Bedon Family Foundation
luZakatamiya aluBayeet luBedon (Packilvanian) | |
| Formation | January 24, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Thumim V Saga of Tynam |
| Founded at | Sultana's Palace, Bingol, Packilvania |
| Type | Non-government organization |
| Legal status | Non-profit |
| Purpose | Healthcare, education, infrastructure development |
| Headquarters | Sultana's Palace, Bingol, Packilvania |
Co-chair of the Board of Trustees | Thumim V |
Co-chair of the Board of Trustees | Saga of Tynam |
| Endowment | $50 billion SHD |
The Bedon Family Foundation (BFF) is a Packilvanian private charitable foundation founded by Thumim V and Saga of Tynam upon their wedding and coronation as Sultan and Sultana of Packilvania. It was formally launched on January 24, 2023 as a consolidation of several existing charitable organizations managed by the Bedonite Dynasty and the House of Tynam. The Foundation received a large infusion of cash to commemorate the wedding, and is reported to control roughly $50 billion SHD in assets, making it one of the largest charitable foundations in the world.
The foundation is divided into three segments relating to its main goals of promoting access to healthcare and education and improving basic infrastructure in underdeveloped regions. The Foundation is most active within Pax-Draconica, but maintains operations worldwide.
History
The Bedon Family Foundation was formally established on January 24, 2023, at the end of the state banquet at the Sultana's Palace in Bingol. Its formation has been attributed to initiatives by Saga of Tynam, who sought to consolidate existing Bedonite and Tynami charitable initiatives into a single coordinated institution similar to the Cryrian Blue Rose. The newly crowned Sultana also announced an initial $1 billion SHD donation to kickstart the new foundation.
Existing Packilvanian organizations merged into the Foundation include the Rural Development Initiative, the Sultana's Scholarship Fund, and the Rural Healthcare Foundation among others. Packilvania has also historically maintained a high rate of non-state foreign aid under its tradition of Zakat, and the Gamesh Bedon Foundation's mission of supporting development and healthcare projects around the globe was also been incorporated into the BFF. Several smaller Tynami-founded initiatives were also rolled into the foundation, such as the Shaya Navathe Project to provide sanitation infrastructure in Serramal.
In the five months since its formation, the Foundation has primarily focused on reorganizing and streamlining the activities of its subsidiary organizations, and on absorbing its new cash infusions. The operations of the merged-in groups have continued uninterrupted during this time.
Activities
The Foundation's operations are split across three divisions - Healthcare, education, and infrastructure. The Foundation appoints career officials to manage its activities on a day-to-day basis and is overseen by a Board of Trustees. The Board is co-chaired by the Sultan and Sultana of Packilvania, though to date the Sultana has taken on the more active role in managing the Board.
Healthcare
The Foundation's predecessor organizations are thought to have contributed some $6.5 billion SHD to various healthcare initiatives over the course of their existence. Within Pax-Draconica, they have been particularly focused on countering common diseases such as cat scratch disease, campylobacteriosis, Cryptosporidiosis, Hookworm and MRSA. The Foundation's predecessors, particularly the Rural Healthcare Foundation, played important roles in the Packilvanian government's vaccination and basic nutrition programs.
Thanks to its new funding, the Foundation has also launched new initiatives to both fund medical research within Packilvania, and to expand continuous, long-term access to healthcare by supporting clinics and transportation options in underserved areas and communities.
The foundation is also active overseas through the efforts of the Gamesh Bedon Foundation, which provides, trains, and equips thousands of medical personnel around the world. The Gamesh Bedon Foundation is best known abroad for its activities during the 2021 Aduraszna quake and tsunami.
Since its formation, the Foundation has also established a new program to provide contraceptives and abortion care within the restrictions of Packilvanian law, a move which has been controversial among more traditional communities and has necessitated the creation of its own special legal team to review cases. Despite strict scrutiny, the Foundation is the largest provider of family planning, abortions, and broader health services for women within Pax-Draconica, particularly in many areas which have historically relied on informal clinics.
Education
The Education division is made up entirely of the Sultana's Scholarship Fund, which is among the largest scholarship funds in Pax-Draconica. Since its foundation in 1998, the Fund has supported both basic and higher education through direct monetary support to both students and schools. The Scholarship Fund works closely with schools across underserved areas and has standing agreements with major universities to provide spots for low-income and underserved students.
Unlike the other two divisions, the Foundation's Education division operates entirely within Pax-Draconica. Since its establishment, the Foundation has reallocated significant resources to combat severe gender gaps and the underrepresentation of women across all levels of Packilvanian education.
Infrastructure
The Foundation's infrastructure division is centered upon the efforts of the Rural Development Initiative, which was created in 1980 to improve water, sanitation and sewage infrastructure in rural Packilvania. These issues remain among the most pressing for many remote communities within Pax-Draconica, and continue to be the highest priority for the Foundation's infrastructure division. The Foundation has also begun to fund similar efforts abroad, such as in Serramal.
The Foundation has also used newly received funds to expand its efforts to provide housing assistance to vulnerable individuals.
Criticism
Links to the Bedonite Dynasty
The Bedon Family Foundation has received scrutiny for its close ties to the Packilvanian ruling family. Both the Sultan and Sultana serve as co-chairs of the foundation, with the latter having taken a particularly active role in its operations. Most of the Foundation's funding is Bedonite in origin, and many other members of the Bedonite Dynasty and Packilvanian aristocracy are involved as officers or trustees in the Foundation.
In an article on the Sultanate's transition of power, the Cryria-based Institute for Geopolitical Studies suggested that the creation of the Foundation was a part of a wider effort involving the wedding and coronation to rehabilitate and improve the ruling family's image both domestically and abroad. Notably, the Foundation in many ways continues existing efforts, but now openly wears the Bedonite name, while both the timing of its formation and the large lump-sum donations served to draw attention to the charitable effort. The ISG also noted the Sultana's own significant involvement in the Foundation, whose massive endowment fund could serve as a part of the wider Packilvanian patronage network through the distribution of funds, contracts, and sinecures.
Family Planning and Abortion
The Foundation has also drawn negative attention from the more traditional segments of Packilvanian society for providing contraceptives and abortion care as a part of its healthcare programs. Family planning and abortions remain deeply controversial in Packilvania, and is heavily restricted by law. Local religious authorities from both Paxism and minority groups such as Akuanism and Akronism have all openly voiced their opposition to loosening restrictions in this area.
The Foundation's focus on this area has no predecessor from its precursor organizations, and several commentators have attributed the initiative to the Sultana's involvement. For some elements in Packilvania, this has led to the view that the Foundation is little more than a vehicle for the Sultana's own political ambitions and ideologies. The heavily controlled nature of Packilvanian political discourse makes it difficult to gauge the exact extent or intensity of the opposition. In a rare open statement of defiance, the mayor of Mushwaratun blocked the opening of Foundation offices in the city and accused the group of being "A foreigner's cheap play at the Carriers of Mercy."
Financing and Investments
The Foundation's trust reinvests unused funds with the goal of maximizing returns. As a result, its investment portfolio often includes companies that have been criticized for worsening living conditions via pollution and unfair trade and labor practices in the same areas that the Foundation is providing relief to.