Collective Business Action to Reduce Maternal Mortality
“If you want to go far, go together,” said Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom, Kenya’s largest mobile phone operator, known for the incredibly successful M-PESA payments platform which has transformed the way money changes hands in Kenya. This time Collymore was making news during the recent Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit at the United Nations […]
Do Companies Have Obligation to Help Syrian Refugees?
“When we can’t afford both medicine and food, I tie scarves around my boys’ bellies at night so they don’t wake up crying from stomach aches because they are hungry.” —Fatmeh, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon The Syrian refugee crisis in the Middle East is a daily heartbreak that eludes simple solutions. Thousands are dying […]
Bridging the Gender Tech Gap
ohn Converse Townsend, Ashoka Gender equality is so much more than a women’s issue. It’s a sustainable development issue. Women’s empowerment not only has positive effects for local economies, but it is a predictor of better health outcomes and all but guarantees a more fair and stable society. This is not breaking news. But it […]
Financing to Support New UN Global Development Agenda
As global leaders gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in July for the Third Financing for Development Conference (FfD3) to discuss a new financing framework for sustainable development, it was natural for Citi to have a seat at the table. As a leading global financial institution, Citi has provided capital to governments, corporations and development organizations […]
Education to Children in Crisis and Conflict Zones
When catastrophe strikes, our first response is to send water, shelter, food and health workers. However, most catastrophes — be they conflicts, health crises or natural disasters — have devastating effects that last much longer than the initial onset. According to the UN, it takes an average of 17 years for families to return home […]
Impact Investing: Growing Outside the Mainstream
A generational shift in investors’ mindsets could drive wider adoption of impact investment, which looks to marry social or environmental outcomes with financial returns. Tony Elumelu is one of Africa’s most recognisable businesspeople, a regular on the whirlwind circuit of economic conferences that has sprung up as the continent’s growth spurt attracts international investors. Elumelu, […]
Brewing up Success for Tanzanian Coffee Farmers
By Ciara O’Sullivan, VSO VSO volunteer Joseph Ochuma is an Agronomist working with Karagwe Development and Relief Services (KADERES). KADERES is an NGO based in the Kagera region of North West Tanzania. Joseph started his current placement in 2012, although he was not new to VSO having previously volunteered at VSO Malawi working with the […]
Sport as Economic Opportunity
New campaign aims to change stereotypes, shatter barriers and encourage more girls to play sports The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup lived up to the high expectations. We witnessed nail biting penalty shootouts, new entrants such as Cameroon reaching the quarter finals, and impressive physical feats by female athletes. We also saw something a little […]
‘100 Under $100′ Tools for Women’s Empowerment
In her new book ‘100 Under $100’, Betsy Teutsch rounds up a hundred innovative yet affordable tools and practices that can make a huge difference in the lives of poor women in low-income countries. Agroforestry is among these innovations. Many of the tools featured, like childhood immunization, handwashing, and clean birth kits—are lifesaving. Others, like […]
South African Students Stand Up For Quality Education
What if the most inspired and best-informed agents of change for “broken” school systems weren’t lawyers or politicians, but students themselves? For a network of activists in South Africa, students are just that. Equal Education is a youth-led movement battling “class- and race-linked inequalities” in South Africa’s school system. The young people in the program, […]
Finding Hope and Supporting Self-employment in Kenya
My job is about finding and nurturing hope. As CEO of Kenya Youth Business Trust Mombasa, I spend a lot of time working with young people who have very little opportunities, and are struggling against barriers such as poor education and radicalism. Having been focused on just Mombasa for many years, we are now – […]
Divine Chocolate: Empowering Women Cocoa Farmers
An interview with Charlotte Borger, Communications Director, Divine Chocolate 1. How does Divine Chocolate work with women in your supply chains? (If you have any specific examples of women being empowered by project(s) you have run, or as a result of your efforts, please mention here). Divine Chocolate is a UK based Fairtrade chocolate company […]
The Girls’ Education Challenge in Afghanistan
As the Fund Manager for the Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC), we are extremely limited in our ability to visit field project locations in Afghanistan. It is designated as too ‘high risk’. For this reason, we held our recent Annual Review workshop with project teams in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo. These teams have similar […]
Collaborating to Enhance Women’s Business Skills
Cherie Blair, Sevi Simavi and team with Yvonne at her cyber cafe. Credit: William Hirtle/Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. After surviving the Rwandan genocide 21 years ago, Yvonne worked hard to rebuild her life. She now runs a busy cyber café on a bustling street in Kigali. She set up this business in 2011 and, […]
Readying Young People for a New Jobs Market
The second report in VSO’s Producing Progress series looks at a programme based in Tanzania: Enhancing Employability through Vocational Training (EEVT). The reports draw out lessons from a variety of programmes, including those that improve employment opportunities, strengthen markets for smallholder producers and align skills needs with supply. The EEVT project, started in 2012, is […]
Centres of Excellence Boost for Future Jobs
The first report in VSO’s Producing Progress series focuses on a programme in Kenya that tackles inequality through improving the provision of skills for entrepreneurship for marginalised groups, youth and women in particular. The reports draw out lessons from a variety of programmes, including those that improve employment opportunities, strengthen markets for smallholder producers and […]
To Change the World We Must Change Ourselves
The Mediterranean sea has become a graveyard for Africa’s youth. Every day, we see images of what would appear to be a continent racked by conflict and poverty, and people risking – often losing – their lives in an attempt to flee . Yet Africa has 11 of the 20 fastest growing economies in the […]
Collaborating, Evaluating and Changing Attitudes
Photo Credit: PEAS Uganda With the support of the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) is supporting 37 projects working in 18 countries. On a recent trip to Uganda, I had the opportunity to see six of these projects (listed below) in action. There were a few insights that struck […]
Building Young Futures
This partnership between Barclays and UNICEF tackles youth unemployment by giving young people the skills, knowledge and confidence to set up their own small business or find a job. Social impacts The programme trained 72,921 young people in enterprise, financial, employment and life skills; 28,000 young people have started saving. Has led to the creation […]
Affirmative Action Employment Training in India
TCS Affirmative Action Employment Training has increased the employment prospects of women and young people in India’s most marginalised communities, the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST). Social impacts Over 42,000 people were trained over five years, 16,800 of whom came from underprivileged SC/ST communities. 50% of the total numbers trained were women (21,042 out of 42,000) […]