Global solidarity and citizenship
International development is a crucial element of Scotland’s global contribution and a demonstration of our commitment to being a good global citizen.
Global challenges, such as climate change, conflict, health emergencies, and access to clean energy, disproportionally impact negatively on the Global South.
We believe that tackling these challenges depends on showing solidarity with the most vulnerable, and that working in partnerships with governments, civil society, academia and the private sector and global solidarity (also known as global citizenship) is an important pathway to achieving this.
Supporting global solidarity through civil society partnerships
In his letter of 1 March 2022 to the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, Minister Neil Gray stated:
“We continue to place great value on the role of civil society in Scotland, and the appetite for global citizenship in our local communities, staff in our public bodies including NHS Scotland, and private sector companies too. This is all a key part in how Scotland contributes globally to the UN Sustainable Goals”.
We support civil society with around £800,000 per year from our International Development Fund is allocated to core funding the following civil society organisations to support global citizenship in Scotland and our partner countries.
Scotland's International Development Alliance is a network that unites the international development sector in Scotland to promote effectiveness, influence the policy agenda and strengthen the contribution of Scottish organisations to reducing inequality and poverty worldwide.
The Scotland-Malawi Partnership (SMP) is the national civil society network in Scotland for co-ordinating, supporting and representing the people-to-people links between our two countries. We have supported both the SMP and its Malawi-based sister organisation, the Malawi Scotland Partnership (MaSP), for over a decade. Since then, with our support, the SMP's membership has grown to more than 1,000, including local authorities, universities and colleges, schools, churches, hospitals, businesses, charities, NGOs and community-based organisations all over Scotland.
The Malawi-Scotland Partnership (MaSP) is based in Malawi and is a Malawian-owned and Malawian-led network to support and develop Malawi’s many civil society links with Scotland.
We have provided core funding to the Scottish Fair Trade Forum (SFTF) since 2010, to promote fair trade in Scotland, with the aim of achieving and then maintaining Fair Trade Nation status.
We support Global Citizenship Education by funding IDEAS to run Scotland's Development Education Centres, which provide resources and training on human rights and sustainable development to Scotland’s learning communities.