Marks & Spencer Global Community Programme – Emerging Leaders
Marks and Spencer’s partnership with NGO Emerging Leaders in Kenya rolls out leadership development training to grass roots workers, enabling a longer-term, more secure supply chain. Social impacts In 2013 alone, the Emerging Leaders programme has trained over 2000 people, equalling over 48,000 training hours, with a direct positive impact on 10,000 people (based on […]
Marks & Spencer Global Community Programme – Emerging Leaders
Marks and Spencer’s partnership with NGO Emerging Leaders in Kenya rolls out leadership development training to grass roots workers, enabling a longer-term, more secure supply chain. Social impacts In 2013 alone, the Emerging Leaders programme has trained over 2000 people, equalling over 48,000 training hours, with a direct positive impact on 10,000 people (based on […]
GSK – 20% Reinvestment
Unilever International Award, supported by Business Fights Poverty 2014 – Big Tick, Shortlisted GSK has committed to reinvest 20 per cent of profits made in least developed countries (LDCs) back into those countries to develop health infrastructure through training frontline health workers. Social impacts 41 programmes in 34 LDCs across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Haiti. […]
Grameen Caledonian College Of Nursing
Glasgow Caledonian University set up the Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing to support the poorest women in Bangladesh to become nurses, reducing mortality rates. Social impacts Boosted Bangladesh’s capacity to improve maternal health and reduce the child mortality rate by graduating 138 nurse-midwives, and recruiting 150 students in 2014 alone. Improved the financial position and […]
Ferrovial – Social Infrastructure Program
Ferrovial uses its expertise in infrastructure to improve the water and sanitation systems in disadvantaged communities in Africa and Latin America. Social impacts €3,145,591 invested, nine projects developed or in progress, with 153,743 beneficiaries. More than 300 infrastructure systems – mainly clean water and sanitation – constructed in six countries in Africa and Latin America. […]
Credit Suisse – Microfinance Capacity Building Initiative
Credit Suisse, through the Microfinance Capacity Building Initiative (MCBI), enable microfinance institutions to develop the people, products and processes which are needed to serve the financially excluded. Social impacts MCBI projects have trained over 13,000 microfinance industry staff and improved financial services for over 2.3 million individuals, resulting in improved livelihoods, access to health, nutrition […]
Mondelēz International – Cocoa Life
Mondelēz International’s Cocoa Life programme aims to boost livelihoods and living conditions for 200,000 farmers and one million people in cocoa farming communities. Social impacts Cocoa Life has brought communities together to initiate change, including a focus on empowering women and tackling the presence of child labour through a unique approach that is proactive, transparent, […]
Shared Interest Society – Investing in a Fairer World
Shared Interest Society asks its members to invest in a fairer world and helps people in some of the poorest countries trade their way out of poverty. Social impacts Increased incomes and employment: last year, the 97 producer groups Shared Interest Society financed collectively earned revenues of £236,056,545. Greater equality and opportunity: last year, the […]
Hogan Lovells – Hunger and Acute Malnutrition
Hogan Lovells worked with Action Against Hunger to implement the Hunger and Acute Malnutrition project in Liberia, helping to keep child malnutrition below 5%. Social impacts 8,549 children (4% of the under five population) with severe acute malnutrition received treatment with a 90.3% recovery rate. 10 lawyers provided over 1,400 hours of pro bono advice […]
BASF SE – Food Fortification Initiative
BASF works in more than 40 developing countries implementing the Food Fortification Initiative to reduce vitamin and mineral deficiencies in at-risk people. Social impacts Every year, BASF and its partners improve the lives of more than 600 million people at risk of deficiency in vitamin A and other micronutrients with fortified staple foods. On average, […]
Danone – Ecosystem Fund
Danone created the Ecosystem Fund to create social and economic value for the partners who make up Danone’s ecosystem: farmers, suppliers and subcontractors, transport and logistics operators, distributors, territories and local authorities . Social impacts Danone’s Milk collection communities project in Egypt allow a real ownership of centers by the local farming community, taking in […]
Agroamerica – Nutritious School Meal Programme
By Vicky Dodman, International Programme Manager, Business in the Community Agroamerica supplemented children’s diets with bananas in the Nutritious School Meal programme to combat malnutrition, and reinforced the health and hygiene education of families. Social impacts Improved the daily nutrition of 906 students which has led to a 10 % increase in number of children […]
Development Challenges And Business Opportunities
Though the importance of the private sector role in economic growth has long been acknowledged, it is only in recent years that the full range of players and activities related to the private sector have started to be wholly embedded in development strategies and programmes. A recent major shift in the landscape of international development […]
A Guide To Working With Informal Financial Institutions
Amid the growing interest in building effective and scalable solutions to meet the financing needs of the world’s 450 million smallholder farmers, organizations rarely pay much attention to the thousands of informal financial institutions that can be found in rural communities throughout the world. Instead, discussions on ways to close the estimated $400 billion gap […]
Brands, Retailers And The ‘Protect’ Pillar
16 June 2014 is a significant date – three years since the UN Human Rights Council endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Also known as the “Protect, Respect, Remedy” framework, it sets out a role for states to protect human rights, for business to respect these rights, and for both […]
Proactive Business Responses to International Disasters
Governments and the humanitarian community around the world are struggling to cope with the frequency and scale of international disasters. During Responsible Business Week 2014, senior business, INGOs and government representatives discussed the key opportunities and challenges to business engagement in international disaster response, recovery, mitigation and preparedness. The following highlights some of the key […]
Business Schools Stimulating Inclusive Leadership
To the question: “what are the most successful innovations around?”, most professionals would answer Facebook, Apple or Candy Crush. Less likely they would name SimGas, which provides affordable renewable energy for low-income people in East Africa, M-Pesa, the most successful mobile money transfer system for the unbanked in Kenya, or JITA, an innovative way of […]
Sustainability – Why Measuring Impact Matters
Over the past decade, we have seen increasing optimism about Africa’s economic prospects and governance. Once derided by The Economist as “the hopeless continent”, the last edition of this publication to focus on the region featured the cover story “Africa Rising”. Record growth rates in many African countries are underpinned by sustained political stability, the […]
A Warning and an Appeal to the Diamond Industry
In Africa and South America there are more than one and a half million diamond diggers working in arduous and highly dangerous conditions for paltry reward. They and their families – up to 10 million people in total – barely survive on less than two dollars a day and their communities are trapped in abject […]
Lessons on Supporting Energy Access Enterprises
