New Research Reveals the Benefits and Costs of Gender-Smart Technical Assistance to SMEs and Investors
Gender lens investing includes three key entry points for investors: (1) providing capital to women-led/founded companies and/or gender-forward businesses; (2) applying a gender lens to the investment cycle, such as during pipeline development; and (3) funding and supporting the design and implementation of gender-inclusive technical assistance (TA) activities. Investors often focus on the first two […]
Why Investing in Informal Women Workers is Critical to Maintaining Resilient Supply Chains
Over 60% of the world’s employed population make their living through informal work, with no access to formal contracts or protection. Women make up a disproportionate percentage of informal workers, with 740 million women’s livelihoods dependent on the informal economy globally. Lack of secure employment contracts or social protection for these workers means that when […]
Women Cotton Farmers and Climate Solutions
I was very happy to be a part of Business Fights Poverty’s Climate Justice Summit. The topic of conversation – gender equity and its role in combatting climate change – is one of the most pertinent subjects. And it got me seriously thinking about the work we’re doing at CottonConnect, and how we can boost […]
Walking for Climate Justice: Community Voices Share their Desperation and Sparks of Hope.
“My own state of mind synthesises these two feelings and transcends them: my mind is pessimistic, but my will is optimistic. Whatever the situation, I imagine the worst that could happen in order to summon up all my reserves and will power to overcome every obstacle.” Antonio Gramsci -From the Prison. I am a climate […]
Impact Places: Shaping Sustainable, Inclusive Urban (Re)development
In an increasingly urban world, we need to devise sustainable, engaged and constructive ways to live together in urban centres. Globally, over 50% of the population lives in cities. This figure is set to rise to roughly 70% by 2050 worldwide, and to over 80% in Europe. But not all cities are growing. Across the […]
Fostering Innovation in Healthcare Financing for Vulnerable Populations
Major progress has been made in improving the health of millions of people globally, with higher life expectancy, lower maternal and child mortality, and better prevention of prevalent communicable diseases. But in many parts of the world, especially in developing countries, access to quality healthcare remains unaffordable for most people. Without a financial safety net, a […]
International Migrants Day: Why Access to Remedy is Crucial
Today, on International Migrants Day, we focus on millions of people who have left their native homes, for different reasons, to live and work abroad. In 2021, the International Labour Organization estimated there were 169 million migrant workers. Anyone working, temporarily or permanently, in a country of which they do not hold a passport, is […]
Why the Burden on Business Women to ‘do it all’ Must Stop
Glorifying multi-tasking by women entrepreneurs must stop. Women the world over are often celebrated for juggling their business with childcare and household responsibilities. The assumption that a woman should be the primary caregiver and the man should be the breadwinner are norms so entrenched they remain consistently unchallenged. This needs to change. NGOs and businesses […]
The Unrecognised Intersections Between Climate Change and Modern Slavery
Modern slavery is on the rise. New global estimates of modern slavery published in September 2022 found that almost 50 million people are in modern slavery, a rise of 10 million people since the previous estimates were released in 2017. This increase has been driven by the compounding crises of climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and armed […]
Who’s Putting the ‘S’ in ESG?
Lately, ESG is mostly in the news for the wrong reasons. Reading certain articles, it can seem as though some companies are happy to reap the benefits of seeming good, while shifting expenses (e.g., pollution) onto society. However, a lot of the negative coverage references ESG in its role as a guidance for investors (i.e., ESG for Assurance), despite the fact […]
How Farmer Segmentation Can Strengthen Supply Chains and Better Support Smallholder Farmers
Around the world, there are 35 million smallholder farming households participating in global supply chains. Yet, the contributions of smallholder farmers to the global economy are deeply undervalued. Despite playing a critical role in our daily lives and in our economy, as many as 24 million of those households, more than 122 million people in […]
I’ll Be There For You Even When You’re On The Other Side
I’ll Be There For You Even When You’re On The Other Side Of course, friendship is its own bridge with others, but could one be friends with someone who is your opposite? With whom you disagree on just about everything? With someone on “the other side?” The answer is yes and that’s what this video […]
COP27: A Historic But Insufficient Move Towards Climate Justice
For two weeks in November colleagues from Practical Action have been in Sharm El-Sheikh at the UN climate change conference, COP27. We were there to ensure that the voices of the people we work with in some of the world’s most climate vulnerable places were heard as global leaders took decisions about their futures. For […]
Stronger Together: How the Food Fortification Ecosystem Can Fight Malnutrition
Stronger together – how the food fortification ecosystem can fight malnutrition by supporting small and medium-sized millers What do the World Food Programme, BASF, Royal DSM and Nigeria Flour Mills have in common? They all recognize the key role of small-scale and medium-sized millers to bring food fortification to scale, as part of national strategies […]
How Businesses Can Make Their Giving Count
Businesses play a big part in philanthropy. Between 2018 and 2019 corporate giving in the United States went up by 13%, hitting just over $21 billion. But do all those dollars lead to impact? Open Road Alliance found that where impact projects encounter roadblocks, a staggering 46% of these obstacles are caused by funders. How can businesses avoid […]
Deeper Collaboration to Cut Value Chain Emissions: Are We Missing a Trick?
Innovative, deeper partnerships between businesses and their suppliers can play a vital role in bringing value chain emissions down faster and more equitably. There is growing focus on value chain (scope 3) emissions[1] as the next frontier in the race to net zero, and businesses increasingly talk of partnerships with suppliers as essential to meeting […]
Farmers Hold the Key to the Climate Crisis – If Only World Leaders at COP27 Would Listen
In many ways, the seaside resort town of Sharm El Sheikh is a compelling backdrop for a global climate change conference. Perched on the south-eastern edge of the Sinai Peninsula, it is bordered by pristine coral reefs on one side and arid desert on the other – a perfect reminder of the delicate equilibrium that […]
It’s Time for Companies to Step Up on Net Zero
As UN Experts Call for an End to Greenwashing, Companies in the richest countries have still not agreed to climate measures that are in line with staying below 1.5 degrees. Danielle Smith and Hilde Stroot welcome new guidance from a UN panel, released at COP27, to push action by firms on corporate net-zero plans – […]
Transitioning to Net Zero in the Middle East and North Africa: Three Focus Points
As Egypt readies itself to host COP27 and the UAE for COP28, Adithya Subramoni argues that the MENA region must recognise the social dimension in action on climate, emphasise affordability and accessibility in the drive towards renewables, and seize the potential for the transition to create a large number of good jobs. Since the COP26 […]
Why Businesses Must Focus on Putting People at the Heart of Climate Action Strategies
We’ve heard many pledges by businesses and governments to go further, create real and lasting change in cocoa supply chains, and ensure a better future for farming communities and our climate. However, turning those promises into action remains a challenge. Across the world, cocoa-growing communities face daily struggles from low prices to climate fluctuations, resulting […]