FMO is 50
On 8 July 2020, it was exactly fifty years ago that the Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden, now better known as FMO, was established. Despite being housebound, we could not let this milestone go by unnoticed. We adjusted our plans, explored new ways to connect and shifted our celebrations to the online world.
Anniversary theme
As 2020 started, we also tipped into the ‘decade of decisive action’ to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Back then we all recognized that while some progress had been made, the world was overall off track to meet the SDGs by 2030.
Our anniversary year presented an opportunity to accelerate our efforts together with our partners for the SDGs. This is why we focused our communications efforts in light of our anniversary on raising awareness that, together with our partners, we need to make ‘The Challenge of a Decade, the Achievement of the Century'.
Then COVID-19 swept across the globe, setting the world even further back from achieving the SDGs. Something no one could have imagined in January. COVID-19 had made our theme even more urgent. To build back better, we need to keep ourselves on the road to the SDGs and make every decision made today, count for the world we want to see tomorrow.
January 2020 | Launch of the Challenge of a Decade, the Achievement of the Century theme
We launched our anniversary theme with a clip about the need to act decisively on the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. At FMO we feel strongly that we can be part of the solution if we empower entrepreneurs to build a better world.
July 2020 | Cake Challenge
On 8 July we commemorated fifty years of FMO during an online staff event. Part of these online celebrations was a bake off challenge. Everyone received the ingredients to bake their own FMO birthday carrot cake. We discovered that we have a lot of baking talent within FMO.
July 2020 | Launch of the first edition of our anniversary magazine Future-minded
Future-minded is about people who are driving action on the SDGs. People who have built sustainable businesses in emerging economies that are a force for good and make a profit while doing it. They are showing us how we can unleash the best of entrepreneurialism for the greater good and the future we want.
September | Start of the 1.5 ºC Challenge
Our young FMO network introduced the FMO 1.5 Challenge. For three months, from 1st September to 1st December, a group of 50 FMOers were selected to live within a CO2 emissions budget of 5.16 tons. This challenge showed us how the personal choices we make in everyday life can reduce our CO2 emissions and help to halt the ravages of climate change.
October 2020 | Launch of the podcast series ‘The Challenge of a Decade’.
Challenge of a Decade’ is a podcast series that interviews people on the challenges and actions that need to be taken for reaching the SDGs. Click here to go to the podcast series.
