Geneva Global, Inc.

A couple of years ago, on behalf of a client, we began to investigate some ground-breaking programs that Strømme Foundation, a Norwegian-based non-profit organization, had developed in partnership with local non-profits in West Africa, Bangladesh, and Latin America. After two years of independent evaluation, we can say with confidence that these innovative programs offer an unusually good philanthropic investment opportunity.

As an independent advisor to donors, Geneva Global thinks very hard before recommending any one organization or its programs as being particularly deserving of funding. However, we have been so impressed with the quality, effectiveness, and impact of these programs, that we have taken the unusual step of partnering with Strømme Foundation to create the New Future Fund. Here's an introduction to how programs in the Fund are transforming lives in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Access to education
in West Africa

Speed School is a revolutionary ten-month program where out-of-school children are equipped to pass public school entrance exams, allowing them to enter the public school system and continue their education. Speed School was designed to provide access to education to more than three million children who are excluded from the education system in three of the world's least developed countries: Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

Without primary education, children lack the skills and knowledge required to improve their situation and are likely to remain impoverished for the rest of their lives. Uneducated children are also vulnerable to being trafficked to neighboring countries, where they are forced into hazardous labor, essentially becoming slaves. Without education, girls are more likely to marry and have children at an early age, suffer and die from preventable diseases, and are more susceptible to HIV.

The Speed School New Future Fund is designed to address this significant problem, offering children and communities a chance to break the cycle of poverty through education. Since 2004, over 36,000 children have completed the Speed School program. Another 25,000 will complete the program in the next two years. But an additional three million children could benefit from the program. Every $5,000 contributed to the New Future Fund establishes a Speed School in a new village, providing 25 children with the education they need to enter public schools, at a one-time cost of only $200 per child.

Giving Bangladeshi girls
a new lease on life

Strømme Foundation's Shonglap program in Bangladesh, where 84% of the population live on less than $2 a day, is providing education and training to an often excluded segment of the population – adolescent girls. For cultural and economic reasons, access to education for girls remains limited; fewer than half of Bangladesh's girls complete primary school. Uneducated girls face a very uncertain future. Poverty forces many of them to marry young, and girls who marry too young suffer – and often die – from a host of life-long health concerns related to the strains early pregnancies put on their bodies. Girls who marry young are also less likely to continue their education, and are more likely to remain impoverished.

Shonglap (which means dialog in Bengali), developed in partnership with local non-profits, is a one year program where adolescent girls are taught to read and write, and also learn life skills and ways to earn income. In just over two years, more than 22,000 girls' lives have been transformed through the Shonglap program. Strømme Foundation has an ambitious goal of expanding Shonglap to benefit over 100,000 girls in some of Asia's poorest communities. Every $5,000 contribution to the New Future Fund establishes Shonglap in two new communities. With 25 adolescent girls participating in each Shonglap location, that's just $100 for each girl that learns new skills, gains confidence, and has new hopes and dreams for her future.

Education for vulnerable
Latin American children

Strømme Foundation's programs in Bolivia, South America's poorest country, and in neighboring Peru provide the opportunity for a better life for children living on the streets and in the slums. Since 2002, these programs have helped 126,800 vulnerable children and youth. Over 61,000 have benefited from programs that have strengthened the formal education system and increased access to education for Peru's poorest children. Other programs have provided Bolivian street children a safe place to live, and an opportunity to resume their formal education. With an average cost per child helped of around $100, every $5,000 contribution benefits 50 children, an incredibly low cost to transform a life.

Minimum Investment: $5,000