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Our approach

We are committed to supporting the ideas that are creating a brighter future for young people.

What are we doing?

At Fondation Botnar, our goal is to transform cities by creating inclusive urban environments and systems that are truly fit and ready to support the health and wellbeing of the young people who live in them through the transformational power of AI and digital technology.

How do we get there?

We invest in the ideas that are making a difference, bring together communities and kickstart dialogue, backed up by monitoring and evaluating to ensure we’re having the biggest impact.

Funding programs and research

To achieve our goal of supporting all young people to thrive, we need to make real world changes. Fondation Botnar invests in and supports pioneering programs and research that strive to tackle national, regional and global challenges for young people with new, innovative approaches and sharing vital knowledge.

We are proud to have achieved the Research Fairness Initiative (RFI) certification in 2022, through the systematic assessment of our organisations’ partnership approaches and processes. This allows us to continuously reflect and improve our funding activities with a view to effective and equitable global cooperation for the improved wellbeing of young people worldwide. Read the full report here.

Creating dialogue and partnerships

We bring together stakeholders across all sectors to kickstart dialogue and create effective partnerships that bring about long-lasting change. By connecting everyone from young people to the private sector, governments to academic institutions, we build powerful networks and alliances that have real impact on policy and practice, and create a world where all young people thrive.

Geographical focus

Our cities are changing. Rapid urbanisation often comes with a number of threats to young people’s wellbeing, such as unsafe infrastructure, inadequate services, violence and injury. At the same time, while larger international or capital cities receive investment, the smaller ones are forgotten. Too often, growing intermediary cities are missing from international development thinking and planning.

That’s why we choose to focus our investment there. We only fund projects in low- and middle-income countries, with a strong focus on the following countries: Romania, Tanzania, Colombia, Ecuador, Ghana, Senegal, India (Odisha or Rajasthan), Morocco, Egypt, Indonesia, and Vietnam — with a specific interest in projects that focus on emerging urban environments as well as on AI and digital solutions.

The selection of priority countries is based on the following criteria:

1. Children and young people’s needs with regards to health and wellbeing.

2. Digital networking and innovation preparedness.

3. Government preparedness for sustainable implementation and scaling of proven solutions.

4. Influence of country on the region.

5. Special attention is given to medium-sized, rapidly growing cities (“intermediary cities”).

Other countries

Fondation Botnar’s headquarters are based in Basel, Switzerland, home of the life sciences. Our work here in Switzerland is based on cutting-edge research and digital-related policy conversations. Fondation Botnar is also committed to supporting work in Israel and Palestine to strengthen child rights research and implementation.

The Future Now.
For Young People
Worldwide.

Fondation Botnar
St. Alban-Vorstadt 56
4052 Basel
Switzerland
info@fondationbotnar.org
+41 61 201 04 74

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