Gender and Climate Change: Sustainability Systems Supporting Adaptation and Resilience
Women bear a disproportionate burden of the adverse impacts of climate change. In low- and middle-income countries, women are highly dependent on agriculture and natural resources, which, combined with existing inequalities, leaves them especially vulnerable. Yet, they are important economic actors who can play a critical role in tackling climate issues if given the right […]
10 Things You Could Be Doing as a Man on International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day. A day to not only celebrate everyone who identifies as a woman but also help drive gender equity in the workplace. Alas our Masculinity in the Workplace report shows that there is still so much more work to do and that starts by ensuring we engage more men. And that means getting far […]
Empowering Foundations of Learning Pave the Way for Gender Equity
Achieving gender equity requires a multi-faceted approach. As the global community searches for solutions to inequalities, a strong focus must be on the foundation of empowerment – education and the ability to learn. This International Women’s Day (IWD), Wednesday 8th of March, the world celebrates the achievements and contributions of inspiring girls and women across […]
Why the Fashion Industry’s Four Largest Women’s Empowerment Programmes Came Together to Form RISE
This International Women’s Day we are celebrating the launch of RISE: Reimagining Industry to Support Equality. It’s a celebration of collaboration for the greater good, with the four largest women’s empowerment programmes in the garment industry – BSR’s HERproject, Gap Inc. P.A.C.E, CARE and Better Work – coming together to build on their proven approaches […]
Refugee Employment Through Remote Work: How Na’amal is Creating Change
There are approximately 29 million displaced people who are categorized as “refugees” worldwide. Within this group, self-sufficiency proves to be difficult with many individuals being subjected to informal work in precarious conditions and in indignity to be able to afford their basic needs. The premise for such treatment, in most cases, continues to solely be […]
What Does It Really Take for Companies to Lead on Gender Equity?
Women drive our global economy. They control more than $20 trillion in annual consumer spending today, and that figure is expected to rise to nearly $30 trillion annually in the next five years. As a market, they represent an opportunity more than twice as big as China and India combined. And the number of women joining the workforce is […]
Women Smallholders Will Drive Africa’s Transition to Regenerative Agriculture
An estimated 140 million people in Africa are facing acute food insecurity[1], yet, in Kenya alone, 50% of all productive soil is badly degraded. Worse still, because of record droughts, half of Kenyan farmers have harvested nothing in the last four seasons. Regenerative agriculture techniques offer the world’s poorest farmers a lifeline, restoring soils and […]
Time to Act on Mental Health: UNICEF’s Global Coalition for Youth Mental Well-being
The Global Coalition for Youth Mental Well-being, hosted by UNICEF, was born out of the belief that the mental well-being of youth cannot be addressed by one entity alone but needs collective action. It is time for joint action on mental health. Mental health and psychosocial well-being are fundamental components of a child’s healthy development […]
How Gender-Responsive Media Can Help Women’s Economic Empowerment–and Business
The existence of a gender income gap in Sub-Saharan Africa is perhaps not a surprise, given the existence of similar gaps around the world, but its magnitude is still startling: according to the World Bank, the median monthly income of men is more than twice that of women. What is driving this? Women are both […]
To Build Thriving Cocoa Communities, Educate the Children
The theme of this year’s UN International Day of Education, “to invest in people, prioritize education,” resonates with us at Cargill as it aligns with the work we are doing in cocoa growing communities. In these communities, improving access to quality education helps keep children away from child labor and grants them the opportunity to […]
New Research Reveals the Benefits and Costs of Gender-Smart Technical Assistance to SMEs and Investors
Gender lens investing includes three key entry points for investors: (1) providing capital to women-led/founded companies and/or gender-forward businesses; (2) applying a gender lens to the investment cycle, such as during pipeline development; and (3) funding and supporting the design and implementation of gender-inclusive technical assistance (TA) activities. Investors often focus on the first two […]
Why Investing in Informal Women Workers is Critical to Maintaining Resilient Supply Chains
Over 60% of the world’s employed population make their living through informal work, with no access to formal contracts or protection. Women make up a disproportionate percentage of informal workers, with 740 million women’s livelihoods dependent on the informal economy globally. Lack of secure employment contracts or social protection for these workers means that when […]
Women Cotton Farmers and Climate Solutions
I was very happy to be a part of Business Fights Poverty’s Climate Justice Summit. The topic of conversation – gender equity and its role in combatting climate change – is one of the most pertinent subjects. And it got me seriously thinking about the work we’re doing at CottonConnect, and how we can boost […]
International Migrants Day: Why Access to Remedy is Crucial
Today, on International Migrants Day, we focus on millions of people who have left their native homes, for different reasons, to live and work abroad. In 2021, the International Labour Organization estimated there were 169 million migrant workers. Anyone working, temporarily or permanently, in a country of which they do not hold a passport, is […]
Why the Burden on Business Women to ‘do it all’ Must Stop
Glorifying multi-tasking by women entrepreneurs must stop. Women the world over are often celebrated for juggling their business with childcare and household responsibilities. The assumption that a woman should be the primary caregiver and the man should be the breadwinner are norms so entrenched they remain consistently unchallenged. This needs to change. NGOs and businesses […]
The Unrecognised Intersections Between Climate Change and Modern Slavery
Modern slavery is on the rise. New global estimates of modern slavery published in September 2022 found that almost 50 million people are in modern slavery, a rise of 10 million people since the previous estimates were released in 2017. This increase has been driven by the compounding crises of climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and armed […]
Access to Menstrual Health & Hygiene Products in Rural Ethiopia
Menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) is a term used to encapsulate the broader systemic factors that link menstruation with health, well-being, equity, empowerment, and individual rights. Around the world, MHH is challenged by the stigma and shame associated with menstruation, which affects the ability of menstruators to access a myriad of resources such as accurate and […]
Making the Care Economy Everyone’s Business
Take our survey to help us better understand business motivations for addressing the care economy and how entrepreneurs innovating in this space could support your business. Are you an FMCG company, concerned about the double day women in your supply chain are working – at the factory and then at home. What does this do […]
Addressing the Future of Work for Young Africans in a Post-Covid World
Covid-19 has undeniably changed the way in which we understand the world of work coupled with unemployment numbers that have increased globally. We have undoubtedly read horrifying statics about youth unemployment and the scarcity of traditional job opportunities. It is estimated that we will witness a global figure of 73 million unemployed youths by the […]
Network of Small-Scale farmers in India Tackle Climate Change
“It was a turning point for me,” said Ruchi Jain, Founder and CEO of Taru Naturals, about her trip to the villages of small-scale farmers in India struggling with the effects of climate change. “I realized that if you want to make a big impact on the world, you have to be grassroots-based—it has to be […]