How Africa is using medical drone delivery to combat COVID-19
The Covid-19 pandemic has introduced extraordinary challenges for health systems and communities around the globe. Countries are faced with surging demand on hospitals, keeping vulnerable populations safely at home, and effectively managing scarce resources like test kits, personal protective equipment, and, someday hopefully soon, a vaccine. As policymakers search for solutions in real-time, many are […]
Renewable energy investments can boost the Caribbean’s sustainable recovery: A green economic stimulus
The Caribbean is all too familiar with the public health and economic threats of climate-driven hurricanes and natural disasters. It is now faced with the unprecedented shock and economic impact of COVID-19. At present, 90% of hotels and tourism-related businesses have closed or are operating at reduced levels, hospitals are grappling with limited capacity as […]
How solar-powered tablets are educating rural communities about COVID-19
“We use solar-powered tablets to conduct community education campaigns on financial education, contraception and HIV, health, vaccinations, civic education, and now to inform communities about measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” says Dayn Amade, founder of the Tablet Comunitário/Community Tablet. In the wake of the outbreak of the novel corona virus and realizing the need to […]
Swiss to vote on holding multinationals responsible for supply chains
The initiative is part of a wave of similar legislation being proposed in other countries, based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The Swiss political system prioritizes direct democracy over party politics. Major policy issues are decided in referenda which are held several times a year. A popular initiative allows […]
How impact investing can boost rural economies during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
About two-thirds of the 600 million people living in extreme poverty around the world live in rural areas, and the COVID-19 crisis is exacerbating every challenge they face. Rural communities often lack access to proper infrastructure, health care, markets, education and finance. As the world goes digital in the face of the pandemic, people without […]
Business Fights Poverty Fortnightly Round-Up
I am writing this from the UK, where the clocks have just gone back and we are heading with no small amount of trepidation into winter. However, at Business Fights Poverty the mood is one of new beginnings, as we publish two Action Toolkits, launch a new Challenge with a Virtual Summit on Health, and […]
Building back with better jobs: A new action toolkit to mainstream business models for decent work
A Business Fights Poverty and ILO The Lab collaboration COVID-19 is continuing to devastate livelihoods around the world and as governments work to contain the virus, restrictive measures are impacting jobs, markets and supply chains. The ILO predicts that 1.6 billion informal economy workers could suffer “massive damage” to their livelihoods due to the pandemic, […]
New tools for allocating capital to impact
Investor interest in impact and sustainable investing is mounting. But how do we know that an investor or fund manager is truly putting their money where their mouth is, versus simply re-labeling as ‘impact’ what they were already doing? The ultimate proof is investors’ impact performance, but as a leading indicator of performance, we can […]
Rebuild Better Toolkit: A Guide To Effective Planning
2020 has compelled us to respond to societal challenges like never before. But knowing how to respond in the most effective way can be difficult and daunting, especially when the challenge ahead is seemingly unparalleled. We asked British Army Major, and expert in military contingency planning, Nick Barton to share his thoughts and learnings, on […]
Is impact investment our most effective tool for a sustainable recovery?
As one of the world’s first impact investors and a prominent UK champion of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, CDC began this year looking confidently towards 2030. In September, six months after COVID-19 arrived, Amit Bouri, CEO and Co-Founder of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) joined leaders at CDC to talk about the power […]
Informal women workers organize and learn to safely recycle e-waste in Manila
As the world continues to produce, buy, and discard newer and more advanced electronic devices and appliances, countries are also facing the growing problem of what do with the waste generated when these products are discarded. If not properly processed, this e-waste (also known as waste electrical and electronic equipment or WEEE), poses a serious […]
Saving the lives of the rich and the urban poor through cross-subsidisation
LifeBank is a medical company based in Lagos, Nigeria. It uses data, technology and a smart logistics system to deliver blood and oxygen from labs across the country to patients and doctors in hospitals. LifeBank is also building a movement of 1 million voluntary blood donors to improve Nigeria’s blood supply. Since 2016, LifeBank has […]
The Business Fights Poverty Fortnightly Round-Up
The big news this week is that tomorrow, 15 October, we will go live with the first of our Business Fights Poverty Virtual Summits . Following on from NYC Online 2020 last month, we are hosting a series of free one-day online events to deep-dive into six specific action areas. Tomorrow’s Virtual Summit focuses on the vitally important subject […]
Accessibility and affordability of healthy foods for all
Among the major inequities in the food system is the accessibility and affordability of nutritious and healthy foods across the world. Currently, around 26% of the global population experiences moderate to severe levels of food insecurity and lacks regular access to nutritious and healthy food. Vegetables, fruits, and nuts that are high in essential nutrients are often less […]
Pakistani start-up repurposes to help healthcare system cope with pandemic
Nabeel Siddiqui is the CEO and co-founder of a Pakistani start-up that has restructured its manufacturing line in response to the COVID-19 emergency. Siddiqui says, “The biggest issue confronting us right now in Pakistan is not the fatality rate of the disease, but the collapse of the healthcare system under pressure of circumstances that no […]
Healthy Business Coalition’s Eight-Point Action Plan for Reopening
The Healthy Business Coalition (HBC), a cross-industry collaborative initiative of BSR member companies and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, seeks to reimagine how business can invest in health along the value chain in the United States. HBC believes that it is time for the business community to respond to the moment by radically restructuring its support for […]
Food Fortification – An Enriching Opportunity
There is a simple, cost effective and large-scale nutrition intervention that you have almost certainly benefitted from – but likely never heard of. Your children, parents, grandparents, and many millions of others have benefitted from it too. This intervention has been saving and improving lives since 1924. It is simple, cost effective and can prevent […]
Disruptive, digital, and local: the new reality for Latin American MSMEs
The economic impact caused by the lack of access to physical markets during the COVID-19 crisis -also known as “The Big Confinement” – is unique and it is the last consequence of a big chain of structural commercial breakdowns; such as the contraction of global demand and a reduction in global trade. In Latin America, […]
Why businesses must act now to tackle hidden labour in global supply chains
The global COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how much economies and societies rely on hidden labour: labour which is unseen, unrecognised and unpaid. This hidden labour is disproportionately borne by women and is one of the most entrenched barriers to gender equality. The pandemic presents an opportunity to redress existing inequalities by “building back better”, however […]
Global Supply Chains & Covid-19 Pandemic Impact on Child Labor
A recent report from UNICEF & ILO warns that the current pandemic may push millions more children into child labor. A grim reality that is a wake up call for all of us but most importantly for the CEOs of major companies that had turned a blind eye (even prior to the pandemic) by talking […]