Sweet Dreams: Sweet Story
Readers of Business Fights Poverty have been exposed to the arguments for how business might contribute to peace. They have also seen examples of how music can do the same. Many studies have shown corollaries of how gender equity promotes peace. If you want a film that shows all three of these factors in action, […]
The Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Awards 2019: Open for Applications Until 30 June
The , delivered by Unilever and the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, support and celebrate inspirational young people from all over the world who have initiatives, products or services tackling some of the planet’s biggest sustainability challenges. Now in their sixth year, the Awards have reached over 5,800 entrepreneurs, and provided tailored support […]
Spurring Communities, Confidence and Communication: How Companies are Tackling Gender-Based Violence
Across the world the costs of GBV are staggering. A 2017 study on garment workers in Cambodia reported that nearly one in three female garment workers had been sexually harassed in the preceding 12 months. The resulting turnover, absenteeism and presenteeism at work cost the Cambodian garment industry the equivalent of 0.52 percent of Cambodia’s […]
Most Brands’ Support Of Causes Is Not Breaking Through To Gen Z
Despite an influx of consumer brands more publicly supporting social cause platforms, most efforts are not resonating with Gen Z, according to a new study released Wednesday from DoSomething Strategic, the social impact consulting arm of DoSomething.org that helps brands engage young people around their purpose. Cause is Working, Your Marketing Isn’t: A Report on Brands Taking Stands 2019 found […]
Making Supply Chains Safe for Women Workers: Where Compliance Programs End, Supplier Relationships Matter
The Guardian reported on a recent study of Vietnamese clothing, footwear, and outdoor wear manufacturers, which found that “workers in Vietnamese factories have been harassed, groped, and even raped”. This was both sadly shocking and sadly predictable. Though compliance programs are in place, they have not guaranteed harassment-free work environments. The prevalence of harassment is sadly shocking: […]
Competing in the Digital Age – Building Job Opportunities in Uganda and Kenya
After her second-hand clothing business failed, Faith struggled to find reliable work in Nairobi, where limited opportunities and a largely informal work market make it difficult for young Kenyans to find employment. A friend suggested she try Lynk, an online job-placement platform that pairs day labourers with businesses and households. Through its digital platform, Lynk […]
Gender Equality: Closing the Gap in the Private Sector Around the World
Let’s be honest, in the world of development, the private sector has not always been our partner of choice in the race to achieve gender equality. There has been a perception that business actions in this area are merely front-line measures or meagre efforts that simply impose quotas on boards of directors. These assumptions are […]
Business Fights Poverty At the Movies
Over the last twenty years, my research has focused on the ways in which business can foster peace. This work isn’t really about how trade and economic development can foster peace, but how the actions of the structures that implement trade and economic development – businesses – can do so. In addition to writing four […]
Giving Women Better Access to Finance Could Unlock $330 Billion in Annual Global Revenue
Lack of access to finance remains one of the major barriers facing women entrepreneurs in marginalised communities across the world. 80 per cent of women-owned businesses with credit needs are either unserved or underserved – a US$1.7 trillion financing gap. CARE International is responding to this injustice by launching our ‘Access Approved’ campaign. We are […]
What Role Can Business Play To Tackle Gender-Based Violence? Experts Share Practical Learnings and Experiences
As part of our current Business Fights Poverty Challenge, What Role Can Business Play to Tackle Gender-Based Violence, we hosted an Online Discussion. This brought together a panel of experts from around the world to share their insights and experience. Whether you are from an organisation taking your first steps in trying to understand how […]
How Can We Improve the Response to Forced Displacement? An Opportunity to Partner with Save the Children
Save the Children’s Migration and Displacement Initiative (MDI) recently launched its Predictive Displacement Tool – a prototype model to support humanitarian actors in anticipating the onset of a displacement crisis and understanding how it will unfold over time. The current figures on displacement are alarming, with 2018 numbers demonstrating that: More than 68 million people, […]
We Need a Reskilling Revolution. Here’s How to Make it Happen
As the world faces the transformative economic, social and environmental challenges of Globalization 4.0, it has never been more important to invest in people. Valuing human capital not only serves to equip individuals with the knowledge and skills to respond to systemic shifts, it also empowers them to take part in creating a more equal, inclusive and […]
WE SOLVE: A Unique Partnership Creates Jobs for Women and Breaks the Barriers to Clean Energy
The Arusha region is home to Tanzania’s nomadic Maasai and other communities who farm and herd in the plains around Mount Meru. Communities here face life without light as soon as the sun sets, meaning that kids can’t play in the streets or study and families are often dependent on expensive and toxic fuel-powered resources […]
We Learned Simple Ways to Improve the Local Environment and Our Income
In the Nawa region in Côte d’Ivoire, Mondelēz International’s Cocoa Life partners with Impactum and CARE International to engage women and address climate change and deforestation through a Green Entrepreneurship pilot project. They are helping women learn the knowledge and skills needed to create a sustainable future for cocoa farming communities, and generate income for […]
Helping Women Thrive: Give a Loan, Create a Community Role Model
Most of these women have simple dreams and plans for themselves, whether it is to provide food for their children, obtain books to go to school or access clean water. And microfinancing organizations and crowdfunding platforms like Kiva are helping women achieve them. Kiva is an international nonprofit based in San Francisco with a mission […]
Claims, Credibility and Landscape Approaches
The idea is a compelling one. Rather than looking at individual sites, suppliers or sectors, these approaches recognize that issues like deforestation, habitat conversion, land rights and rural development are often best addressed at a larger scale – across whole landscapes or jurisdictions. Bringing together all stakeholders – producers, sourcing companies, governments, civil society, NGOs, […]
Why Addressing Gender-Based Violence is an Imperative for Business Today
As part of our latest Challenge project, we are asking our network, and beyond, to contribute important insight into how businesses are, can or should be tackling gender-based violence – whether in the workplace, or supporting employees who are victims and survivors of domestic violence. Your insights will help in the creation of a toolkit, […]
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 […]