What prize awaits Businesses that Embrace the Sustainable Development Goals?
By Sue Adkins, International Director, Business in the Community As the Business Sustainable Development Commission launches its report Better Business, Better World as the World Economic Forum in Davos, marking the first anniversary of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Sue Adkins, International Director at BITC looks at how businesses are embracing the SDGs. The […]
‘We the People’ for Social and Economic Sustainability
The United States, United Kingdom and the European Union are undergoing dramatic social, economic and cultural change in a volatile political environment. Donald Trump’s victory was the outcome of years of disturbing world events, a turbulent financial system, and economic stagnation in the U.S. In the wake of the election, the political system being scrutinized, […]
Four Ways Business Can Support Lasting Change in Youth Unemployment
Youth unemployment in the face of the growing youth population bulge is a problem on a massive scale. Raleigh International works in rural areas of countries where the problem is particularly severe. Without a doubt, this is one area where business has a critical role to play. We can only be successful through meaningful partnerships, […]
The Year Ahead and the Need to Rethink Collaboration
2016 convinced me of the need to collaborate more deeply than ever: to deliver on the bold future envisioned in the new Sustainable Development Goals; to protect past progress made towards equality—now threatened by the politics of division; to tackle the deep social exclusion that has at least in part driven the political turbulence of […]
Top 10 Discussions of 2016
2016 saw our 100th online discussion, with over 1,300 comments posted over the course of the year! Online discussions have played a central role in our new Challenges as a way for members to share insights on the Challenge question. From next year, we will be upgrading our discussion forum to make it easier to […]
Empowering Today’s Women for the Women of Tomorrow
Interview with Johanna Ryan, Social Performance Director, VisionFund International Johanna Ryan will be speaking at a dinner hosted by Women Advancing Microfinance UK on Tuesday 31st January 2017 in London. She will talk to us about the work VisionFund International does and the impact it’s having on the lives of women. Tickets to the event […]
Public-Private Partnerships Critical to Fighting AIDS
Interview with Dr. Huma Abbasi, General Manager, Global Health and Medical, Chevron, and Mark Viso, President and CEO, Pact December 1, 2016 marked the 28th World AIDS Day – observed to commemorate those who have struggled with the disease and those who continue to fight against it. Despite huge advances toward ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic, […]
Lightening the Load of Women’s Unpaid Care Work
We’re excited to announce a three-year partnership with Unilever’s Surf brand that aims to recognise, reduce and redistribute the amount of time spent by women and girls on unpaid care work. In some parts of the world women and girls currently spend as many as six hours a day on unpaid care work – a […]
A Conversation with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Internationally recognized development economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala served as Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and twice as Nigeria’s Finance Minister — the first woman to hold either post. She has held several key positions at the World Bank, and in 2014, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Currently, […]
Addressing Social Norms to Stop Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in Factories and Farms
“The workload is tremendous here. They swear at us when we fail to complete the work. … They scold. They say, ‘Hey you! Daughter of a bitch, daughter of a pig! How come so much work has been piled up?’ …At such times I feel really bad. … I cannot stand this. I cry. I […]
Can Complex Development Be Explained on a Bar of Chocolate?
How can Mondelēz International – the world’s biggest chocolate company – show their consumers that their chocolate is produced in a sustainable way? I was recently in Ghana with a group of Mondelēz’s European staff, seeing for themselves how their company is working with cocoa farmers through its Cocoa Life sustainability programme. The purpose of […]
Business Must Stand Up as a Champion of Progressive Values
Recent events in the US and UK have reminded me of a love story. When I was 12, I vividly remember my grandmother telling me the story of how in her early 20s she met and fell in love with my grandfather. But theirs was no ordinary love story. You see, she was an Anglo-Irish […]
10.5 Million Opportunities – Leveraging Savings Groups with Business Training
Hand in Hand International Ten-and-a-half million. That’s the number of Savings Group members worldwide. For more than two decades, in 70 countries, the groups have been credited with banking the unbanked, improving women’s economic empowerment and strengthening social cohesion. Now, according new research, another triumph can be added to the list: boosting business incomes by […]
Improving Learning for Syrian and host community children and youth in the Middle East
How does a company make a meaningful impact in addressing a major societal challenge? How do we leverage our core expertise and capabilities, and do so in a sustainable way that doesn’t fade away as the media turns its attention to the next big crisis? Over the past couple of years we’ve given this a […]
Coca-Cola’s Contribution to Stability, Growth, and Optimism
In my article, I review the role of a global commercial organization, The Coca-Cola Company, in contributing to national stability in developing markets through a strategic approach to social and economic contribution. The company’s initiatives complement the role of policymakers, who are primarily responsible for the safety and prosperity of citizens, often using the Golden […]
Legitimate Business and Peace should be natural allies, so what is the best argument for bringing the private sector into peacebuilding efforts?
There is an irony to current thinking on the private sector and peacebuilding. The conflict in Syria and the massive international response to the refugee crisis has made private sector investment and jobs for refugees the flavour of the month. From the London Syria conference to the UN General Assembly in 2016, donors have lined […]
Collaboration in Support of Micro-Enterprises in Value Chains
The “Growing Together” report – guidance to businesses to support them in helping micro-enterprises in their value chains to thrive, and why that is important for women’s economic empowerment. Our new report – “Growing Together”, developed with SABMiller, the Harvard Kennedy Corporate Responsibility Initiative and Business Fights Poverty, sets out why businesses should take a […]
The ‘Root’ to Women’s Empowerment
Growing up in rural south-east Nigeria, as the first born child in my family, I assisted my mum in her small business as she struggled to make a living. When the opportunity to go and live with my aunt in eastern Nigerian arose, I was excited; I thought I would be relieved from the hard […]
One Year of Inclusive Business Models in Bangladesh
Six Inclusive Business (IB) models dedicated towards SRHR were launched on the 25th August, 2016. In the last one year, the project has relentlessly worked to establish a sustainable solution to the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) of 3.5 million female Ready Made Garments (RMG) workers. In the continuous effort to improve lives […]
African Diaspora: Mobilizing Resources and Skills in Uganda
African diaspora love their heritage countries and most send support in various forms to their families that remained behind. Most send money and it has been noted that remittances to Africa have surpassed Western aid. Beyond sending money, Africans in the diaspora have setup various networks to address issues impacting entire communities back home by […]