Why Do So Few Companies Invest in Gender Equality?
Businesses that invest in gender equality often see notable returns. Take Banco BHD León (BHDL) for example in the Dominical Republic. In the bank’s home market, women make up 70 percent of university graduates and more than half of all primary household providers but remain underserved in the financial sector. By targeting women’s specific needs […]
Partnerships and the Power of Relationships
In the same way, a certain bond arises between the core people involved in any effective cross-sector partnership.This analysis of a South African water partnership refers to the central importance of the “chemistry” of partnerships. According to the partnership’s manager Nick Tandi, “We need to get better at understanding this chemistry, and how to make […]
Meet the Shortlist: Unilever Global Development Award, supported by Business Fights Poverty
Adopted on 25 September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030. Businesses are a key enabler of global sustainable development […]
New BSR Guidance Integrates Gender Equality into Supply Chain Codes of Conduct
With women holding 60 to 90 percent of jobs in the labor-intensive stages of the apparel and fresh produce global supply chains, it would make sense for companies in those industries to consider women’s specific challenges when focusing on ethical supply chain management. However, until now, women have rarely been a focus of such strategies, […]
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 […]
On Earth Day – Thoughts from Mars on Climate Change
On Earth Day this year (April 22nd), activists, educators, influencers and industries are called on to use education to engage citizens in the concepts of climate change – and raise awareness of the immense threat it poses to our planet and its people. Earth Day 2017 comes exactly a year after 175 countries signed the […]
In Defence of Aid
As Britain embarks on the process of leaving the European Union, and as we prepare to stand up as a “Global Britain”, we need to decide what it is we stand for. Our values will define and give weight to our leadership on the world stage. All of us, whether on the left or the […]
How Latin America is Missing the Greatest Opportunity to Tackle Climate Change: the Food We Eat
Is the region missing the greatest opportunity to tackle climate change? A lot has been done in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Countries are diversifying their energy matrix, addressing deforestation, and financing resilience mechanisms, among others. But little has been done in regards to one of the […]
Is Your Company Ready to Engage with the SDGs through Inclusive Business?
SDG engagement can take the form of a tested and decade-old concept: inclusive business. A new report helps companies assess how ready they are to incorporate it. These are unsettling times. The promise of globalisation is being increasingly eclipsed by political uncertainty and a rising tide of nationalism and protectionism. In listening to workers displaced […]
One for All, and All for One: Industry-Level Collaboration is Needed to Eradicate Forced Labour
According to the ILO, nearly 21 million people are subjected to forced labour around the world (an alternative estimate from the Walk Free Foundation, which is working with the ILO to release updated figures this year, puts the number more than twice as high). This activity generates $150 billion in illegal profits every year. 71% […]
Can Cities Benefit from Last-mile Energy Innovations in Rural Areas?
By Carlos Guiza and Xosé Ramil Twenty million people do not yet have access to electricity in Latin America. Around 90 million people are still dependent on solid fuels—mainly biomass and kerosene—to cover basic needs such as heating and cooking, which limits their access to lighting and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. This deficiency particularly […]
Five Ways East Africa is Leading the World on Financial Inclusion Through Savings Groups
By Fiona Jarden, Financial Inclusion Advocacy and Policy Adviser, CARE International UK Demand for financial services from low-income groups is at an all-time high. Some of that demand is by informal savings and loans groups – including CARE’s 5 million Village Savings and Loan Association members – who want access to quality group bank accounts […]
How Can Companies Harness the SDGs to Strengthen Smallholder Supply Chains?
Contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represents a significant value creating opportunity for business. According to the Business and Sustainable Development Commission, achieving the SDGs will create up to US$12 trillion of market opportunities[1] for companies across the four economic systems studied in its landmark report Better Business, Better World (food and agriculture, cities, […]
Black Swans and the Future of Energy
Energy experts now confidently predict that by 2040, solar and wind will drive no less than 60% of global power; natural gas will replace the lion’s share of the burning of coal, and the market for electric cars will soar. Nassim Taleb, on the other hand, questions the ability of experts to predict just about […]
Bridging Gaps: Cross-sector Collaboration is the Future of Sustainable Business
The world faces growing problems—natural resource scarcity and climate change, along with anti-trade and migration movements—that require more nimble policies, institutions and investments for sustainable development. Yet, current approaches are hobbled because they operate in silos across sectors. When stakeholders and policymakers operate in silos, maximizing one interest at the expense of everyone else’s, the […]
A Cup Half Full: Collaborating for Water Security
Water is something most of us take for granted. We turn on the tap and it flows. We buy it in bottles. We use it to grow gardens and irrigate food crops. Yet it’s amongst the most precious natural capital on earth. But after decades of deliberation on policy and talk of collaboration, making a […]
Corporate Leaders, Don’t Miss the Social Impact Wave!
For a big company, innovating is anticipating. It involves being able to spot weak signals, new ideas and models that will disrupt tomorrow’s markets. In only 10 years, changes in digital technology have deeply disrupted the rules of economic competition. In a faster and more interconnected world, companies that have been able to anticipate the […]
The World Can't Wait for Sewers
For many people living in low-income urban areas, a flush toilet or sewer connection is little more than a pipe dream. Often the infrastructure doesn’t exist or can’t be constructed in such densely populated or topographically challenging areas, or service fees are simply too high. The world needs a viable, high-quality alternative to piped sanitation […]
The World Can’t Wait for Sewers
For many people living in low-income urban areas, a flush toilet or sewer connection is little more than a pipe dream. Often the infrastructure doesn’t exist or can’t be constructed in such densely populated or topographically challenging areas, or service fees are simply too high. The world needs a viable, high-quality alternative to piped sanitation […]
USAID Partners to Invest in Africa’s Entrepreneurs
This week’s Global Entrepreneurship Congress, which brings thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, and policymakers to Johannesburg, South Africa, is an opportunity to build on the momentum of the Sankalp Africa Forum and reaffirm the development community’s commitment to invest in Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Sustainable entrepreneurship is a critical component of inclusive development. Entrepreneurs create jobs, […]