Helping Refugees Move From Crisis To Resilience and Self-Reliance
It is estimated that, on average, a refugee spends over a decade in exile. This means that many refugee children, who make up more than half the world’s refugees, will spend most of their childhood in exile, jeopardizing their education and access to future economic opportunities. For millions of refugee adults, decades of displacement have […]
Virtual Exchange: Students Collaborate to Tackle Social Enterprise Challenges in the Middle East
“I’ve never worked with people from so far away. M²GATE gave me the opportunity to work with people from another culture. I enjoyed it a lot,” said Ryan Berg, a freshman at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan at the final session of Cohort 1 of the M²GATE program. M²GATE is […]
How Can Business Help Strengthen Provision of High Quality, Low Cost Education for the Poor?
The expansion of choices available to low-income families seeking primary education for their children has been one of the striking changes seen along the uneven path towards quality Education for all. The abolition of tuition fees in government schools in many countries over the past twenty years has often been accompanied by overcrowded classrooms and […]
Virtual Reality Training in Southern Africa
Every fan of horror movies knows that a person wielding a chainsaw can cause some serious damage. The tool is rated as one of the most dangerous available; one wrong move and its user could lose a limb. In Southern Africa, forestry students don’t have to worry about that anymore. They are now using a […]
Delivering on the Promise of Inclusive Business
Back in November 2008, on a hot, dusty day in Dar es Salaam, I vividly remember the moment I met Lillian Kessy. I was immediately struck by her confidence, dignity and determination. Only a year earlier, Lillian was in a desperate financial situation. By the time I met her, she was busy building a small […]
Partnering to Get Every Child Learning
The world is witnessing the highest levels of human displacement on record since World War II. Of the unprecedented 65.3 million people forced from their homes, almost one-third are refugees, seeking protection from violence or persecution. The majority of refugee children have lost not only their home, but also their education – so often the […]
Enabling Youth Entrepreneurship in West Africa
An Interview with Isaac Aggrey, CEO, African Social Entrepreneurs Network BFP: First of all, please introduce yourself to the Business Fights Poverty community. I am passionate about providing effective financial solutions to benefit local entrepreneurs, social impact investors, and most importantly, people at all levels of society, especially women entrepreneurs. I am the CEO of […]
Bridging the Gap – Supporting Youth Employability
By Hester le Roux, Challenge Director, Business Fights Poverty We are pleased to announce the launch of a new guide to business support for youth skills development. “Bridging the Gap: Supporting Youth Employability” was produced as part of the Business Fights Poverty Challenge on Youth Employability, which is supported by Anglo American, Barclays, BRAC, Citi, […]
Skills and Prosperity in the Bangladesh Garment Industry
Garment factories in Bangladesh are now seeing positive returns from investing in in-house skills training. A new training approach has to date supported 4,000 people into sewing machine operator positions through a unique partnership between major British retailers, garment factories and the market development programme, Sudokkho. This is a win-win situation. In a sector operating […]
Growing SMEs and Young People, Together
We know the statistics – worldwide more than 1 billion young people will enter the job market between now and 2030, 600 million jobs are needed globally over 15 years to keep current employment rate, 71 million young people are unemployed globally, the youth population in Africa will double to over 830 million by 2050, […]
Education is Key to Fighting Malaria
As Head of Programmes at Tanzania Communication and Development Centre (TCDC), funded by Comic Relief and GSK, Jacob Macha is on the frontline of the fight against malaria in Tanzania, delivering a multi-pronged approach to malaria education and prevention to help to stamp out the disease once and for all. Malaria is a major public […]
Girls’ Economic Empowerment – Why Context Matters for Financial Education
Last year I wrote about why it makes sense for corporates to invest in girls’ education and introduced Credit Suisse’s Financial Education for Girls program that aims to improve the financial knowledge and life skills of approximately 100,000 girls. At the time, the program had been implemented for only 18 months. This year we are […]
Educating Girls – From Marginalized to Empowered
Pearson Case Study on Youth Employability Pearson and international NGO Camfed have announced an expansion of their existing partnership aimed at educating and empowering girls from low-income communities in Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Their work is being extended in Tanzania to support 6,400 more children in 80 schools. It is being led by young educated women, […]
Top 10 Discussions of 2016
2016 saw our 100th online discussion, with over 1,300 comments posted over the course of the year! Online discussions have played a central role in our new Challenges as a way for members to share insights on the Challenge question. From next year, we will be upgrading our discussion forum to make it easier to […]
Does Sustainability Reporting Still Matter?
Pearson has launched its 2015 Sustainability Report with its new five-year 2020 Sustainability Plan. Amanda Gardiner explains some lessons learned At a leading sustainability conference a couple of years ago, a panelist asked the audience: “How many of you read corporate sustainability reports?” A few hands went up. But in an audience of about 400 […]
Business in Support of Public Policy Education
Businessmen support Business Schools. This is perfectly normal since most MBA graduates go on to work for Businesses. But why should Businessmen support Public Policy Schools? What would they gain from providing such support? The simple answer is that they will gain a lot. No business – except corrupt business ventures – can survive and […]
Local Young People Solving Global Challenges
“No career is a sure thing anymore. The uncertain, rapidly changing conditions in which entrepreneurs start companies is what it’s now like for all of us fashioning a career. Therefore, you should approach career strategy the same way an entrepreneur approaches starting a business.” – Thomas Friedman, LinkedIn Founder The world today is shaped by […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]