All around the world, and especially where the poorest people live, millions face the threat of food insecurity. In order to provide a future to rural households and meet the increase in consumer needs, especially in times of crisis, Fondation de France encourages “eating local” by supporting local farming organizations, which reconcile social, economic and financial issues.

Family farming is anything but archaic and can help address the current challenges facing African societies. In Western Africa, family farming produces more than 90% of food and employs around 60% of workers. In other words, there is fantastic potential to tackle external disruptions and promote successful energy and ecological transition.

For Fondation de France, the development of family farming represents a key element in the fight against hunger, unemployment, rural flight and pollution, not forgetting climate change and the pandemic. It launched the Promoting Family Farming in West Africa (PAFAO) in 2019 and has been engaged in a program called (Joint Action for Farmers’ Organizations in West Africa (JAFOWA) since 2016, in collaboration with three other European and American foundations. All these programs have been developed together with the Network of Farming Organizations and Agricultural Producers in West Africa (ROPPA – Nourishing Africa).

These activities are prioritized in line with the following four themes:

• develop sustainable and dynamic family agriculture to help farmers structure their work, produce locally and develop commercial activities in each sector. Since the PAFAO program was created, more than 250 projects were supported in about 20 countries, totaling 9 million euros;
• reinforce agroecological good practices: directly supporting farming organizations in West Africa (Burkina Faso and Senegal) that are developing ecological and sustainable farming practices, to help women, young people and local communities become more independent (JAFOWA program);
• promote dialog with the authorities: representatives of national and regional organizations, supported by Fondation de France, lead advocacy projects with policy makers to promote sustainable family farming;
• support the victims of a catastrophe: in the event of a major catastrophe, the aim is to help small producers as soon as possible to ensure the recovery of agriculture and guarantee food security and independence.

Several of Fondation de France’s donor-advised funds have mobilized to encourage this movement. They include Fondation EG Afrique, which operates in Sub-Saharan Africa and especially in Senegal, Fondation Agir for development and access to water and Fondation Félix et Eliane Genève, which operates in Colombia, Siberia and Brazil.

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Fondation de France, together with Fondation Daniel et Nina Carasso, supports all forms of agroecological transition in France, Europe and the world.

Promoting Family Farming in Western Africa: moving massively towards the consumption of local products

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Fondation de France, together with Fondation Daniel et Nina Carasso, supports all forms of agroecological transition in France, Europe and the world.

Promoting Family Farming in Western Africa: moving massively towards the consumption of local products

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We ensure that your gift is used in the most effective way possible in the field or fields of your choice.

Some of these foundations take a very global approach, like the Fondation L’or du Rhin, which gives awards for artistic excellence in classical music, or the Fondation De la Musique Avant Toute Chose, Fondation Cordes Sensibles and Fondation Véronique Daverio, all of whom support the development of the practice of classical music (prizes and grants, support for festivals and orchestras, help with buying instruments, assistance with recording albums and so on). Others take a much narrower path, like the Fondation Cécile Pollet, which offers grants to young, unknown female singer-composers between 15 and 25 years old who write poetic songs. Or the Fondation Monique Gabus, which awards a prize to a female composer under 40 years old. Not to mention other foundations dedicated to music distribution, like the Fondation Inter-Fréquence, which promotes the creation and diffusion of contemporary music, especially in French.

We ensure that your gift is used in the most effective way possible in the field or fields of your choice.

There are 25,000 annual new cases of Parkinson’s disease in France. By 2030, the number of patients could increase by 56%, which would mean one person in 120 over 45 would have the disease*. The symptoms are crippling: trembling, rigidity in the limbs, impaired vision – conditions that take a heavy toll on patients’ everyday lives. Since 2001, Fondation de France has offered support to researchers.

From bench to bedside: finding a cure

In recent years, there has been major progress in Parkinson’s research. New therapeutic possibilities have opened up with cellular therapy and there are new options for lessening the side effects of treatment. Researchers have also made inroads on understanding the origins of the disease. Fondation de France has contributed to all of these advances, following its strong conviction that fundamental and clinical research should be carried out in a way that is both complementary and concomitant.

While today’s treatments only address symptoms, there is hope that researchers will find a cure in the future. In the meantime, improving the quality of patients’ lives is a priority.

Fondation de France’s efforts focus on three key areas:

• deepening understanding of the disease;
• promoting the development of new therapies and staunching the side effects of current treatments;
• encouraging the exploration of audacious and innovative therapeutic strategies that could lead to a cure.

*Source : Santé Publique France, 2019

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Fondation de France reaffirms its support for medical research on Parkinson’s disease and continues to contribute to the development of new treatments.

Research on Parkinson’s disease

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Fondation de France reaffirms its support for medical research on Parkinson’s disease and continues to contribute to the development of new treatments.

Research on Parkinson’s disease

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We ensure that your gift is used in the most effective way possible in the field or fields of your choice.

While medical progress has led to significant advances in treating certain disorders such as myopia and cataracts, other eye diseases still pose major challenges. As the population ages, an accompanying increase in macular degeneration pathologies is becoming a serious public health problem. However, ophthalmology research is not sufficiently funded by public agencies. All the more reason to act now.

Eye diseases: the importance of research

In 1980, thanks to a generous donation from Berthe Fouassier, Fondation de France initiated an ambitious program that supports research on eye diseases. All of the projects are led by young doctors and researchers in the field of ophthalmology or neuro-ophthalmology. Currently, the program supports nearly 200 projects for a total of around 8.3 million euros.

The “Eye Disease Research” program addresses a major public health issue. Today some 270,000 people in France are blind. In addition, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of visual impairment for people over 50*.

That is why we are concentrating our activities on two main areas:

supporting research in the field of ophthalmology and in particular, the biology, physiology, and therapeutic treatment of eye diseases;
ostering research in vision science, especially the study of the relationship between neurological mechanisms and ocular function.

*Source:Fédération des aveugles de France

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Fondation de France offers grants to young doctors and researchers. It also awards the €50,000 Prix de l’oeil (the Eye Prize).

Grants for young researchers in ophthalmology and neuro-ophthalmology

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Prix de l'œil

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Fondation de France offers grants to young doctors and researchers. It also awards the €50,000 Prix de l’oeil (the Eye Prize).

Grants for young researchers in ophthalmology and neuro-ophthalmology

Submit a project

Prix de l'œil

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We ensure that your gift is used in the most effective way possible in the field or fields of your choice.

Every four minutes someone in France is a victim of a cardiovascular event. Affecting increasingly younger sectors of the population, these diseases are currently the second leading cause of death in France.* For over 20 years, Fondation de France has supported research that helps us better understand, predict and cure cardiovascular diseases.

Obesity and cardiovascular diseases

Thanks to improved prevention measures, the consequences of cardiovascular events have diminished over the past 30 years. This progress was made possible by new surgical techniques and most of all, advances in research. However, over the same period obesity has increased. Today 17% of the French population is obese, and nearly 15%* of French children are overweight.

These figures suggest that cardiovascular diseases will increase among young people. This is why Fondation de France is focusing its support on research, and in particular, the cardiovascular consequences of obesity.

We encourage research on cardiovascular diseases, as well as their progression and possible treatments, based on three approaches:

increasing knowledge of cardiovascular diseases;
measuring and predicting the impact of metabolic disorders (such as diabetes or high blood pressure) on these diseases;
finding innovative therapeutic solutions to reduce the effects of cardiovascular diseases.

*Sources: 2016, CépiDC-Inserm and solidarités-santé.gouv

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Fondation de France is committed to supporting cardiovascular disease research that aims to reduce the consequences of cardiovascular events.

Research on cardiovascular diseases

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Fondation de France is committed to supporting cardiovascular disease research that aims to reduce the consequences of cardiovascular events.

Research on cardiovascular diseases

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We ensure that your gift is used in the most effective way possible in the field or fields of your choice.

Whether it’s to celebrate a writer’s life, keep their work alive, or encourage young authors, several of the Fondation de France’s donor-advised funds support literature.

Thus, every year Fondation Julia Verlanger awards a prize for science fiction, Fondation Michel Dard honors an author who is a “late bloomer,” and Fondation Robert Ganzo promotes poets, while every year the Fondation Prix Jean Freustié gives an award to a French writer for a work of prose. The goals of these “literary” foundations reflects the diversity of their passions and the creative paths of their artists!

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The Covid-19 crisis mobilized emergency actions around the world. Through its Inventing the Future program, Fondation de France uses its experience and networks to offer long-term support for associations developing ambitious, game-changing projects, especially those that address issues on a regional level.

The program in a nutshell

The Covid-19 crisis has made living conditions considerably worse for millions of people who were already at-risk, threatening their economic, social and phycological well-being. Financial insecurity, isolation, mental distress and early school leaving are just some of the critical situations facing these vulnerable populations. The crisis has shown a spotlight on the underlying fragility of entire sectors of our society.

And more crises are to come. It is becoming increasingly clear that we need to think beyond emergency measures; we need to consider the long term. We must foster the development of lifestyles, production methods, housing, education, healthcare and social structures that are more resistant to crises and adapted to an environment that is undergoing profound change.

The crisis also highlighted the need to act on a local level, close to those in need, and where joint projects between public, private and civil society stakeholders generate and develop. Experiments are in progress all over France. How can we help them scale up, expand and have more visibility?

The Inventing the Future program is by nature multifaceted: education, health, jobs, environment, and so on. Experimental and innovative, this program does not presume to have solutions beforehand, it develops them with stakeholders, actors of change, based on cross-disciplinary criteria (see interview with Jean-Marie Bergère, committee president).

Inventing the Future draws on Fondation de France’s 50 years of experience, knowledge and networks assisting the nonprofit sector. Through its support of thousands of projects, which has led to strong bonds with hundreds of stakeholders, Fondation de France has accumulated an unprecedented wealth of experience in fighting against all forms of vulnerability. It has developed a unique expertise in identifying innovative projects, and progressively built a network of actors committed to nonprofits: associations and local support groups, foundations and donors, volunteer experts, public agencies, private enterprises and socially responsible businesses, among others.

With six regionally based foundations in the French provinces, Fondation de France understands the diversity of the various territories and the complexity of each. Familiar with their most pressing needs, Fondation de France also knows the actors who can address those needs most effectively.

Inventing the Future aims to mobilize this capital of experience, practices and networking to accelerate the transition towards a model that is more resilient, more just and more sustainable. Aside from financial support, Fondation de France wishes to reinforce its role as both a facilitator and catalyzer of transformation.

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We ensure that your gift is used in the most effective way possible in the field or fields of your choice.

Progress in the field of medicine has led to unprecedented improvements in our health and life expectancy. However, quite often those improvements have had dehumanizing effects when it comes to patient care, such as excessive medicalization, lack of human contact, ever increasing numbers of procedures. The consequences can be serious. How can we make the relationship between the sick and their caregivers meaningful again? How can we improve care for people with terminal illnesses, or enhance pain management? Now more than ever, it is time to put the patient at the center of healthcare!

Is it possible to support and care for patients without isolating the patient or excluding their loved ones? With the current health crisis, the recurrent question of patient care and quality of life, as well as that of their families and medical teams, has been at the center of public debate. But beyond the crisis, other factors, like an aging population and an increase in serious chronic diseases, contribute to the discussion on patient-centered care.

After over 20 years of commitment to the development of palliative care, Fondation de France is now taking a more global approach, looking at how to support and care for patients throughout their illness and not only at the end of their lives. This means taking into account all locations where patients are cared for (hospitals, retirement facilities, at-home, etc.), as well as all concerned parties: patients, loved ones and caregivers.

Fondation de France supports both on-the-ground projects and research.

The Patient-Centered Care strategy supports projects that focus on five goals:

• encourage care and support adapted to people with illnesses, as well as their loved ones, with particular attention to intercultural, at-risk, and hardship issues;
• support caregivers confronting difficult situations: overwork, organizational changes, uncooperative patients, notification of serious illness, violence and so on;
• support stakeholder collaborations and healthcare management experiments in hospitals and cities;
• encourage patients and their loved ones to participate and become involved in the treatment strategy;
• help patients develop projects that recognize and benefit from their life experiences.

The Treat, Relieve, Support strategy backs research focusing on four main concepts:

• improve care practices in France using new, validated and easily accessible data;
• increase knowledge on pain during serious illness and at the end of life;
• use medical treatments more effectively and explore non-pharmacological methods;
• encourage multidisciplinary research on ethical and quality-of-life questions that are not funded elsewhere in France.

Fondation de France wishes to contribute to the evolution of the health system through dissemination of this research, especially among policymakers.

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The technologization of medicine calls into question the relationship between carers and the cared-for. The balance between the two is crucial to effective healthcare.

Patient-centered care: offering help and support in healthcare facilities

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Treat, Relieve, Support: research projects

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The technologization of medicine calls into question the relationship between carers and the cared-for. The balance between the two is crucial to effective healthcare.

Patient-centered care: offering help and support in healthcare facilities

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Treat, Relieve, Support: research projects

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We ensure that your gift is used in the most effective way possible in the field or fields of your choice.

In France, disability affects 12 million people. Physical disability is the most visible and yet 80% of disabilities are “invisible”, they include sensory, mental and cognitive disorders. In addition, 8 million helpers, friends and family members support someone in their circle. Disability may occur from birth or following an accident, disease or with the onset of old age. We really are all in it together! However, much remains to be accomplished for disabled people to exercise their rights, access services and live their lives as they please.

We’re all in this together

Despite a legal framework that affords rights to people with a disability, they are particularly affected by inequality, discrimination, prejudice and isolation. For them, daily living is all too often a struggle in the face of many obstacles regarding health care, legal rights, housing, employment, leisure etc. For example, 14% of people with a disability in France are officially registered as unemployed, twice as many as the national average*.

Fondation de France has been working alongside nonprofits and people with a disability since the 1970s. In 2021, the Disability program supported 32 new projects. Our approach consists in treating inclusion as a cross-cutting issue and supporting holistic projects that tackle the causes of exclusion, not just the symptoms.

The projects supported by the Disability program can address all fields and public services: housing, education, employment, leisure, sports, citizenship, and also access to healthcare and parenting, safety and justice, shops, transport and so on. Inclusion in society also increasingly involves digitization. For people who are vulnerable, introducing good practices is particularly important.

Achieving greater inclusion and enabling all concerned to fully exercise their rights also means changing perceptions, representations and especially, practices. This requires raising awareness, adapting and transforming ordinary social environments, to make them as open and accessible as possible. It also requires medical and social services to reach out to ordinary environments.

Details of how to respond a call for projects are below.

Factsheets that are easy to read and understand, as well as an audio version, can be found in the details of the call for projects. 

*Unemployment in people with a disability is partly hidden as many of them have no access to job centers.

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INVENTING THE FUTURE

Find out more about the new program supporting nonprofits over the long term

Fondation de France supports initiatives that permit people with disabilities to decide for themselves the conditions of their full participation in an inclusive society.

Disability: support for inclusive practices

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Fondation de France supports initiatives that permit people with disabilities to decide for themselves the conditions of their full participation in an inclusive society.

Disability: support for inclusive practices

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We ensure that your gift is used in the most effective way possible in the field or fields of your choice.

Unsanitary housing, energy poverty, run-down apartment blocks and deprived neighborhoods mean that millions of French people are affected by poor housing. And yet, improving a specific housing issue, neighborhood or area encourages “togetherness”. It also contributes to combating climate change.

Poor housing over a lifetime is much more than a practical matter. It means having a poor quality of life, with consequences on healthcare, education, family harmony and social and professional inclusion – in other words, pretty much every aspect of life! And appropriate housing is not just having a roof above your head. It also means belonging to your environment and your neighborhood, as well as fostering social interaction, and maintaining it.

A collective approach to combating poor housing

Which is why, in 2002, the Fondation de France Housing program started to address the issue of housing and rehabilitation as both global and local projects, focused on “togetherness.” Based on this experience, and with a strong network, Fondation de France has restated its program priorities with three objectives:

offering solutions to the most vulnerable and exposed people, because of the pandemic, by improving their housing conditions (squats, shanty towns, housing in poor repair, etc.);
contributing to a new approach to housing that incorporates a solidarity element (shared, inclusive and intergenerational accommodation, for instance);
supporting collective initiatives in exposed communities, to help them with transition, stronger resilience, more solidarity (with residents invited to discuss togetherness, improvements to the living environment and the development of abandoned communities.)

Housing and the environment: same fight

The residential building sector is estimated to produce 20% of all carbon emissions! Increasingly, the projects selected by Fondation de France and donor-advised funds active in this field also aim to preserve the environment. A decrease in costs linked to energy (and therefore carbon levels) and the use of green materials in both rehabilitation and construction are intrinsic components of high-quality buildings. Group housing is preferred to limit development in natural areas and resist land pressure. Providing guidance on energy and fluid management, sorting waste and incorporating green spaces into the heart of neighborhoods, with urban farms, community gardens and so on, are encouraged systematically.

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INVENTING THE FUTURE

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The projects supported target both accommodation and the right to keep it, the development of new property offers and residents’ engagement in their communities.

Inhabiting an area via cooperation

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The projects supported target both accommodation and the right to keep it, the development of new property offers and residents’ engagement in their communities.

Inhabiting an area via cooperation

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We ensure that your gift is used in the most effective way possible in the field or fields of your choice.