK to share their learning with programme partners and staff here.
Clearly CDI programmes in Brazil engage people in a way Brazilian government funded IT training courses don't. If UK government backed IT skills training for socially excluded groups is also failing as Rodrigo suggested - maybe CDI has something to offer. Whether you need to have a UK programme to be able to fundraise in the UK is another matter - it would probably help though.
CDI Europe
Thanks Simon for you comments about our launch event in the UK.
At the moment we are mainly focusing on the UK for fundraising, however we are also evaluating some opportunities in Germany, Spain and Switzerland.
In terms of the implementation of CDI's methodology, we believe there are great opportunties to test in the UK. Long term we will be exploring other areas including Eastern Europe and Africa.
Mauricio
Which European countries are they targeting?
Fascinating. I wonder which European countries they are targeting with their fundraising? Clearly the UK, but presumably Portugal (and Spain)? Are they focusing on countries with big Brazilian populations? Or are they looking at European-wide activity?