What Loss and Damage Means for Human Rights and Your Business
Skyrocketing prices and empty shelves have made headlines again this year and a standout factor is the escalating impact of climate change. This is bad for businesses and customers, but worst for the world’s poorest communities who produce food and goods for the local and global economy. One key issue is ‘Loss and Damage’: the […]
Now Is Time to Unite to Act for a Sustainable Future for All
As the SDG Summit in New York fast approaches, UN SDG Action Campaign Global Director Marina Ponti says that unity in action is the key ingredient to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals The world is now at the midpoint of our journey towards 2030 – the deadline set for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development […]
The Unprecedented Potential of Africa’s Future Generations
“The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow.” Spoken by Nelson Mandela, these words ring true, eluding time and geopolitical context. For Africa, they resonate today more than ever before because of our historic boom in the population of young people. This International Day of the African Child, June 16, is arguably the most […]
Five Reasons Why Fairtrade Remains the #1 Ethical Consumer Choice
Encouraging news for those of us who believe value can’t always be measured by price: consumers all over the world are staying loyal to Fairtrade as the most visible and trusted ethical label, despite the cost of living crisis. Research in 12 countries by GlobeScan for Fairtrade suggests rising food prices haven’t deterred the majority […]
5 Insights on Generative AI, Social Impact and the Role of Business
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is triggering transformations that were hard to envisage even a year ago, with some predicting it could be as transformative as the Industrial Revolution. Generative AI, which includes systems such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Bing Chat, Google’s Bard, and Anthropic’s Claude, can generate new content or predictions based on vast amounts […]
Parents in the Workplace: Help Co-Create a New Tool for Employers
Employers rely on parents for a thriving workforce. Over 70% of all mothers with children under 18 in the US[i] and UK[ii] work. That number rises to over 90% of all fathers. Today’s workforce is made up of more people with dependent children than those without them. But most employers don’t do enough to support them—and mothers […]
How Can We Better Articulate the Benefits of Managing ESG Issues for Businesses and Stakeholders?
The increasingly interconnected world and escalating poverty and climate change challenges have led to a surge of interest in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles. While ESG has moved from a fringe topic to the forefront of business and investment strategies, questions persist about its real impact and how best to articulate its benefits. The […]
How Can the Private Sector Tackle Inequality and Generate Shared Prosperity for All?
Listen to this article (audio generated using AI assistance): The high level and structural nature of inequality in our world is a systemic risk that poses an existential threat to our society and economy. It is eroding trust in our political and economic systems, constraining growth, contributing to polarization and unrest, and undermining our ability […]
Understanding Local Markets Can Create Green Jobs and Improved Livelihoods in African Cities
Understanding Local Markets Can Create Green Jobs and Improved Livelihoods in African Cities Halima Awol, a 30-year-old mother of two, is a hard worker and does everything she can to provide for her family. However, despite her best efforts and strong work ethic, the most she was able to earn was 2,800 Ethiopian birr–barely more […]
Action on Climate Resilience is Business Critical
As the impacts of climate change bite, business efforts to reduce emissions must now be matched by action to strengthen climate resilience. Here I set out four action areas where companies can better protect themselves and others, while seizing opportunities to market resilience-enhancing products. Many businesses are acting on climate change: setting net-zero or science-based […]
Tackling Digital and Financial Exclusion: Women Vendors Raising Themselves Out of Poverty with Social Media Marketing
In 2020 Hand in Hand began an innovative project with Visa Inc., providing advanced business and digital training to 1,280 female microbusiness owners living in Nairobi’s informal settlements, described by the UN as “some of the most dense, unsanitary and insecure slums in the world.” But, just months after the project began, Kenya was hit […]
Addressing Vaccination Inequity Among Marginalised Groups in Europe
Listen to this article (audio generated using AI assistance): This year’s Immunisation Week, the annual campaign to expand vaccination globally, is rightly focussed on, “The Big Catch Up,” – getting countries back on track with routine vaccinations after pandemic-related disruptions. According to the CDC, outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, polio, and diphtheria are rising […]
Six Principles for Businesses to Drive Sustainable Behaviour Change in Low-Income Communities
Six Principles for Businesses to Drive Sustainable Behaviour Change in Low-Income Communities. Creating a more sustainable future for people and planet will require fundamental changes in attitudes and behaviours across society worldwide. This is no easy feat; altering behaviours is a long process, one which requires consistency and encouragement. Business plays an important role in […]
Why the Fashion Industry’s Four Largest Women’s Empowerment Programmes Came Together to Form RISE
This International Women’s Day we are celebrating the launch of RISE: Reimagining Industry to Support Equality. It’s a celebration of collaboration for the greater good, with the four largest women’s empowerment programmes in the garment industry – BSR’s HERproject, Gap Inc. P.A.C.E, CARE and Better Work – coming together to build on their proven approaches […]
Women Smallholders Will Drive Africa’s Transition to Regenerative Agriculture
An estimated 140 million people in Africa are facing acute food insecurity[1], yet, in Kenya alone, 50% of all productive soil is badly degraded. Worse still, because of record droughts, half of Kenyan farmers have harvested nothing in the last four seasons. Regenerative agriculture techniques offer the world’s poorest farmers a lifeline, restoring soils and […]
Time to Act on Mental Health: UNICEF’s Global Coalition for Youth Mental Well-being
The Global Coalition for Youth Mental Well-being, hosted by UNICEF, was born out of the belief that the mental well-being of youth cannot be addressed by one entity alone but needs collective action. It is time for joint action on mental health. Mental health and psychosocial well-being are fundamental components of a child’s healthy development […]
Systems change for social and ecological transformation: putting nature at the heart of scaling impact
Increasingly people are recognising that our current economic system and business structures are not delivering a world that is ‘prosperous’ in the way we want to prosper; that the pursuit of more is leaving us all with less. And we are increasingly aware that there is a different path forward: we can build different kinds […]
Four Essential Elements for the “Just” in “Just Transitions”
The concept of “just transition” – a whole-of-society approach to decarbonisation that respects human rights while promoting sustainable development, the eradication of poverty, and the creation of decent work and quality jobs – has come increasingly centre stage in national and international discussions on finance, energy, agriculture, and other key industrial transitions to net-zero. While […]
How Storytelling Can Paint a Full Picture of Impact for Businesses
Across the globe, inclusive businesses are making differences in the lives of the world’s most vulnerable – from empowering rural women to improving access to education. However, plain numbers struggle to capture the breadth of important work they are doing to investors, potential partners, and the people they aim to help the most. To bring […]
Effective Partnerships: Key to Supporting Climate Vulnerable Communities
A quarter of the world’s population already faces significant flood risk, which is particularly challenging for people already living in or vulnerable to poverty. Which is why our partnership with Zurich Insurance to help change the way flood risk is understood and managed so that communities can continue to thrive is so important. Ten years […]