Author: Webmaster Business Fights Poverty

The Finalists: Unilever Global Development Award

The Unilever Global Development Award supported by Business Fights Poverty, identifies business programmes that are demonstrating a positive impact in addressing global poverty as captured in the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Addressing these challenges is vital to achieving the transformative change needed to create a fairer society and a more sustainable future for all. […]

Attracting African Capital to Invest in African SMEs

Cameroun Breuvages, Cameroon, Photo Credit: © Bechir Malum What does it take to finance early-stage Small and Growing Businesses in Africa? A new handbook shares the experience of African investors, and shows how building local ecosystems and attracting African capital will enable the growth of the sector. Investing in Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs) in […]

Addressing WASH Needs Outside the Factory

This leadership perspective is part of a series on the theme of creating business value and development impact in the WASH sector. The series and accompanying discussion paper are co-produced by Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor and Business Fights Poverty. Supporting suppliers with initiatives and programmes that improve their operations beyond auditing is […]

Helping to Create New Toilet Businesses in India

This leadership perspective is part of a series on the theme of creating business value and development impact in the WASH sector. The series and accompanying discussion paper are co-produced by Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor and Business Fights Poverty. As one of the world’s fastest growing emerging economies, India presents a significant […]

Creating Business Value and Development Impact in WASH

This leadership perspective is part of a series on the theme of creating business value and development impact in the WASH sector. The series and accompanying discussion paper are co-produced by Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor and Business Fights Poverty. This week we’ll be running a series of leadership perspectives on the theme […]

Agribusiness and Climate Change: The Smart Way Forward

The world’s smallholder farmers – and therefore much of the planet’s food supply – are under severe threat from climate change. While many businesses are stepping up their response to these complex challenges, and increasingly advocating for pragmatic and science-based solutions, many are frequently met with mistrust and opposition. I have often heard businesses offer […]

Three Ways to Strengthen Healthcare Systems

The Ebola outbreak exposed what we have all known for many years – healthcare systems in the poorest countries are chronically underfunded, under-resourced and fragmented. This leaves them ill-equipped to deal with everyday challenges like malaria and diarrhoea – that claim hundreds of thousands of children’s lives each year – let alone public health crises […]

Corporations Supporting Women’s Economic Progress

The past month has seen multiple global events commemorating International Women’s Day, including CCC’s stellar collaboration with the UN Office of Partnerships and UN Women, The Empowerment Bridge: Building a Lifetime of Opportunity for Wome… These events have emphasized some common points: though the world has seen much progress for women and girls in the […]

The Power of the Mobile Phone to Change Lives

Celeste Boca holding the airtime (phone credit) that she sells. She enrolled in AMIMO’s (Association of Migrant Miners Mozambique) income generating activities workshop, supported by VSO through the Phoning Out Poverty and AIDS (POPA) project. The training is also supported by Mcel, a Mozambican phone company, who provide subsidized airtime that the women can sell […]

Transforming Markets in Latin America

From 2000 to 2010, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) enjoyed a remarkable wave of sustained economic growth which helped improve the incomes and welfare of millions of people living at the base of the pyramid (BoP). According to the World Bank, nearly 70 million people increased their purchasing power significantly and 50 million Latin […]

Time for African Governments to say I do to Innovators

Moraa, a 22-year-old Computer Science major at Nairobi University, wants to change the world through technology. That’s why she entered her latest idea—an app for expectant mothers that doles out on-demand advice—in a campus-wide contest to win $10,000 in startup funds. Born in a small village far from a hospital, Moraa witnessed her mother, aunt […]

Economically Empowering Women Through The SDGs

The real challenge for the new Sustainable Development Goals is what happens after they are agreed. Deciding on the goals and targets is only the first step; backing them up with the commitment to implement them is crucial. The emerging consensus between the private sector, civil society, governments and multilateral agencies on the need for […]

The Evolution of the BoP Market in Latin America

By Lina Salazar O, Opportunities for the Majority (OMJ) at the Inter-American Development Bank. It has been more than ten years since we first read about the base of the pyramid (BOP) and the large and virtually untapped market represented by this socio-economic segment. People at the BOP in Latin America and the Caribbean live […]

Together, To Get Every Child Learning

The single most important contribution that Pearson can make to society is to equip people with the skills they need to progress in life and work. But every day, millions of children miss out on the opportunity to attend school and to learn those skills. Half of all out-of-school children live in countries affected by […]

Intel's Global Women and Girls Initiative

Suzanne Fallender, Director, Global Women and Girls Initiative, Intel speaking at this year’s International Women’s Day Forum In mid-April, CCC and the Harvard Kennedy School Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative released A Path to Empowerment: The role of corporations in supporting women…. The report, based on a series of invitation-only, high level roundtables, offers a three-pronged […]

Intel’s Global Women and Girls Initiative

Suzanne Fallender, Director, Global Women and Girls Initiative, Intel speaking at this year’s International Women’s Day Forum In mid-April, CCC and the Harvard Kennedy School Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative released A Path to Empowerment: The role of corporations in supporting women…. The report, based on a series of invitation-only, high level roundtables, offers a three-pronged […]

Corporate Support to Newborn Health

Photo: © ayzh By Leith Greenslade,Vice-Chair at the MDG Health Alliance The news that a handful of corporations comprised 40 percent of the new commitments made at the launch of the Every Newborn Action Plan in 2014 caught the attention of many in the global maternal and child health community. As a neglected area of […]