Readying Young People for a New Jobs Market
The second report in VSO’s Producing Progress series looks at a programme based in Tanzania: Enhancing Employability through Vocational Training (EEVT). The reports draw out lessons from a variety of programmes, including those that improve employment opportunities, strengthen markets for smallholder producers and align skills needs with supply. The EEVT project, started in 2012, is […]
Centres of Excellence Boost for Future Jobs
The first report in VSO’s Producing Progress series focuses on a programme in Kenya that tackles inequality through improving the provision of skills for entrepreneurship for marginalised groups, youth and women in particular. The reports draw out lessons from a variety of programmes, including those that improve employment opportunities, strengthen markets for smallholder producers and […]
Framework for Financing Global Priorities
Meeting today with CEOs, heads of state and ministers at a forum on the sidelines of a global finance summit, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the corporate community “to be our partners in supporting and financing this agenda.” The call came on the second day of a global conference on “financing for development”, tasked with […]
Scaling Financial Inclusion for Micro-Enterprises
As world leaders gather in Addis Ababa to consider how to finance and deliver the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a recent dialogue in London attended by businesses, donors and civil society, has identified seven key actions to increase financial inclusion for micro-enterprises. Increasing finance to small businesses is an important priority for the Financing […]
Blended Finance Initiatives in Support of SDGs
The World Economic Forum and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), through the work of the Forum’s ReDesigning Development Finance Initiative (RDFI), will formally announce three Blended Finance initiatives aimed at unlocking hundreds of billions of dollars of investment to help meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Blended Finance seeks to […]
Unlocking Domestic Resources in Developing Countries
Photo Credit: CARE The Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa from 13 to 16 July could be a key moment to build a framework for financing the work needed to eradicate poverty by 2030, and so build confidence for the effective pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals and for a fair and ambitious climate […]
Complementary Public and Private Finance Sources
Interview with Krishnan Sharma, Senior Economic Affairs Officer in the Financing for Development Office at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs The scale of the need for sources of finance to fund infrastructure, education and financial inclusion, means that once proscribed roles for the public and private sector in financing development have […]
Is Pakistan Really Open for Business?
After my first trip to the country last week, I’d say a resounding yes. And I’d also say that in the long-term, it’s business that will lead Pakistan to prosperity. But that means investment – and, despite the country’s impressive progress in recent years, international investors in Pakistan are in short supply. The Economist recently […]
Doing Good for Children is Good for Business
Lack of access to basic services such as water and sanitation, education and healthcare today prevent millions of children from surviving and realising their full potential. Combating the enormous threat these inequities pose to the wellbeing of children all over the world is a huge task and one that needs innovative ideas and solutions from […]
Ending Poverty Through Trade
How free trade can bring prosperity to people across the world. The playwright George Bernard Shaw once wrote that poverty is “the greatest of evils and the worst of crimes.” While Shaw penned those poignant words more than a century ago, the reality is that too many people still lead lives filled with hunger and […]
To Change the World We Must Change Ourselves
The Mediterranean sea has become a graveyard for Africa’s youth. Every day, we see images of what would appear to be a continent racked by conflict and poverty, and people risking – often losing – their lives in an attempt to flee . Yet Africa has 11 of the 20 fastest growing economies in the […]
Building a Grid-free Future with Limitless Potential
When we launched our “Going Off Grid” series last year on NextBillion, we were optimistic about the future of off-grid energy investment. At that time, the IFC-World Bank’s Lighting Africa Program predicted that Africa will become the world’s largest market for clean off-grid lamps, with up to 140 million people having access to better lighting […]
What are the Principles for Responsible Investment?
Responsible investment is an approach to investment that explicitly acknowledges the relevance to the investor of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, and the long-term health and stability of the market as a whole. The United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment Init… is an international network of investors working together to understand the implications of […]
How Good ESG Standards Boost Business Competitiveness
Madagascar Lychee Export (MLE) is a lychee export station based in the port of Toamasina, Madagascar. The company buys fruits from collectors and local producers, and then processes, packages, and exports the fruit to European markets. Prior to 2010, MLE was a small, family-run business operating in a changing industry with rising standards and demands. […]
Collaborating, Evaluating and Changing Attitudes
Photo Credit: PEAS Uganda With the support of the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) is supporting 37 projects working in 18 countries. On a recent trip to Uganda, I had the opportunity to see six of these projects (listed below) in action. There were a few insights that struck […]
From Responsible Investment Standards to Implementation
Over the past ten years, environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues have moved from the fringe to the centre stage – both amongst emerging market focused private equity investors and amongst businesses themselves. These issues have emerged as a material concern as result of various factors – including the need to manage reputational risks associated […]
SDGs: Will Business Take up the Baton?
I remember quite clearly when the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were being launched, a set of 8 goals with targets on key development indicators such as absolute poverty, maternal health and primary education. I was at that time based in India and felt that this was just another UN top-down initiative that would be a […]
Bridging the Health Systems Gap in Nigeria
“I regard universal health coverage as the single most powerful concept that public health has to offer. It is inclusive. It unifies services and delivers them in a comprehensive and integrated way, based on primary health care.” — Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO) Nigeria’s health care system is weak, ranking a dismal […]
Advancing Business Leadership for an Inclusive Economy
Global progress today reflects a tale of two economies: one in which great leaps forward in human development and poverty reduction coexist with the struggle that many, from the very poor to the middle class, face to participate in and benefit from global economic activity. In its “Outlook on the Global Agenda 2015,” the World […]
The Co-operative Fairbourne Springs
The Co-operative is the only retailer to launch an own-brand ethical bottled water, in partnership with The One Foundation, raising funds for clean water and sanitation projects across sub-Saharan Africa. Social impacts Over 750 water pumps were installed or rehabilitated across 11 different sub-Saharan countries. Improved sanitation and adoption of good hygiene practices reduced the […]