Omidyar Network
  • Our Strategy
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Our Approach
    • People
    • Values & Policies
    • Financials
    • Contact
  • Focus Areas
    • Reimagining Capitalism
    • Responsible Technology
    • Pluralism
  • Partners
  • News and Insights
    • Newsroom
    • Insights
    • Perspectives
Menu  
  • Our Strategy
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Our Approach
    • People
    • Values & Policies
    • Financials
    • Contact
  • Focus Areas
    • Reimagining Capitalism
    • Responsible Technology
    • Pluralism
  • Partners
  • News and Insights
    • Newsroom
    • Insights
    • Perspectives

RDI Receives $9 Million from Omidyar Network to Help Bring Land Rights to the Poor

Posted OnNovember 5, 2009 byadmin

November 5, 2009, SEATTLE and REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — The Rural Development Institute (RDI) announced today it received a three-year commitment of up to US$9 million from Omidyar Network to help millions of people secure land rights, enabling them to emerge from poverty. Omidyar Network’s Managing Partner, Matt Bannick, will also join RDI’s board of directors.

“Omidyar Network’s investment will help RDI scale up for greater impact,” said Tim Hanstad, RDI’s President and CEO. “With this grant, RDI will begin implementing an ambitious three-year plan to bring secure land rights to 9 million families living in poverty. These rights can bring about transformative economic and social benefits that improve well-being and restore dignity.“

This is RDI’s second major grant from Omidyar Network, which invested US$4.3 million in 2008 to help RDI and local governments provide land to women in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.  This initiative begins to extend equal land rights to women in rural India, who comprise the majority of the country’s agricultural labor force.

“RDI is at the forefront of a high-impact movement designed to create economic opportunity for the world’s poorest people through land rights—just as microfinance has done through credit,” said Matt Bannick, Managing Partner of Omidyar Network. “RDI is the cornerstone of our work in the sector because their approach has produced sustainable change for millions. Partnering with RDI, we plan to raise the awareness of property rights as a means to transform economies through individual opportunity.”

RDI will use the US$9 million grant to expand existing programs in India, China and Sub-Saharan Africa, and launch new projects through its Global Center for Women’s Land Rights. RDI will also hire experts in advocacy, communications, and development for its headquarters and experienced local leaders for its field offices. Amplifying on-the-ground efforts in emerging markets will advance property rights as a powerful approach to economic empowerment.

“Like access to credit and financial services, access to property rights enables people to improve their lives, support their families, and secure their future,” said Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairperson of BRAC, one of the world’s leading microfinance and development organizations. “By investing in organizations like RDI that increase the security of land rights, the international community can rally systemic change that impacts millions of lives.”

About the Rural Development Institute
RDI is an international non-profit working to secure land rights for the world’s poor. Over the past 40 years, RDI has worked in more than 45 countries, partnering with governments on reforms that have helped more than 100 million families attain secure land rights. A global pioneer in using law to create land ownership opportunities, RDI’s collaborations with government partners create leveraged, sustainable and generational poverty alleviation. For every dollar contributed, on average, RDI has helped secure land rights for six families. For more information, visit www.rdiland.org.

About Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $300 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple investment areas, including microfinance, property rights, government transparency, and social media. To learn more about Omidyar Network, please visit www.omidyar.com.
 

    • About
    • Focus Areas
    • Partners
    • News and Insights
    • Omidyar Network Jobs
    • Contact
  • Omidyar Network is a venture of The Omidyar Group.
  • Twitter Linkedin RSS
We use cookies for a number of reasons, such as keeping the site reliable and secure, analyzing how our site is used, and to improve your experience and support our mission. By using our site, you agree to our use of cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.