SDGs and Corporate Strategy – Putting the Two Together
Novozymes is a world leader in the industrial biotechnology space, head quartered in Denmark and providing B2B solutions (enzymes and micro-organisms) that on average save customers 100kg CO2 for every 1kg of product applied. As such, sustainability and positive societal impact are embedded in the corporation’s DNA. That was true 10 years ago, when the […]
Empowering Local Communities to Fight Corruption
When a faulty water pump was removed from Lunga Lunga in Kwale County in Kenya, the local community of 6,000 people, which included four schools, lost an important source of water. As a result, women and girls had to walk three kilometres every day to the nearest functioning reservoir to collect water. Community empowerment organisation […]
Six Changemaker Women You (Probably) Haven’t Heard of
In honour of International Women’s Day, we celebrated six changemaker women who are transforming communities, and redefining the role of women in society. From reforming waste management systems in Peru to an app that fights back against street harrassment, they are challenging the societal, economic, cultural and political inequalities in today’s world. Through social innovations […]
A Family Adventure to the Slums of Delhi
“What are you looking forward to most about Delhi?” I asked my kids, as we sat together at Heathrow before our flight. “Coming home!” answered Danny. It was the UK school half-term. Instead of our usual jaunt to the coast or to an adventure park, we were heading as a family of five to the […]
Connecting Impact Investors with SMEs
Last week Christian Aid joined forces with four of our peer NGO’s (Traidcraft, Practical Action, Twin and Challenges Worldwide) to launch ACRE (Access To Capital For Rural Enterprises) – a new platform to link investors with SMEs needing long-term capital to expand and benefit their communities in rural Africa, Asia and Latin America. We have […]
Improving the Quality of Chronic Disease Care in China
Corporate citizenship is in the midst of a promising evolution. To address key societal needs, more companies are moving from a narrow view of philanthropy to a strategy that sets business goals to achieve positive social outcomes. Over the past century, corporate philanthropy has been defined largely by giving—that is, the donation of goods and […]
Bringing Your Company’s Values to Life
I have been farming organically at Riverford since 1987. The concept of combining good food, good farming and good business was inherited from my father and is at the heart of everything we do. In the 1990s, as my skills improved at home, I wanted to disprove the naysayers who claimed organic farming was a […]
Social Freedom for Women through Mobile Money
The best salespeople understand why you need something, because they once lived without it – they know exactly the difference it can make. Empowered women make it their job to tell other women. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), becoming a mobile money subscription saleswoman is an opportunity for women in one of the […]
More Space Technology Can Be a Key to Poverty Reduction
In 2004, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the robot probe Philae, with great ambition and hope, to learn about the origins of our Solar System. Human genius overcame the challenges of gravity, space and budget constraints in the name of scientific discovery. For 10 years, Philae travelled through space, to eventually reach its destination […]
Scientific Research for Gender Equality
This year on International Women’s Day, efforts to advance gender equality and sustainable development go hand in hand. The UN is commemorating the day under the theme “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it Up for Gender Equality,” highlighting the importance of closing the gap in gender equality while building momentum to implement the Sustainable Development […]
Collaborations Expand Tech Uses to Aid Refugees
Technology is playing an unprecedented role in addressing the global refugee crisis. In part, this is due to a level of collaboration that is new to the traditionally competitive, independent tech community. The massive numbers of people fleeing war and deprivation – over 82,000 refugees sought refuge in the first two months of 2016 alone, […]
Engaging Diaspora in Development and Diplomacy
Diaspora means “to scatter” in Greek, but today we use the term to describe a community of people who live outside their shared country of origin or ancestry but maintain active connections with it. With the rise of globalization, the number of people leaving their home countries to seek education and employment opportunities has skyrocketed. […]
Connecting Corporations and Social Enterprises
By Sheena Raikundalia, Senior Consultant, Intellecap Kenya-focused entrepreneur Moka Lantum, Founder and Managing Director of Microclinics, is preparing for pitch to a large pharmaceutical company. The Nairobi-based healthcare management company provides patient and clinic management systems to peri-urban and rural clinics. The software developed by his company, tracks commodities in clinics and enhances, availability, accessibility, […]
Cross-sector Approaches in Countering Violent Extremism
In the spirit of this year’s Global Partnerships Week (GPW) theme of “Leveraging Innovation in Partnerships”, Concordia has long been a proponent of innovative and collaborative efforts that advance global security agendas combating violent extremism (CVE). Many of the GPW partners, and a number of the affiliated organizations and events this week, have dedicated significant […]
Three Lessons in Strengthening Health Systems
What does it take to make health systems more robust – to ensure they can handle everyday illnesses, as well as pre-empt and manage future challenges or crises? There is no easy answer to this question; but what’s obvious is that there’s no single way to strengthen a health system. We need to think laterally. […]
Training Beyond Gender Roles in Cambodia
Sopheak smiles widely and proudly after showing me her crops and then asks me if I can share her story, so this is for her. Sopheak Nop is 25 years old from Kandal province in Cambodia. Her father passed away when she was young and she lives with her mother and sister. Over the years […]
The “Missing Middle” in Women-led Investment
Women-led investment has slowly taken off in recent years in developed economies – initiatives such as 37 Angels in the U.S. and UAE-based WOMENA are prime examples. However, in the developing world – where the financing gap is the largest – women-led investment is still an anomaly. Africa has only a handful of women-led investment […]
Helping Families Identify and Overcome Poverty
At Fundación Paraguaya, we work with businesses to improve the standard of living of their employees. Many other organisations focus on this, but our approach as to how and why we are doing it is quite different. Read on, meet the Poverty Stoplight for Business and learn how it can leverage on collective intervention and […]
Design Thinking and Solar Power for BOP Markets
In Africa, two-thirds of the population is without access to electricity. To fuel economic growth and empower people to become more productive with their lives, governments, business, and the nonprofit sector have been working on providing people across the continent with solar energy. While progress has been made, many obstacles and barriers remain. Besides the […]
Building Smallholder Resliance to Drought in Ethiopia
“There will always be a solution as long as we have food, but if a person has nothing to eat, there is no solution for any problem.” Collective savings and access to loans have helped a group of women in Ethiopia cope longer with the ongoing drought, but now resources are running out. The El […]