Speech by Raymond Georis
At the 15th Annual General Assembly of the European Foundation Centre, Athens
1 June 2004
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,
It is here, in this city, on this “Athens-Agora” that the Greek orator Isocratès affirmed two thousand and four hundreds years ago that, I quote, “Athens considers as Greeks those participating in our education rather than those who are by birth our kin”.
The spirit of European philanthropy is imbued with the same ideals of universal fraternity: “We, Foundations, consider as Europeans those sharing our values rather than those who are by birth our kin”.
Foundations express today these ideals by rejecting every form of intolerance, by sharing a common culture in which solidarity is sacrosanct, upholding, as a check against the materialism of wealth, luxury and violence, the precious Greek heritage of freedom, integrity and compassion.
By creating this award, the European Mercator Fund wants to pay tribute to the European Foundation community which is preserving and perpetuating the great altruistic tradition of Greek culture. I felt therefore very honoured when I was asked to lend my name to this award.
The prize was launched with specific selection criteria: the European Mercator Fund wanted to single out a project which not only demonstrated outstanding philanthropic work, but which also illustrated an innovative initiative with real impact on the community, if possible replicable elsewhere.
The Selection Committee was extremely impressed by the quality of the European Philanthropic programmes nominated this year. I would like to thank all the nominators who took the time to nominate projects that they thought deserved recognition. The choice was a difficult one.
This year’s winner was chosen for leading philanthropic work towards peace and social solidarity both in her own country, Ireland and in the Balkans. But also because it offers a model for other efforts in divided communities.
We wanted to pay special tribute to the bravery and courage shown by this Foundation, and its high impact results it obtained with relatively modest financial resources, in the true spirit of the ancient Greek ideals.
It is my pleasure this afternoon to present the award of the first Raymond Georis Prize for Innovative Philanthropy.
The award this year goes to Ms Avila Kilmurray, in her role as Director of, and for the work of The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, which celebrates its first 25 years this year. The Foundation has made an extraordinary contribution towards alleviating human suffering in the context of decades of violent political conflict and has a considerable record of achievement in building peace in Northern Ireland
Avila Kilmurray has been Director of the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland since 1994. The Foundation’s mission is to enable local activists working on both sides of the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland to take action to improve the conditions of life of the most disadvantaged: ex-prisoners ; victims and survivors of terrorist attacks ; marginalised youth ; deprived families…irrespective of their religious or political background. The Foundation has demonstrated that social solidarity is, in Avila Kilmurray’s vision, the basis for peace.
By giving small, well-targeted grants in risky territory as well as providing policy and development support, the Foundation has proven the essential role of philanthropy: recognising its unique contribution, the European Union has used the Foundation as an intermediary funder for its Peace Building Programme.
But Ms Kilmurray’s commitment to peace and social justice in Northern Ireland, where the Foundation’s work was first focused, has resulted in sharing this experience with other community and independent funders in divided societies and societies emerging from conflict. The project to which we would like to pay special tribute this afternoon is the Foundation’s Balkan YouthBank project.
The Foundation has initiated five operational YouthBanks in Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia. These were based on the grassroots experience from Northern Ireland of the YouthBank scheme, involving Catholic and Protestant young people working together to identify need, promote philanthropy, and take decisions to assist local youth activity by establishing a vehicle for local fundraising and grantmaking. An important element of the training was to build community relations, to develop mutual understanding, trust and respect, as well as to help conflict resolution.
The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland developed exchange visits bringing young people from the Balkans to Northern Ireland and vice versa. This activity has a profound impact on the personal development of the young people involved, and in particular those who had experienced and were living with the legacy of conflict
The Selection Committee found this initiative between Northern Ireland and The Balkans, at a critical moment in the evolution of Europe, to be especially worthy of our recognition and admiration.
Through their work, The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland, led by Avila Kilmurray, has demonstrated how, with courage and innovation, the worst of the legacy of conflict can be used to shape the best in providing hope and peace for the future.
Ladies and gentlemen, Avila Kilmurray.
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