Investing in Social Enterprise to Fight Poverty
Rupert Scofield will be speaking at a dinner hosted by Women Advancing Microfinance UK on Tuesday 10th May in London. He will talk to us about the work FINCA does and the impact it’s having, in particular in the social enterprise and innovation space. Tickets to the event are available here. Ahead of the event, […]
How Small Farmers Can End Poverty and Hunger
Private companies are discovering that small farms are big business at the same time as the development community is realizing that they are key to ending poverty and hunger. There are 500 million small farms in the world, and their potential is huge. Indeed, small farms are responsible for up to 80 per cent of […]
Introducing Business Fights Poverty Challenges
I am delighted to announce the roll-out of “Business Fights Poverty Challenges” – to help drive innovation through collaboration – and an updated website to support this new focus. As I mentioned back in January, we have been exploring ways to foster deeper collaboration across the Business Fights Poverty community around specific, practical Challenges to […]
Banking on Change Helps the World’s Poorest Save $34m
More than 5,000 informal savings groups have been linked to formal banking sector Six years ago CARE undertook a pioneering partnership called Banking on Change with Barclays and Plan UK that has since helped more than 758,000 people, who typically live on less than $2 a day. In the past 3 years, we’ve supported 400,000 […]
DFID Business Survey on Women’s Economic Empowerment
Around the world, too many women are still locked out of the economy. From the simple right to open a bank account, to securing a seat in the boardroom – too many women still face significant barriers that stop them from reaching their full potential. I want you – and your business – to help […]
Social Entrepreneurs Defining the Future of Healthcare
There is a global crisis in healthcare; the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that one billion people lack access to basic care, and a further 100 million are pushed into poverty trying to access it. The situation doesn’t look likely to improve. The WHO estimates that there will be a deficit of more than 12 […]
Humanitarian Action with Business
Image: Kakuma refugee camp in the desert in NW Kenya, Somali refugee traders’ shop in the Kakuma camp By Dr. Kathryn Taetzsch, Senior Relief Coordinator & Private Sector Partnerships Lead, Global Humanitarian Operations/ Global Rapid Response Team, World Vision International “Ending Need” cannot work without “Connecting Business” from community to global levels, identifying gaps, disaster […]
Design Funding in Emerging and Frontier Markets
Earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, we welcomed the launch of Convergence: a platform that helps public and private investors find and connect with each other to co-invest in “blended finance” deals in emerging and frontier markets. Blended finance is the use of public and philanthropic funds to attract private capital […]
A Framework for Justice
From the program of the 2016 Skoll World Forum. Justice is our north star. It provides the bearings to guide us through territory fraught with tests of character and will. It steers us to ever more powerful solutions to the pressing problems of our time. It summons in us the courage and fortitude to tackle […]
Refugee Crisis, Business and Partnerships
When a natural disaster happens we look to the government, public services, NGOs and charitable organisations to come to our rescue. But as the current European refugee crisis has shown, governments can be slow to react. While bodies of drowned refugees wash up on the shores of Greece and Turkey, the EU country representatives are […]
The State of Responsible Investment
Women Advancing Microfinance UK are hosting a dinner on Tuesday 12th April in London on responsible investment, specifically looking at how we can influence the way global companies act and impact the world. Tickets to the event are available here. On the evening Martina Macpherson will be accompanied by Natacha Dimitrijevic, Associate Director at Hermes […]
Six Changemaker Women You (Probably) Haven’t Heard of
In honour of International Women’s Day, we celebrated six changemaker women who are transforming communities, and redefining the role of women in society. From reforming waste management systems in Peru to an app that fights back against street harrassment, they are challenging the societal, economic, cultural and political inequalities in today’s world. Through social innovations […]
A Family Adventure to the Slums of Delhi
“What are you looking forward to most about Delhi?” I asked my kids, as we sat together at Heathrow before our flight. “Coming home!” answered Danny. It was the UK school half-term. Instead of our usual jaunt to the coast or to an adventure park, we were heading as a family of five to the […]
Social Freedom for Women through Mobile Money
The best salespeople understand why you need something, because they once lived without it – they know exactly the difference it can make. Empowered women make it their job to tell other women. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), becoming a mobile money subscription saleswoman is an opportunity for women in one of the […]
More Space Technology Can Be a Key to Poverty Reduction
In 2004, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the robot probe Philae, with great ambition and hope, to learn about the origins of our Solar System. Human genius overcame the challenges of gravity, space and budget constraints in the name of scientific discovery. For 10 years, Philae travelled through space, to eventually reach its destination […]
Scientific Research for Gender Equality
This year on International Women’s Day, efforts to advance gender equality and sustainable development go hand in hand. The UN is commemorating the day under the theme “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it Up for Gender Equality,” highlighting the importance of closing the gap in gender equality while building momentum to implement the Sustainable Development […]
Collaborations Expand Tech Uses to Aid Refugees
Technology is playing an unprecedented role in addressing the global refugee crisis. In part, this is due to a level of collaboration that is new to the traditionally competitive, independent tech community. The massive numbers of people fleeing war and deprivation – over 82,000 refugees sought refuge in the first two months of 2016 alone, […]
Connecting Corporations and Social Enterprises
By Sheena Raikundalia, Senior Consultant, Intellecap Kenya-focused entrepreneur Moka Lantum, Founder and Managing Director of Microclinics, is preparing for pitch to a large pharmaceutical company. The Nairobi-based healthcare management company provides patient and clinic management systems to peri-urban and rural clinics. The software developed by his company, tracks commodities in clinics and enhances, availability, accessibility, […]
Cross-sector Approaches in Countering Violent Extremism
In the spirit of this year’s Global Partnerships Week (GPW) theme of “Leveraging Innovation in Partnerships”, Concordia has long been a proponent of innovative and collaborative efforts that advance global security agendas combating violent extremism (CVE). Many of the GPW partners, and a number of the affiliated organizations and events this week, have dedicated significant […]
US State Department Celebrates Collaboration
By Andrew O’Brien, Special Representative, Global Partnerships The word “partnership” seems to be everywhere these days — and the U.S. Department of State is proud to be at the center of it. While public-private partnerships (P3s) have been around for years, they are increasingly becoming a primary way to achieve our objectives in diplomacy and […]