CEO Agenda 2019: An Ambitious Vision Lacking Commitment or Detail
The CEO Agenda 2019 was launched at DAVOS by a number of leading fashion brands, with support from Global Fashion Agenda. It’s good to see major brands trying to tackle the ethical and environmental challenges facing the sector – and society more broadly – but the experience of CARE and our partners in civil society and the […]
Celebrating IWD 2019: M&S Joins Better Than Cash Alliance
There’s no normal day working as the Global Ethical Trade Manager at M&S. On Monday I might be in Cambodia meeting a programme delivery partner, by Friday I’m back in London running a compliance report on a proposed new supplier or co-ordinating a weekly call with our regional managers based around the world. Since starting […]
What She Makes: The True Price of Fashion
The Australian fashion industry was worth almost $23.5 billion in 2018 — a staggering amount. But a system of entrenched exploitation and the widespread payment of poverty wages is denying the workers making our clothes the opportunity for decent lives. Chameli, her husband and their three daughters live in a stuffy and cramped single room […]
Cash Transfers and Gender Equality
At this year’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, IDS researchers highlighted the limitations of social protection policies such as cash transfers in relation to improving the lives of women across the world. Integrating social protection policies with public services and infrastructure They argued that social protection policies can only be truly effective […]
Mind the Gap & Fix the Mix: Gender Equality in Private Equity
With more than $3 trillion in assets under management—nearly $800 billion of which is allocated to emerging markets—private equity can be a powerful source of financing, especially for innovative businesses that cannot access bank loans or capital markets. Investors and funds with stakes in these privately owned companies not only help them expand, they also […]
Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Needs to Start at Home
Here are two deeply troubling facts: Very few countries in the world have achieved true gender equality. None of the remaining countries are on track to achieve it by the 2030 target world leaders agreed upon under the Sustainable Development Goals. “It appears that more girls have been killed in the last fifty years, precisely […]
Avon, Diageo and M&S Join Call for an International Treaty to Protect Women at Work
On International Women’s Day, Avon, Diageo and Marks and Spencer published a letter with CARE International UK calling for an international treaty to protect women at work. The letter, set out below, was signed by Amy Greene, VP Investor and Stakeholder Relations, Avon, Mairead Nayager, Chief HR Officer, Diageo, Fiona Sadler, Head of Ethical Trade, […]
Women are Power
What do you dream about today? My dream is that Led by HER, the organization I created will no longer exist. My dream is that events like She Innovates where I’m speaking today as part of UN Women will no longer exist. My dream is that my future daughters will grow up in a world […]
Businesses for impact in the spotlight: 4 insights into transforming access to financial services in Nepal
Amit Agrawal is a Nepali tech entrepreneur and CEO of Janaki Technology Pvt Ltd, an award-winning software company that operates the digital wallet Khalti. Amit recently participated in the SPRING Accelerator programme, which helps growth-oriented businesses in East Africa and South Asia develop innovations that transform the lives of adolescent girls through human-centered design (HCD) – a […]
Highlighting the Plight of Woman Agricultural Workers in Coffee Production #BalanceforBetter International Women’s Day 2019
When Florence Njiraini’s new husband gifted her 1,500 coffee plants on the slopes of Mt. Kenya years ago, she knew almost nothing about farming. Determined to make her plot a success, she set about learning as much as she could, and soon she was employing sustainable growing practices. Njiraini is not only successful as a […]
A Transparent Cuppa – Mapping Our Tea and Coffee Supply Chains
As we enter the second week of Fairtrade Fortnight, it’s a time to celebrate our Fairtrade products and reflect on our hard work building strong relationships with our producers and working on programmes such as empowering women in the supply chain. This year, Fairtrade marks 25 years since it launched in the UK; a pioneering standard, […]
Inside IKEA: A Furniture Store on a Social Mission
The big blue and yellow storefront is unmistakable in more than 50 countries. While distinctly Swedish, IKEA has a long and rich history in Switzerland. Now it is trying to rally other companies in the country around gender equality. Will they listen? Since 1943, IKEA has transformed living rooms and the shopping experience in countries […]
Moving Towards Gender Equality: A New Index Looks at Legal Reforms to Help Women’s Economic Inclusion
Do you think the world is becoming more equal for women at work? The recently published Women, Business and the Law 2019: A Decade of Reform gives us some insight. While achieving gender equality requires a broad range of efforts over time, the study focuses on the law as an important first step to providing an objective […]
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 […]
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 […]
Re-Imagining the Gender Balance for Female Cotton Farmers
Recently, I put myself in the shoes of a woman cotton farmer in Ivory Coast. I realised very quickly that there aren’t very many of these shoes to fill; the reason being that very few women and men recognise women as cash crop farmers. Cotton farming is one of the main sources of income for […]
Businesses Gain by Taking Steps in the Workplace to Tackle Domestic Violence
There is a paradox in the term “domestic violence.” It suggests that what happens at home, stays at home. But it doesn’t, especially in places like the Pacific Islands, where two out of every three women are affected by violence. In the Solomon Islands, a recent survey showed that the toll of domestic violence extends […]
CARE and Diageo: Tackling Violence and Harassment at Work
Violence and harassment in the workplace – whether in Westminster, Hollywood or McDonalds– continues to make headlines. Its impact on workers and business is increasingly becoming apparent. CARE research in the Cambodian garment sector revealed that there is an estimated US $89 million annual cost to the economy from absenteeism and lost productivity. Legislative changes […]
Making Supply Chains Work for Women
BSR is pleased to launch a new video that sets out why and how companies should work to drive gender equality in global supply chains. We invite you to take a moment to watch it below. There are many opportunities for companies to promote gender equality in supply chains—through their own actions, by enabling business partners, and by influencing industry peers […]
For Women in India Small Loans Have a Big Impact
In Harhua, India, a sleepy village on the outskirts of the ancient city of Varanasi, Irawati Devi stands proudly under the bael tree that shades her home. Goats scour the ground around her mint-green food carts, searching for traces of the fried noodles and samosas she sells. “When we first moved to Harhua,” Irawati, 58, […]