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 […]
TWO WEEKS IN ONE!
For me, this coming week is two weeks in one! Let me explain. One of my volunteering roles is as chair of the charity Carers UK. We are the co-ordinators of, and a partner in, Carers Week in the UK. This is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers […]
Purposeful Collaboration to Fight COVID-19
It was just before 6 o’clock on 11 March, and I was on my last call of the day when news broke that the WHO Director-General had declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. Sometimes life-changing moments are only recognisable as such in retrospect, but sometimes – like this one – you recognise their significance […]
Lessons for COVID-19-era CEOs
Does having ethics pay off? Jane Nelson has been answering some version of that question for years. As the founding director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, she has helped shape empathy-driven models of corporate leadership and define environmental, social, and governance priorities across the globe. But the COVID-19 pandemic—wrecking lives, […]
Holding Course in the Middle of a Storm: Navigating the Deeply Disrupted Decade Ahead
Predicting the future in any detail is hard at the best of times, but in the middle of a pandemic, it actually might become easier – even though volatility has increased dramatically, our focus and options have necessarily narrowed. Existing vulnerabilities have been tangibly and tragically exposed – rich as well as poor countries have […]
How Can Partnerships Create Rapid Innovation During COVID-19 Crisis?
Business Fights Poverty convened an online discussion to explore what we can learn from these new partnerships and the innovations they are creating – both to inspire and strengthen the short-term response to COVID-19, and to help make innovation partnerships the “new normal” in a post-COVID world. In the face of adversity, businesses have taken […]
In Emerging Markets, Entrepreneurial Support Organizations are Key to the COVID-19 Economic Response
In these nations, governments are also implementing stay-at-home orders and enforcing quarantines. Businesses, here and abroad, are shuttered. In response to the pandemic, the U.S. Congress has now approved $660 billion in support to American small businesses, an amount greater than the annual gross domestic product of all but a few large developing countries. In […]
Rapid Innovation Through Partnerships
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has spread rapidly around the world, creating the worst humanitarian and economic crisis in a generation. The response to this pandemic has needed to be equally rapid and innovation has been required at many levels. Private sector partnerships have been playing an important role in generating creative solutions. Quick examples […]
From Response to Rebuilding Better: A Framework for Action
In March, we published a Business and COVID-19 Response Framework that sets out guidance for how businesses can support the most vulnerable across three areas of impact: in their lives (health and safety), livelihoods (jobs and incomes) and learning (education and skills). The Response Framework sets out actions that businesses can take through their core […]
What Can the Covid Crisis Teach Us About Resilience: Building Stronger Organizations After COVID19
As a small-business manager, director of an organization or medium size NGO, your day to day is filled with urgent tasks. Most of your work is usually just getting through the day, solving as many issues as possible. There is little – or no – time to take a step back and look at your […]
From ‘Immediate Response’ to ‘Rebuilding Better’: Public Webinar and Online Discussion
On 7 May 2020, Business Fights Poverty held a public webinar which brought together the experts behind our Business and COVID-19 Response Framework and Action Toolkits, designed to guide companies’ immediate response to COVID-19 and efforts to rebuild, with a focus on protecting the most vulnerable. The interactive webinar provided an overview of the Business […]
Calling Tech-Focused Ideas to Help Address COVID-19 Learning Emergency
The disruption will be felt long after the immediate crisis has passed and schools reopen and will be particularly serious in low-income countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The evidence shows that disruptions to schooling due to things such as pandemics can cause: continued negative impacts on student enrolment and retention in school […]
How Can Business Help in the Building of National Coalitions to Fight COVID-19
On 30 April 2020, Business Fights Poverty convened an online discussion, which examined how business can help build national coalitions and collaborations to fight COVID-19. What is making these collaborations work, what lessons need to be learned, and how can these be replicated to make a greater impact? What examples of national collaborative platforms to […]
Bringing Impact Investing to Life
Eight million people die each year because of poor or no access to proper healthcare. As COVID ravages our world fueling poverty, millions more will have less access to quality care. Patient impactful capital has an unprecedented opportunity to leap in and support well-led businesses that are improving or saving the lives of those under-served, […]
COVID-19: How Business and NGOs Can Partner to Support our Global Community Through the Pandemic
As I, like many others in the UK and around the world, continue to work from home, much of my day is informed by hearing from our teams about the devastating impact the COVID-19 pandemic continues to inflict on our global community. While deeply concerning, I could not feel more proud to be part of […]
When Will the Pandemic Cure Be Worse Than the Disease?
As of today, almost half the world’s population, nearly four billion people, are under government-mandated lockdowns in an effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. How long should the lockdowns last? The obvious answer, to paraphrase UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is until we’ve “beaten” COVID-19. But when exactly will that be? Until […]
The Informal Economy is Complicating Government Responses to COVID-19: Will the Crisis Push Millions Toward Formality?
As COVID-19 spreads in countries around the world, governments have already started to address the economic and livelihood challenges posed by the constraints the pandemic has put on behavior and employment. Wealthier OECD countries are designing economic support measures to target the backbone of most economies – the tens of thousands to millions of small businesses. […]
From ‘Immediate Response’ to ‘Building Back Better’: Public Webinar
The Business and COVID-19 Response Centre has been launched by Business Fights Poverty to empower companies to take action in support of their most vulnerable employees, suppliers, customers and communities. I would like to personally invite you to join a webinar on Thursday 7 May 2.30pm BST / 9.30am EDT / 4.30pm EAT to explore […]