How to Change the Way the World is Fed?
As we mark World Food Day this week, we are greeted by the news that 842 million people – about one in eight – are still chronically hungry. Although this represents an improvement on the figures from previous years, it is not enough, and it looks like we are at risk of missing the Millennium […]
"Gender-Neutral" Financial Services
I recently stood in front of a group of investors and business coaches and explained the gap in investment in women-led small businesses. After the presentation, an audience member asked me whether I thought banks and investors should start biasing their services toward women. “No,” I replied, “you should unbias them away from men.” This […]
“Gender-Neutral” Financial Services
I recently stood in front of a group of investors and business coaches and explained the gap in investment in women-led small businesses. After the presentation, an audience member asked me whether I thought banks and investors should start biasing their services toward women. “No,” I replied, “you should unbias them away from men.” This […]
Social Intrapreneurism – A Dialogue
When a researcher in corporate responsibility meets a management consultant, it rarely begins with improvising a jazz piano duet at a conference. This is, however, what happened when Melody McLaren, an Associate of the Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility, first met Lionel Bodin, a Senior Manager at Accenture Development Partnerships, during the inaugural award ceremony […]
Developing Effective Youth Entrepreneurship Programmes
There are approximately 1.3 billion young people between the ages of 15 – 24: they make up a quarter of the world’s working population but represent half the world’s unemployed. One solution to combat spiralling unemployment has been the launch of youth entrepreneurship programmes providing services such as training, mentoring and access to finance. But […]
Investigating Inclusive Business Models in Africa
Woolworths through its Good Business Journey, has a comprehensive plan to make a difference in six priority areas: sustainable farming, protecting water supplies, reducing energy use, improving the management of waste, making a significant contribution to social development and supporting transformation initiatives As part of the company’s CSR investment, Woolworths was the first and main […]
The Best Social Innovations of 2013
The SAB Foundation has announced the finalists of its 3rd Annual Social Innovation Awards 2013. A total of 26 finalists will vie for the R1-million first place prize, which will be used to grow and commercialise their product or service. The SAB Foundation Social Innovations Awards was first launched in 2011 by its chairperson, Cyril […]
Helping to Change the Lives of Disadvantaged Girls
The 2013 chapter of finally came to a close on 30 August with a total of US$45,000 in grants awarded to three well-deserving projects put forward by young and inspiring changemakers from India, Uganda and the United States. I met this year’s finalists for the first time at the welcome dinner which kick-started the four-day […]
A Vision for Mobile Phone Based Health Education
The critical importance of community healthcare workers (CHWs) in Africa, where there are not enough doctors per person, cannot be overstated. They are the unsung heroes of African healthcare and there is a growing belief that they hold the key to dramatically improving mortality rates. Indeed it’s estimated that nearly 200,000 more CHWs are needed […]
Poverty-Focused Innovation: How to Foster Financial Innovation by Creating Agency for the Poor
Grameen Foundation has a proud heritage rooted in one of the most successful financial innovations of our time – microfinance – as pioneered by Muhammad Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank. Since Grameen Foundation’s founding in 1997, we have continued to adapt to the needs and capabilities of the global poor, focusing on how financial inclusion […]
7 Trends Shaping Africa’s Youth Employment Challenge
In 2001, Charles Maisel started a social enterprise because he saw potential in the young men who sit on the roadside in South Africa’s townships waiting to be hired for a day’s labor. He then flipped the problem into a solution. Charles understood the barriers: the short-term and unreliable nature of employment in the informal […]
Getting Funds to Those Who Need it Most
When Mariam, a Syrian refugee, enters the Western Union location just outside of Tripoli, Lebanon, she isn’t walking into a typical money exchange. Instead, she is entering one of thousands of locations across the globe enabled with Western Union’s NGO GlobalPay product, through which NGOs can move cash efficiently and directly to those in need. […]
Backing College Loans To Low-Income Students In Mexico
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Mexico has a smaller proportion of college students than other countries on a similar path of growth and progress, and a significantly lower proportion compared to their main trading partners. Although higher education in Mexico grew to record levels this past decade, just over […]
Creating Opportunities for Rural Girls in India
A two-year-old girl named Arshi was one of last people in India to get polio. Her case is remarkable for a number of reasons. First and most obvious, her case – now more than two years old – shows the tremendous strides we’ve made against polio. There has been no case of wild polio in […]
The Business Call to Action Annual Event 2013
The Business Call to Action (BCtA) held this year’s Annual Event on September 19th in New York City, in conjunction with the United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit, and in advance of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Event convened close to 150 people—including representatives from BCtA member and non-member companies, […]
What a Waste!
When India changes its urban waste management system, it matters. Ashoka Fellow Ravi Agarwal has spent the past two decades moving mountains… of rubbish. He is counting on the youth to give the final push. With global waste measured in millions of tonnes, it is easy to question whether recycling your water bottle or daily […]
The Decade of Design: The Global Urban Solutions Challenge
To architects, it seems self-evident: good design can improve human well-being. But clients and communities are asking for more, including proof of the relationship of design, planning, and public health. In 2012, the American Institute of Architects and partners made a CGI Commitment to Action to establish the Decade of Design: Global Urban Solutions Challenge. […]
Keeping Our Promise to Every Woman, Every Child
Each of us has felt the sting of a broken promise, most likely in our early childhood. The lesson leaves a lasting impression, teaching us that when we make a promise, we must honor it. The launch of Every Woman, Every Child by the United Nations three years ago sparked a series of promises to […]
New Approaches to Financial Services for the Poor
The vast majority of poor people live and work in the informal economy. In economic terms, they are producers and consumers at the same time – not by choice, but by necessity. As such, they have to lead very active financial lives to create livelihoods for themselves, build assets, smooth expenditures and manage risks. The […]
Critical Skills for Employability in Africa
Two days before our international participants were due to travel to Nairobi, Kenya for the ISESE Africa Skills Development Conference, I woke up to the headlines: “Flights suspended after fire destroys Jomo Kenyatta International Airport terminal.” Our team had planned for all sorts of logistical hurdles from visa hiccups to yellow fever vaccines, but we […]