Skills and Prosperity in the Bangladesh Garment Industry
Garment factories in Bangladesh are now seeing positive returns from investing in in-house skills training. A new training approach has to date supported 4,000 people into sewing machine operator positions through a unique partnership between major British retailers, garment factories and the market development programme, Sudokkho. This is a win-win situation. In a sector operating […]
Emerging Trends in Digital Delivery of Agri-finance
This is the first in a series of three blogs on the role of technology in the rural finance projects supported by The MasterCard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity (FRP). In this first blog, we explore the major trends in digital delivery that the Fund is seeing in its portfolio. In the second blog, we […]
Building Efficiency for Farmers in Kenya – Replacing Cash with Digital Repayments
The shift to digital payments has enormous potential for eliminating rural poverty. Success stories from places like Kenya show that potential can turn into real-life impact, as mobile payments help to boost productivity for smallholder farmers. Just this week, a new case study by the United Nations-based Better Than Cash Alliance presents how the agriculture […]
Building Know-How for Corporate Social Innovation
There are growth opportunities outside its traditional markets. It needs to stay ahead of potentially disruptive technological changes. It has made high-profile commitments on complex sustainability issues. It wants to engage, retain, and develop future leaders by tapping into the power of purpose at work. For reasons like these, a growing number of companies are […]
The Power of Using Talent for Good
When considering the ways in which the private sector can advance global health and development and improve our world, a few obvious options come to mind. Funding is usually high on the list, as is research and development, but other interventions are in demand. Business acumen, supply chain knowledge and monitoring and evaluation expertise are […]
Respect for Human Rights: Creating a Holistic Framework for Business Contributions to the SDGs
This short framework for analysis and action offers a straightforward way for any company to work out how it should and can contribute to sustainable development. What’s the current problem with the way some organizations are talking about business contributions to sustainable development – and what’s a better path forward? 1. The problem: misunderstanding the […]
Q&A with MCC Resident Country Director for Niger: Bolstering Niger’s Agricultural Sector
In July 2016, MCC signed a $437 million compact with the Government of Niger to improve access to water for agriculture and livestock and expand access to markets. In this interview, MCC Resident Country Director for Niger Kristin Penn discusses how, together with the Government of Niger, MCC is building stronger institutions and making foundational […]
Empowering Women through Corporate Value Chains: Getting the Data to Drive Scale
In certain circles, it is taken virtually as given these days that business culture and practices will need to change to achieve gender equality and empower women. Companies have become more open in acknowledging that unconscious bias and other, structural factors make it harder for women to succeed, and at the same time, they are […]
How Ethiopia’s Nascent Apparel Industry Can Build a Strong, Empowered Workforce
“In today’s global economy, brands must understand the industry needs in the new countries they source from. At The Children’s Place, our aim is to support the development of the new garment workforce in Ethiopia and do our part to bring sustainable business practices to the region.” —The Children’s Place Today, Ethiopia is a small […]
Why Greater Financial Inclusion for Africa’s Women is Smart Policymaking
This blog is published as part of the 2017 WEE Global Learning Forum Blog Series. Join Winrock International, ACI and USAID at the 2017 WEE Forum for the Peer Learning Session, Different Perspectives, Shared Goal: Accelerating Women’s Financial Inclusion in Africa Imagine that you are unable to open a bank account or access a loan […]
How Can Microfinance Contribute to Women’s Empowerment?
An Interview with Naila Kabeer, Professor of Gender and Development at the Gender Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science Gateway: From the very beginnings of microfinance, women’s empowerment has been discussed as one of its main social goals. In your experience, have you seen that microfinance initiatives can achieve this goal? Naila: One […]
Partnerships and the Power of Relationships
In the same way, a certain bond arises between the core people involved in any effective cross-sector partnership.This analysis of a South African water partnership refers to the central importance of the “chemistry” of partnerships. According to the partnership’s manager Nick Tandi, “We need to get better at understanding this chemistry, and how to make […]
Meet the Shortlist: Unilever Global Development Award, supported by Business Fights Poverty
Adopted on 25 September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030. Businesses are a key enabler of global sustainable development […]
New BSR Guidance Integrates Gender Equality into Supply Chain Codes of Conduct
With women holding 60 to 90 percent of jobs in the labor-intensive stages of the apparel and fresh produce global supply chains, it would make sense for companies in those industries to consider women’s specific challenges when focusing on ethical supply chain management. However, until now, women have rarely been a focus of such strategies, […]
Growing SMEs and Young People, Together
We know the statistics – worldwide more than 1 billion young people will enter the job market between now and 2030, 600 million jobs are needed globally over 15 years to keep current employment rate, 71 million young people are unemployed globally, the youth population in Africa will double to over 830 million by 2050, […]
In Defence of Aid
As Britain embarks on the process of leaving the European Union, and as we prepare to stand up as a “Global Britain”, we need to decide what it is we stand for. Our values will define and give weight to our leadership on the world stage. All of us, whether on the left or the […]
Social network payments now reach nearly US $3 trillion in China
A new UN study has revealed that Alipay and WeChat Pay enabled US$2.9 trillion in Chinese digital payments in 2016, representing a 20-fold increase in the past four years. The data shows that digital payments, using existing platforms and networks, provide access to a wider range of digital financial services, expanding financial inclusion and economic […]
Training and Support for Women Refugees
Interview with Mandana Hendessi, Iraq Country Director at Women for Women International Mandana Hendessi will be speaking at a dinner hosted by Women Advancing Microfinance UK on Tuesday 2nd May 2017 in London. She will be talking about the work that Women for Women International (WfWi) and its partners are doing in and around refugee […]
Bridging the Gender Gap in the African Startup Ecosystem
The startup ecosystem in Africa is growing from strength to strength. Innovative entrepreneurs across the continent are leveraging technology to turn the challenges they see around them into opportunities. While a few years ago Africa was probably not on their radar, international tech investors are now beginning to pay attention and according to Disrupt Africa, […]
Creating Transparency Around Corporate Sustainability Tools
There are hundreds of tools out there that can help companies learn, manage or report about their impacts on sustainable development in general and the Sustainable Development Goals in particular. An international consortium of researchers, NGOs and rating agencies has now collected and categorized 226 tools – all claiming to help measure and manage corporate […]