Many of Singapore’s unskilled and semi-skilled jobs in sectors such as construction, marine, and processing are filled by low-wage male migrant workers. Hailing from countries like Bangladesh, India, and China, a significant number of workers face disempowering challenges, such as high recruitment fees, coerced or un-transparent employment agreements, and illegal salary deductions. While the COVID-19 outbreak in migrant worker dormitories has put these issues in the public eye, the outpouring of relief and goodwill are unlikely to address the systemic issues that continue to place migrant workers at risk of precarious labour conditions. To tackle structural factors in play, APC…

The landscape of international philanthropy today is far more diverse than it was 20 years ago. Today we see funding flow not only from the West, but also between countries in the Global South. With one-third of the world’s wealth and two-thirds of the world’s poor living in Asia, the opportunities for regional giving are immense. However, Asia’s philanthropists face a range of tax, regulatory, and practical challenges that create barriers to giving across borders. Give2Asia, the King Baudouin Foundation, and the Asia Philanthropy Circle are conducting a 1-year feasibility study co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to…

In the Philippines, 1 out of every 3 Filipino children under 5 is stunted and due to that, 3.8 million children are forced to leave school due to learning gaps in the early years. The Philippines Early Child Care Development (ECCD) Pilot is to respond with better nutrition, increased learning, social protection and improved health in order to ensure whole child development. In following WHO and UNICEF’s nurturing care framework, the ECCD pilot will focus on the first 8 years of a child’s life as these early years contribute greatly to a person’s lifelong outcomes in terms of health, productivity, and…

The Myanmar Community Development Fund’s (MCDF) mission is to cultivate and empower community leaders and social entrepreneurs in Myanmar to create long-term sustainable and scalable community development projects and businesses that will benefit the community. This fund will identify and develop impact enterprises in Myanmar in sectors with high potential for economic growth and livelihood development.

The ASEAN Philanthropy Dialogue is a project under Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC), which seeks to bring together ASEAN leaders, members of the Asia Philanthropy Circle, and working-level ASEAN government officials to discuss and agree to act on issues where philanthropy can work with governments in significant ways to address pressing social issues.  It will harness the collective intelligence and resources of strategic Asian philanthropists to grow cross-sectoral partnerships in ASEAN and grow social impact jointly.  The inaugural ASEAN Philanthropy Dialogue took place in Singapore on 21 March 2018. Hosted by APC and part of the fringe events accompanying Singapore’s ASEAN chairmanship,…

The inaugural ASEAN Social Impact Awards culminated in the awards presentation on 21 March 2018 at the Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore. Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC) members, ASEAN ministers, senior officials, and other philanthropists and social sector leaders gathered to celebrate and highlight the power of social entrepreneurs and the positive transformational changes they can make to the communities they serve.  Six award finalists, who were chosen out of 160 applications, had the opportunity to showcase their work at the event. Stanley Tan, Chairman of APC and the awards committee, opened the ceremony with a call for greater support and…

Our Indonesian members are coming together to combine their resources and expertise in different fields in the community building of a rusunawa in Jakarta.  Working with GK (Gerakan Kepedulian) Indonesia, the project aims to work on a holistic level on the different issues affecting the communities living in such areas: education, healthcare, infrastructure, community-building and livelihoods.  The hope is that this project will eventually become a demonstration project for community building in other rusunawas.