Inclusive Business Solutions to Poverty, Post COVID-19
While corporate philanthropy and development aid will be necessary for the short to medium term, the economic recovery agenda demands collective and coherent action from businesses, including corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). If ever evidence was needed that inclusive business should be higher up the agenda, this is it. Inclusive business and COVID-19 […]
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 […]
Would Workers on Boards Make Corporations More COVID-19 Resilient?
COVID-19 has become the window frame through which we now view so much of our lives. Certainly, high on that list is our work and workplace. For many who are fortunate to be employed and work from home, there have been annoyances and stresses in managing our home life and work life at the same […]
From Response to Rebuilding Better
Who are vulnerable people, what is recovery and why is rebuilding so important? Millions of people are enduring a devastating impact to their lives, livelihoods and learning opportunities due to the pandemic. Among them, vulnerable groups, such as informal workers, women, black people and other ethnic minorities, and those with underlying medical conditions, have been […]
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 […]
Put Collaboration at the Heart of Global Efforts to Re-build MSMEs Post COVID-19
The global pandemic has triggered an unprecedented surge of support for micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), both in recognition of the critical role they play in national economies and global value chains, and because of their vulnerability as global economic activity grinds to a halt. COVID-19 is making an already challenging environment for MSMEs […]
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, […]
Fairtrade Calls for Full Sector Response to Shore up Cocoa Farmer’s Livelihoods Through the Crisis
I am really pleased to announce that, this week, we’ve launched our Cocoa Sustainable Livelihoods Landscape Study. Co-authored by Naomi Somerville-Large and Antonio Capillo at the Fairtrade Foundation, this study is published as part of our partnership with Cocoa Life – Mondelēz International’s global cocoa sustainability programme. This is a groundbreaking piece of research which […]
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 […]
Rebuild Better: How to Support Farmers and Workers Through the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond
It’s hard to predict what this crisis may have done to speed up the consolidation of China’s influence in the international development sector (and beyond), what kind of USA administration we’ll be left with at the end of it all, and what the future of multi-lateral intervention on the wicked problems of global poverty and […]
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 […]
Closing the Living Income Gap for Farmers – From Theory to Practice
Our vision for living income is both radical and simple: all cocoa farmers should be able to earn an income that provides them with a decent standard of living, sufficient to cover the cost of sustainable production as well as everyday expenses like a nutritious diet, children’s education and healthcare. With some complex mathematics it’s […]
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 […]
A Just Transition that Leaves No One Behind
World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) sets out plans to ensure SDG Transformation benchmarks reflect a ‘just transition’ Read the scoping report The WBA aims to build a movement to measure and incentivise business impact towards a sustainable future that works for everyone. We will assess the 2000 most influential companies (SDG2000) against the set of systems-transformations […]
Businesses Want Governments on Stand-by for Coronavirus Relief
The COVID19 pandemic highlights, more than any recent crisis, the duty of Governments to provide social protection. For workers, social protection ensures strong labor policies, living wages, safe and healthy working conditions, and the ability to have a voice in the workplace — in particular, to raise issues when they arise without fear of retribution. It […]