How Can We Optimise Business Impact to Solve Complex Challenges? 5 Insights from the Ice Academy
BFP: What is the Ice Academy? In 2017, the Ice Academy programme was created to support people who have refugee status get back into business and remove barriers they face entering the job market. The goal is to provide people with the opportunities and resources needed to start a business, through entrepreneurship training, mentoring and […]
Businesses and Social Change: We’re At The Starting Point, Not The Finish Line
More than three-quarters of people worldwide want CEOs “to take the lead on change” instead of waiting for the government to act, according to the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer. Is this a good idea for society? What would this kind of leadership look like, and how could it be achieved? The past can provide answers. […]
The Tide is Coming in for Indonesia’s Seaweed
Along the coast of the province of South Sulawesi, villagers began farming seaweed to supplement their income from fishing several decades ago. As global demand for seaweed and seaweed products has taken off, prices have increased and many villagers have taken up seaweed farming full-time. Mangambe Daeng Siama, a seaweed farmer from the village of […]
New Ways of Partnering: The CARE and Cargill Partnership
In December of 1958, in lieu of sending out Christmas cards for the holidays, Cargill made a charitable contribution to CARE, in support of their aid packages to families in poverty-stricken countries. It was the beginning of an association that has endured for more than 60 years, and which has latterly evolved from a relatively […]
CARE, Cargill and Communities: An Historic, Mutual Agenda for Change
For charities, even large, well-established ones, working with multinational corporations can often seem to be a process fraught with pitfalls. The corporate world has for decades been seen as entirely separate—and sometimes even antagonistic—to that of civil society organizations and humanitarian assistance. To NGOs, even simple transactional relationships—the giving and receiving of money—can carry risks, […]
Business Integrity Initiative: Changing the Way We Do Business in Africa?
230,000+ UK SMEs need to export to Africa without engaging in corruption. They need clean business partners and intermediaries. Is this a business opportunity for your country? If your country is anything like mine (Nigeria) where corruption is endemic, pervasive and systemic, you will know the business case for spending scarce funds on demonstrating anti-corruption […]
Can Global Partners Collaborate with Local Entrepreneurs and Find Solutions to Urgent Urban Water Challenges in Bangalore?
Water may often be recognized as one of the call out issues linked to the sustainable development agenda globally, but its impacts are always felt locally. The recent water shortage crisis in Cape Town, South Africa, drew international attention and underlined the need for a radical rethink of how to manage urban water. And a […]
How Can an Ecosystem Approach Help MSMEs to Thrive?
Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) are the lifeblood of many communities and a critical source of employment and livelihoods. Larger companies rely on their effective operation and success in their value chains as suppliers, distributors, retailers and customers. However, many MSMEs struggle on a daily basis for multiple reasons. They can find it difficult […]
Get Involved: New Challenges on Gender-Based Violence, SME Ecosystems, Transformational Partnerships and Purpose
Everything we do at Business Fights Poverty is driven by a belief in the power of purposeful collaboration – the simple idea that when you bring together the right people around a clear, shared challenge, with a focus on delivering a tangible, valuable output in a clear timeframe, you create the space for generating powerful […]
Welcome to the Business Fights Poverty Magazine Issue One
The ways in which business can and should be addressing social issues are many and complex. This magazine helps you to navigate the challenges and find out about some of the leading edge thinking and topics across the space. Brought to you by a team that share a common belief in business as a force […]
Can Microfinance Solve the Finance Woes of Facebook Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh?
Research estimates the presence of over 300,000 merchant pages and 28 million Facebook users in Bangladesh today. Large companies are increasing their promotional focus in the platform, to target the right clients and benefit from the large customer base. The most promising factor, however, are not the big players, but the multitude of small businesses […]
Large Companies Have a Key Role in Strengthening Small Supplier Integrity
The project, run by Business Fights Poverty, has sought to find out how to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to take business integrity issues more seriously and adopt meaningful anticorruption compliance. They conducted an extensive literature review and complemented it with an online survey, 24 interviews, and two business roundtables in which we gathered […]
How Root Capital and the IKEA Foundation are Building the Resilience of Smallholder Farmers in East Africa
Root Capital and the IKEA Foundation are announcing a new partnership, worth €4.8 million, to help 260,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda increase their income and adapt to climate change. The grant builds on the success of a previous partnership, through which Root Capital supported dozens of Kenyan agricultural businesses, helping them break the […]
Are You Driving Social Impact within the Health Innovation Space?
In Germany, time constraints often mean that breast cancer screening examinations are done quickly. Frank Hoffman CEO and Founder of Discovering Hands has worked as a gynaecologist since 1993. During this time, Frank always focused his practice on early detection. But he also believed that the examination could be optimised; “The idea occurred to me […]
2019: Why Business Should Still Care About the Sustainable Development Goals
2019 will mark four years since the United Nations (UN) member states unanimously agreed on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and planet by 2030 – a deadline which is starting to loom ever-larger on the horizon. As the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) we […]
The Future of Work – A Social Challenge
“Worst case scenario: there simply won’t be enough jobs in the system in the future. Business cannot escape from this responsibility – we must join together to collectively take action, before this becomes a devastating social crisis.” Charles Tsai, Senior Manager, Fossil Foundation. If the transition to the future of work isn’t handled properly, trust […]
As Countries Turn Inward, Companies Stand Up for Humanity. Let’s Applaud and Encourage Them.
Skyrocketing numbers of people fleeing conflict. Increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters. Decreased diplomatic efforts. Slashed foreign aid budgets. A West that is increasingly embracing narrow nationalism and isolation. It all leaves us in the humanitarian community concerned for the future of our interconnected world. The inclination of political leaders to withdraw more than […]
On Purpose
Larry Fink’s annual open letter to corporate CEOs is fast-becoming a fixture at the start of the year. Fink’s views matter. They carry weight. He is, after all, the co-founder and now Chairman and CEO of BlackRock – the biggest money-management firm in the world with more than $6 trillion in assets under management. His […]
BCtA at 10: Inclusivity for All in an Ambitious New Call to Action
A decade ago, Business Call to Action (BCtA) was launched with just 18 companies at the helm. During our inauguration, then-prime minister of the UK Gordon Brown said: “Business Call to Action is a landmark opportunity for global business leaders to come together to develop new and innovative ways to spread growth, prosperity and opportunity […]
Factories Paying Workers Digitally are Five Times More Likely to Provide Good Social and Labor Practices
Like millions of women working in garment factories in Asia, Lucky worried about receiving her monthly salary in cash. “I was concerned about walking out of the factory with that much money in my bag,” she said. “I also share my house with other people, so I didn’t know where to keep my money safe.” […]