Think Globally, Act Locally to Meet Development Goals
Richard Wafula, a farmer in Western Kenya, struggled to make a profit from his farm due to poor-quality seeds, pests, and lack of adequate storage. A partnership called Grow Africa helped the Kenya National Farmers Federation (KENAFF) identify suppliers, marketing and storage providers. Richard’s production has now doubled, generating increased income for his family. Across […]
Making Markets Work for Refugees
Ahead of the London Syria conference in early February, donors and governments in the region are working closely to agree a new plan for responding to the refugee crisis in the region, the private sector will be critical to its success. On the 4th of February the eyes of the world will turn to London, […]
Inequality and The Realities of Contemporary Slavery
By Dr Aidan McQuade, Director, Anti Slavery International This week, Oxfam reported that the wealthiest 1% of the world’s population own more than the rest of us combined. Or, put another way that “… runaway inequality has created a world where 62 people own as much as the poorest half of the world’s population.” In […]
The Unilever Global Development Award
The entry period for the Unilever Global Development Award, supported by Business Fights Poverty is now open! Seeking entries from business demonstrating positive impact against one or more of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Unilever Global Development Award, supported by Business Fights Poverty is part of Business in the Community’s Annual Responsible […]
How Can Digital Currencies Enable Financial Inclusion?
Uphold On January 26th, Tuesday, Women Advancing Microfinance UK are hosting a dinner in London to explore how innovations in financial technology, especially digital currencies, can further financial inclusion. Tickets to the event are available here. On the night, Diana Biggs from Uphold, the fastest growing money platform in the world since its launch in […]
Sustainable Living: Engaging with Social Entrepreneurs
By Jeremy Basset, Head of Unilever Foundry Through the Unilever Foundry, social impact businesses can engage with Unilever to access mentorship, explore partnership opportunities and receive funding. In the same way that we help entrepreneurs in the digital marketing space go from start-up to scale-up, we’re now looking to bring those capabilities to the forefront […]
Partnership for Indonesia Sustainable Agriculture
In late October I joined a site visit to a sustainable coffee project, which is part of the Partnership for Indonesia Sustainable Agriculture (PISAgro) partnership. It is no exaggeration to say that I was blown away by the project: impressed; inspired; and, most of all, convinced by the multi-stakeholder approach. The coffee project is led […]
Transcending Boundaries to End Hunger
Ending hunger is in everyone’s interest. Succeeding in this Goal #2 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals means not only ending the misery and debilitation of the starving and malnourished, but also stemming the spread and persistence of disease, and enabling at least 2 billion people, if better nourished, to be more productive for themselves […]
Supporting Cocoa Smallholders to Combat Climate Change
Climate change poses a multitude of risks to business. From the effects on agricultural commodity production, to the cost of rising fuel taxes, to human health threats caused by extreme weather events. As a result, businesses are increasingly building a climate change agenda into their own risk management strategies. But how can a company such […]
Living Well within Planetary Boundaries
By far the biggest boundary we have to transcend today is our compulsion to keep on transcending boundaries! Over the last 40 years, I’ve collected any number of definitions of sustainable development. One of my favourites is this: ‘To live on Planet Earth as if we were planning to live there forever.’ Right now, we’re […]
Fighting Malaria, Improving Health. Together
“We know what works. The challenge now is to do even more.” That was the mission set out by Dr Margaret Chan, World Health Organization director-general, as she introduced the latest annual malaria report. Published just last month, this showed astonishing progress against one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases. Since the start of […]
The Problem with Slavery and the SDGs
The inclusion of slavery eradication in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is recognition by the international community that, until now, many of the world’s poorest people had been comprehensively ignored in the wider struggle to end poverty. That is a fact confirmed by the number 5.5 million, the International Labour Organization’s most recent […]
More than Just Microfinance
This is Arlene Montejo, a small-scale farmer from the beautiful yet isolated mountain village of Sudlon II on the outskirts of Cebu City in the Philippines. Arlene, like millions of poor people around the world, relies solely on farming to generate an income and support her family. She grows a variety of vegetables including lettuces, […]
The Gift that Keeps on Giving
Poverty here in Vietnam is hidden away. Tourists flock to the urban centres, to the fancy sights of Ha Long Bay, or up to the remote north to buy handbags sewn together by hill-tribe communities. The injustice of poverty here is not obvious on the surface and, as a visitor, you’d be forgiven for not […]
Tackling Gender Inequality in Pakistan
Following a trip to Pakistan, Dr Ajaz Ahmed Khan tells us about a very interesting project implemented by our MFI partner AKHUWAT. Transgender people, or khwaja siras as they are often referred to in Pakistan, routinely face a high level of discrimination in access to health, housing, education and employment as well as ridicule, intimidation […]
Mining for Social Value in Botswana
Societies across the world are increasingly demanding more value from their natural resources. Philippe Mellier, chief executive officer of the De Beers group of companies, says they are right to do so. The discovery of diamonds in Botswana at Orapa by De Beers geologists in 1967, shortly after the country gained independence, has led to […]
PPPs: The Business Case
Why should corporations partner with international development organizations? There are many other ways to develop a strong and ethical corporate image: Ways that do not involve the complex and sometimes messy business of working with a completely different type of organization than your own. And we’ve all heard the term ‘only partner if you have […]
Pay As You Go Solar Distribution
Today, more than 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are living without access to electricity, most of them in rural areas. This is due largely to the high cost of expanding grid infrastructure to poor and remote locations. Access to sustainable off-grid energy in Africa has drawn an enormous amount of attention from donors, activists […]
The Perception of Corporate Volunteering
By Natasha Bridge, Management Consultant, Accenture and VSO Volunteer Results from a recent national online poll, commissioned by leading international development charity VSO, show that 56% of British full time workers would freely volunteer their skills to fight poverty in a developing country, if they had the support of their employer. The ‘Perception of Corporate […]
A "Like" for Mark Zuckerberg
“India is personally very important to the history of our company.” Who would have thought that the path of spiritual discovery through India would be so well-trodden by so many among the global mighty? Allen Ginsburg, George Harrison, Steve Jobs; and, with that admission, Mark Zuckerberg follows in their footsteps. India can legitimately take credit […]