Candid Reflections on How Companies and Donors Collaborate
Are you already collaborating in a business-donor partnership, seeking one, or nursing bruises from one? Such collaborations are increasingly common, but it’s rare that we hear candid views from businesses and donor programmes alike, on what worked, what didn’t, and what tips they can offer others. This month on the Practitioner Hub for Inclusive Business, […]
These 5 Innovations Will Transform the Lives of Smallholder Farmers
This article is part of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017. From artificial intelligence, to precision agriculture, to the internet of things, emerging technologies have the potential to revolutionize the way food is consumed, handled and produced. But which technologies could most powerfully transform the lives of smallholder farmers? These, after all, are the […]
What prize awaits Businesses that Embrace the Sustainable Development Goals?
By Sue Adkins, International Director, Business in the Community As the Business Sustainable Development Commission launches its report Better Business, Better World as the World Economic Forum in Davos, marking the first anniversary of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Sue Adkins, International Director at BITC looks at how businesses are embracing the SDGs. The […]
‘We the People’ for Social and Economic Sustainability
The United States, United Kingdom and the European Union are undergoing dramatic social, economic and cultural change in a volatile political environment. Donald Trump’s victory was the outcome of years of disturbing world events, a turbulent financial system, and economic stagnation in the U.S. In the wake of the election, the political system being scrutinized, […]
Leveraging the SDGs to Grow Markets and Drive Development
By Natalie Africa, Senior Director, Private Sector Engagement, Every Woman Every Child, United Nations Foundation On January 16th the Business and Sustainable Development Commission launched its groundbreaking report on global development entitled Better Business, Business World. A year in the making, the report outlines the business case for sustainable development, demonstrates the enormous economic and […]
On the Ground in Africa: Embedding Responsible Investment Practices
Interview with Marjorie Mayida, Chair, Old Mutual Africa’s Responsible Investment Committee As a long-term investor and responsible steward of the assets it manages on behalf of its customers, Old Mutual Africa is on course to becoming the leading responsible investor on the continent, where it has offices in Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Old Mutual […]
Four Ways Business Can Support Lasting Change in Youth Unemployment
Youth unemployment in the face of the growing youth population bulge is a problem on a massive scale. Raleigh International works in rural areas of countries where the problem is particularly severe. Without a doubt, this is one area where business has a critical role to play. We can only be successful through meaningful partnerships, […]
The Year Ahead and the Need to Rethink Collaboration
2016 convinced me of the need to collaborate more deeply than ever: to deliver on the bold future envisioned in the new Sustainable Development Goals; to protect past progress made towards equality—now threatened by the politics of division; to tackle the deep social exclusion that has at least in part driven the political turbulence of […]
Building Resilience Among Micro Entrepreneurs in the Philippines
The Philippines ranks third in the list of countries in the world where a natural disaster is most likely to occur, after the Pacific islands of Vanuatu and Tonga. Although it is also prone to earthquakes, flooding and droughts, it is typhoons that strike the Philippines most frequently. The state weather bureau PAGASA estimates that, […]
Combatting Illegal Logging with a Responsible Timber Exchange
The illegal production and trade of tropical timber is one of the main drivers of environmental degradation worldwide, leading to loss of habitats and biodiversity, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, human rights abuses and corruption. Sustainable forest management can provide livelihoods for forest peoples, and economic activity in rural areas, but these benefits are erased when […]
Lightening the Load of Women’s Unpaid Care Work
We’re excited to announce a three-year partnership with Unilever’s Surf brand that aims to recognise, reduce and redistribute the amount of time spent by women and girls on unpaid care work. In some parts of the world women and girls currently spend as many as six hours a day on unpaid care work – a […]
Emerging Lessons on Scaling Inclusive Distribution Networks
One of the most difficult and underestimated hurdles to doing business in low-income markets is figuring out how products make their way from production to the final customer. In India, more than 90 percent of all retail purchases are made in 12 million kirana stores and in Mexico, more than 50 percent of retail business […]
What Does “Good” Look Like for Companies Trying to Address Modern Slavery?
As the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights opens today in Geneva, Quintin Lake, Research Fellow at Hult International Business School, discusses modern slavery. Addressing modern slavery is becoming a business-critical for companies – for credibility with customers, investors, NGOs and the public – according to new research by Hult International Business School and […]
Addressing Social Norms to Stop Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in Factories and Farms
“The workload is tremendous here. They swear at us when we fail to complete the work. … They scold. They say, ‘Hey you! Daughter of a bitch, daughter of a pig! How come so much work has been piled up?’ …At such times I feel really bad. … I cannot stand this. I cry. I […]
Business Must Stand Up as a Champion of Progressive Values
Recent events in the US and UK have reminded me of a love story. When I was 12, I vividly remember my grandmother telling me the story of how in her early 20s she met and fell in love with my grandfather. But theirs was no ordinary love story. You see, she was an Anglo-Irish […]
Business Fights Poverty NYC 2016: Video and Summary Report
Empowering Women Cocoa Farmers
The World Cocoa Foundation Partnership Meeting (WCFPM) from 26th – 27th October 2016 brought together key leaders within the cocoa industry from private, public and civil society organisations. Attendees discussed the challenges of ensuring the sustainability of cocoa and farmers’ livelihoods. This year, the WCFPM was hosted in Côte d’Ivoire – described as the ‘land […]
What Role Can Business Play in the Pursuit of Peace? Summary Thoughts
Business Fights Poverty hosted a month-long conference on the topic of the role businesses can play in the pursuit of peace. A subject little discussed twenty years ago, this has become a vibrant topic and the October event was a time and place to pause and reflect on this question. The conference welcomed those who […]
The Peace Attributes of Companies (PACO) index
Given the growth and maturity of the field of business and peace, in this article we call for the creation of an index that would present a scorecard of company behaviors. We call this the PACO index, which is an acronym for Peaceful Attributes of Companies and is the word for peace in Esperanto. We […]
Operationalizing Peace through Commerce
Most scholars would agree that the goal of business is to create value. Yet, can there be anything more valuable than peace? My article tackles the following research question: How can, or do, businesses advance peace? It explains why peace through commerce is a topic worthy of study and sets out an empirical approach to […]