B2B Collaboration that Drives Growth and Impact
A significant shift is happening in the way global corporations and mission-driven organizations see poverty, food security, water scarcity, climate change, and other sustainable development challenges—a convergence around the view, expressed so well by management guru Peter Drucker, that “every single social and global issue of our day is a business opportunity in disguise.” At […]
Business and the SDGs – Building Blocks for Success
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) map out a global vision for a better world. They set out ambitious goals and targets for people, prosperity, planet and peace. Getting there will require us to work together—no matter where we live or work, this is a universal call to action. Leaders in government, business and civil society—all […]
A Global Plan for People, Planet, Prosperity and Peace
Over the past 15 years, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have provided a vital framework and focal point for driving progress against poverty and other development challenges faced by the world’s most vulnerable. World leaders are now coming together again to formally adopt the 2030 Agenda, including a new set of Sustainable Development […]
Business is Ready to Play its Part to Achieve the SDGs
As world leaders come together at the United Nations for the SDG Summit, they will announce their commitment to the new Global Goals for Sustainable Development and set out their ambition for a more peaceful and prosperous world. This is a defining moment for the world community, as we transition from the Millennium Development Goals […]
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 […]
A Productivity Target to Reshape the Development Agenda
Of all the Sustainable Development Goals in the 2030 agenda that will be adopted by United Nations (UN) members later this month, the goals that relate to jobs and productivity are amongst the innovative ones that can change the development agenda. It was surprising that it took so long to get these important issues on […]
Doing Business: A Slow March to Reform
Some African countries are reforming their regulatory environment, but many remain low on international rankings. The World Bank’s Doing Business report has become a standard shorthand of countries’ willingness to reform their business regulations, and every year sub-Saharan African nations feature strongly in its parallel rankings of top reformers. For the second year in a […]
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 […]
New Tools & Rules for Businesses in Global Development
Addis Ababa hosted the Third UN Financing for Development conference from 13 to 16 July to improve the quantity and quality of financial flows for development. The resulting Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) addressed the right problems, but it provided little tangible and time-bound answers. The follow-up process of the UN FfD Forum will therefore […]
New Tools & Rules for Businesses in Global Development
Addis Ababa hosted the Third UN Financing for Development conference from 13 to 16 July to improve the quantity and quality of financial flows for development. The resulting Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) addressed the right problems, but it provided little tangible and time-bound answers. The follow-up process of the UN FfD Forum will therefore […]
‘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, […]
Mini Tablets Unlocking Schoolchildren’s Talent in Malawi
“I want to study medicine so at least one day I can prescribe medicine for my mother,” Maria Kafumbu, age 7, said when asked what she wants to do when she grows up. Her classmate, Zainab Muhammad, also wants to be a doctor. “I feel bad seeing many sick children at hospitals, and would like […]
Low-Income Millennials Present Big Market Opportunities
Hardly a day passes without a new article on how businesses are analyzing the needs, wants and spending trends of millennials. In the US alone, millennials (or Generation Y), those born between 1980 and 2000, represent 30 percent of the population. By 2025 they will be 75 percent of the workforce. The impact that millennials […]
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 – […]
Who Will Pay for the SDGs?
This July, governments and business leaders met in Ethiopia to work out how to finance a significantly more ambitious development agenda, launching the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, a document that articulates a common position on how the draft Sustainable Development Goals should be funded. Hundreds of billions of dollars in direct and indirect funding was […]
Making Hunger History
Hunger has plagued humanity since the dawn of recorded history. It has featured in every era and every civilization. It has brought empires to ruin, and societies to their knees. In this second decade of the 21st century, we have the expertise, the technology, and the resources to feed every person, in every country. Yet […]