Social Entrepreneurs Advancing the SDGs Through Systems Change Strategies

Baobab Tree Alley at Sunset

How Social Entrepreneurs Advance Sustainable Development Goals in Africa Through Systems Change Strategies Despite significant progress in the alleviation of poverty and in promoting health and education, recent reports indicate that the international community seems far from achieving the SDGs by 2030. In the 2022 SDG report, the United Nations Secretary General has called for […]

Nothing about Us, Without Us: Engaging the Voices of Young People

Youth disengagement remains a significant challenge globally, giving rise to a range of consequences that permeate various aspects of society, which affects the results of the different decision-making processes and policies that are in place. Mostly, it creates a gap between beneficiaries. There is a notable reduction in civic participation, encompassing diminished involvement in essential […]

Navigating Leadership and Governance on Sustainability

Leadership and Governance on Sustainability

Navigating Leadership and Governance on Sustainability: Insights from The Sustainability Boards’ 2023 Annual ESG Preparedness Report In a world increasingly conscious of its footprint, the evolution of Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) is a worldwide focus. The Sustainability Board’s 2023 Annual ESG Preparedness Report offers invaluable insights into global boards’ approaches to sustainability governance and director’s […]

Unlocking Women’s Economic Power isn’t Rocket Science

Women's Economic empowerment

Unlocking Women’s Economic Power What if I told you that the financial sector has been favoring the wrong gender – that often women entrepreneurs are a better credit-risk than men and their businesses have higher returns? Women put their profits back into their families and communities. They create more jobs and bring greater prosperity. In fact, investing […]

Why a Food-Secure Future Means Focusing on Smallholder Farmers

Smallholder Farmers: Female Farmer holding a Sunflower.

Today, World Children’s Day, is a fitting day for the UK government to host the Global Food Security Summit, an event focused on achieving Zero Hunger and ending malnutrition. Ending hunger by 2030 is the second of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), targets that were internationally agreed in 2015 as a universal call to end poverty, […]

Empowering Ghanaian Women in Sustainable Shea Trading

Two women from Ghana Sustainable Shea butter

Shea butter, a natural fat from Shea nuts, comes from Shea trees, indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa. Shea trees take 15 years to produce their first nuts. Shea butter is the only natural fat that contains all the nutrients the skin needs and its production is a centuries-old craft practiced by local women for cooking and skincare. […]

Introducing the Strive Community Small Business Evidence Map

Cropped shot of a male baker talking on the phone while using a digital tablet at work

Designing and implementing impactful small business support programs requires thoughtful consideration of the decision-making process. Typically, decisions are made based on a combination of existing theories, past experience, and evidence of what does or doesn’t work. While each of these approaches is valuable, evidence-based decision-making may be overlooked due to its complexity. To use evidence […]

The Business of Care: Standard Chartered Interview

The Business of Care - women in blue top and yellow rubber gloves cleaning a white machine

The interviews with five Business Fights Poverty Lead Partners, Primark, Unilever, Anglo American, Standard Chartered and Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, focussed on two areas. Firstly, how their companies are currently supporting social entrepreneurs and secondly if and how their companies are addressing the care economy through workplace policies.  These lines of questioning led to […]

The Business of Care: Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth

The Business of Care - Women kneeling on the floor with a small child

The interviews with five Business Fights Poverty Lead Partners, Primark, Unilever, Anglo American, Standard Chartered and Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, focussed on two areas. Firstly, how their companies are currently supporting social entrepreneurs and secondly if and how their companies are addressing the care economy through workplace policies.  These lines of questioning led to […]

The Business of Care: Anglo American Interview

The Business of Care

The interviews with five Business Fights Poverty Lead Partners, Primark, Unilever, Anglo American, Standard Chartered and Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, focussed on two areas. Firstly, how their companies are currently supporting social entrepreneurs and secondly if and how their companies are addressing the care economy through workplace policies.  These lines of questioning led to […]

The Business of Care: Unilever Interview

The Business of Care Female Entrepreneur Bangladesh

The interviews with five Business Fights Poverty Lead Partners, Primark, Unilever, Anglo American, Standard Chartered and Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, focussed on two areas. Firstly, how their companies are currently supporting social entrepreneurs and secondly if and how their companies are addressing the care economy through workplace policies.  These lines of questioning led to […]

The Business of Care: Primark Interview

The Business of Care. Women from Bangladesh wearing red overall mops floor

The interviews with five Business Fights Poverty Lead Partners, Primark, Unilever, Anglo American, Standard Chartered and Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, focussed on two areas. Firstly, how their companies are currently supporting social entrepreneurs and secondly if and how their companies are addressing the care economy through workplace policies.  These lines of questioning led to […]

Capturing Natural Goodness In Hazelnuts From Soil To Snack

ofi social worker Esra delivering training to seasonal workers

As you walk around the villages tucked away in Turkey’s Eastern Black Sea hills, every sight and sound is permeated by hazelnuts, or Findik. They carpet the towering hillsides, they’re in conversations in supermarkets and gas stations, and on display behind glass cabinets in hotels and restaurants. You can understand why this is the world’s […]

Improving Health Financing and Health Outcomes

According to the report published by the World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO), almost half of the world’s vulnerable population including women, children, and adolescents did not have access to essential and quality health services at the point of 2021. THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2023 estimates that 287,000 women died from pregnancy-related causes in 2020 and […]

Business’s Role in Advancing Women, Children, and Adolescents’ Wellbeing

A Sahrawi midwife measures the blood pressure of a woman after giving birth, in a post-partum visit at her haima, in the Sahrawi Refugee Camps. Women Children Wellbeing

Delivering a Healthier Future: Business’s Strategic Role in Advancing Women, Children, and Adolescents’ Wellbeing A clear link exists between economic prosperity and the health of women, children, and adolescents. For business, engaging in global health is not only a moral obligation but also aligns with strategic economic decisions that promote gender equality, enhance economic growth, and […]

Changing Attitudes and Empowering Young Girls in Senegal

Two young women from Senegal transporting water

 “I can see now that I have prospects. I want to become someone and help lift my family out of poverty. Only then I will think about marriage.”  Mariama, Senegal. This is the personal impact that the Invest in Maternal and Child Health – ISMEA pilot project had on Mariama, a 13-year-old girl living in Goudiry, Senegal. […]

An Agenda to Address Inequality in Sustainable Finance Decision-Making

The Private Sector and Inequality The private sector can contribute to inequalities in terms of influencing the distribution of risk and return between stakeholders. Workers assume significant risk and likewise contribute to value creation. However, their “social” or “human capital” is often undervalued and therefore rewarded much less than financial capital. Investors can also contribute […]

Mainstreaming Gender to Power Sustainable Business Growth

A woman participates in agricultural activities in Myanmar

Gender equality is one of the essential pieces of the global prosperity puzzle. Women represent almost half of the global population and thus, also possess half of its potential. Yet inequalities faced by women are so deeply rooted and persistent, that we are lagging behind in our progress towards the gender equality targets set out […]

Gender Equality Depends on Business Becoming Co-Responsible for Care Work

Women and the Care Economy

A new Business Fights Poverty report illustrates that opportunities exist across the value chain for business to play a key role in supporting social innovation in this area and become co-responsible care actors. What is care? The global economic system is underpinned by many thousands of hours of “invisible” care work that is often unpaid, underpaid […]

Acting Together for More Nutritious Food

Wheat Seeds. Food fortification

How do we scale up the fortification of staples with vital nutrients and avoid micronutrient deficiencies during these challenging times where many people don’t have access to a balanced diet? Over the past decades, a solid regulatory framework has been created in many countries for the fortification of staples like salt, flour, sugar, oil or […]