Pakistani start-up repurposes to help healthcare system cope with pandemic
Nabeel Siddiqui is the CEO and co-founder of a Pakistani start-up that has restructured its manufacturing line in response to the COVID-19 emergency. Siddiqui says, “The biggest issue confronting us right now in Pakistan is not the fatality rate of the disease, but the collapse of the healthcare system under pressure of circumstances that no […]
Healthy Business Coalition’s Eight-Point Action Plan for Reopening
The Healthy Business Coalition (HBC), a cross-industry collaborative initiative of BSR member companies and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, seeks to reimagine how business can invest in health along the value chain in the United States. HBC believes that it is time for the business community to respond to the moment by radically restructuring its support for […]
Food Fortification – An Enriching Opportunity
There is a simple, cost effective and large-scale nutrition intervention that you have almost certainly benefitted from – but likely never heard of. Your children, parents, grandparents, and many millions of others have benefitted from it too. This intervention has been saving and improving lives since 1924. It is simple, cost effective and can prevent […]
Aligning Business Reporting on Nutrition
According to the 2020 Global Nutrition Report , “one in every nine people in the world is hungry, and one in every three is overweight or obese.” [1] With the private sector being the provider or the producer of our food, it seems therefore logical and critical to have strong business accountability to support better practices of business for […]
Thank You – and Introducing one-day Business Fights Poverty Virtual Summits
We’d like to say a big thank you to all of you who took part in Business Fights Poverty NYC Online 2020 . Below is a video we’ve put together… We have been humbled to receive the survey feedback: 99% said they learnt something valuable for their work; 99% said they would recommend the event […]
How Can Self-Care Help Health Systems Rebuild Better During COVID-19?
Even before COVID-19 the World Health Organisation had estimated that half the world’s population lacked access to basic health services, putting the achievement of SDG 3 in serious doubt[1]. Now the stakes are even higher as COVID-19 puts health systems under ever greater pressure and lays bare stark inequalities when it comes to access to […]
Upcoming Online Event: Hygiene and Behaviour Change: Business Coalitions to Fight COVID-19
As part of Business Fights Poverty NYC Online 2020, Business Fights Poverty and Unilever are convening a webinar and online peer discussion to explore how business coalitions can help in the fight against COVID-19. The webinar will take place on Wednesday 23 September 2020 at 8.30 – 9.30am EDT / 1.30 – 2.30pm BST / 3.30 – 4.30 EAT, […]
Innovation, Collaboration and Purpose: Three Lessons from the Pharmaceutical Industry to Strengthen the Global Health System
The last decade has seen substantial changes in how the pharmaceutical industry perceives its role in expanding access and affordability of pharmaceutical products, such as therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostics, and in working with governments and civil society organizations to tackle global and community health challenges. Public opinion as well as changing stakeholder expectations, including among […]
Can We Leapfrog Once Again With Smart Solutions and Cross-Sector Partnerships?
The COVID-19 pandemic is imposing itself as the greatest crisis since the Great Depression. It is affecting – and revealing structural socio-economic weaknesses in – all regions of the world. Responding to COVID-19 is not only a question of preparedness, it is fundamentally a question of peace and security, and of political and financial decisions […]
To find out what ‘better’ looks like we must listen to those most affected
Plan International UK is responding to the global coronavirus crisis in over 50 countries; from delivering hygiene kits and life-saving public health information to vulnerable families and communities around the world, to ensuring children can continue their education when schools are closed. While the coronavirus crisis is having a devastating impact right across the world, […]
Bold choices required to move from crisis response to future pandemic preparedness
At the recent UN Global Compact Leaders’ Summit, leading voices from business, government and the UN discussed how to “recover better, recover stronger, and recover together.” Part of that recovery must be to invest more in pandemic preparedness and disease prevention. With more than 400,000 deaths worldwide, in less than 6 months, COVID-19 has given […]
Why some companies leapt to support the COVID-19 response
Many companies acted to assist the public response to the pandemic. Companies that already had established relationships with community organizations, governments, business partners, or others, leveraged those connections to channel resources. High risk and poor coordination impeded many companies’ early response. The first phase of the COVID-19 crisis posed an unprecedented challenge for the private […]
The post-Covid-19 world presents an opportunity for better business, but will it happen?
The global outbreak has not only exposed the frailty and complexity of human needs, but also how quickly they can evolve – and thus how quickly organisations must adapt to keep up. Without diminishing its devastating impact, if this crisis has a silver lining, it is the opportunity it provides businesses to prepare for a post-pandemic world: […]
Why Supporting Businesses and Communities Through Mobile Technology is Vital to Combat COVID-19 in informal settlements.
COVID-19 has increased the urgency for reliable, accessible and regular health information, and forced a shift to remote community engagement and greater focus on local-led responses. Our experience in Kenya shows that capacity building and mobilisation of local informal businesses through digital technology can empower high-risk communities with knowledge to combat COVID-19 and reduce financial […]
The Winners of COVID-19
The Covid-19 crisis has upended the global economy. Airlines face dwindling passenger traffic; hospitals suffer exhausted workforces or mass layoffs; social venues are largely closed with many unlikely to re-open; and students and graduates experience fewer job prospects. Another deep recession is expected. Even as so many sectors struggle, there are winners. Proctor & Gamble […]
One Key to Getting People Back to Work? Childcare
Instead of finding support, many people have discovered deep fault lines in access to social services, including childcare. The childcare system has been deeply affected, with childcare centers around the world closed to protect children and workers. A survey in South Africa reveals that 68 percent of childcare center owners are concerned that they will […]
Industries Post-COVID-19: A Gender-Responsive Approach to Global Economic Recovery
What most crises have in common is that they hit the most vulnerable and marginalized populations—among which women are disproportionally represented—the hardest. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women, especially those facing multiple forms of discrimination related to poverty, race or disability, is increasingly being documented. As reported in the UN Secretary General’s “Policy […]
How Financial Inclusion can Build Economic Resilience in the Wake of COVID-19
COVID-19 has impacted nearly everyone around the globe, but its impacts are particularly acute for people in poverty. As governments restrict gatherings, health authorities recommend social distancing, and markets panic, the outbreak poses a disproportionate threat in the Global South. At the same time, many microfinance institutions (MFIs) face threats to staff safety and operational […]
New Ways of Thinking, Convening, Leading
It feels like a lifetime ago that WWF and many other organizations identified 2020 as a potential ‘Super Year’ for nature and people. Big United Nations decisions under international conventions on climate change and biological diversity were to take place, complemented by negotiation of a Global Oceans treaty; and in its 75th anniversary year, the […]
Coronavirus, “Hunger-Virus” & The Lived Experience of Slum-Dwellers in Lockdown
NOTE: the situation globally and especially in the low-income urban communities discussed in this article is evolving rapidly. The survey and conversations informing this article were primarily conducted from 15 April, 2020 to 15 May, 2020. At Archipel&Co, our inclusive business work has been committed to collaborating with residents from low-income communities whose creativity, courage […]