Blended Finance Initiatives in Support of SDGs
The World Economic Forum and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), through the work of the Forum’s ReDesigning Development Finance Initiative (RDFI), will formally announce three Blended Finance initiatives aimed at unlocking hundreds of billions of dollars of investment to help meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Blended Finance seeks to […]
Unlocking Domestic Resources in Developing Countries
Photo Credit: CARE The Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa from 13 to 16 July could be a key moment to build a framework for financing the work needed to eradicate poverty by 2030, and so build confidence for the effective pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals and for a fair and ambitious climate […]
Complementary Public and Private Finance Sources
Interview with Krishnan Sharma, Senior Economic Affairs Officer in the Financing for Development Office at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs The scale of the need for sources of finance to fund infrastructure, education and financial inclusion, means that once proscribed roles for the public and private sector in financing development have […]
SDG #1 on Poverty: Big, Bold and Very Challenging
End poverty in all its forms everywhere. Wow! Let’s say that again: SDG #1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere. And in just 15 years; by 2030 like the other proposed Sustainable Development Goals being debated, and hopefully agreed by the United Nations in New York this coming September. Dig into the details of […]
A Call for Activism Around the SDGs at WEF Africa
“The generations to come will never forgive us if we fail to take responsibility.” This was the message shared passionately by Graça Machel during an event entitled Survive, Thrive, Transform: Ensuring Citizen Engagement in the Sustainable Development Goals held on Friday 5 June alongside side the WEF Africa Forum in Cape Town. Co-convened by the […]
Post-2015 Development Agenda: Platforms for Partnership
This September, world leaders will adopt a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by the year 2030. Reaching these ambitious goals will require multi-stakeholder partnerships between business, NGO, government, the UN and communities to function at a scale and quality that dwarf current efforts. The question of how countries can systematically […]
Business Action on the Post-2015 Development Agenda
2015 is set to be a landmark year for sustainable development. By the end of 2015, we should have in place a new set of global development priorities: the Sustainable Development Goals, a new framework for financing and delivering them, and a legally binding climate change agreement. A key difference today compared to 2000, when […]
A Milestone Year for Development
2015 is a milestone year in which the international community will set the development agenda for the next 15 years, most notably through the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when they expire this year. We’ve had a long interest in the role business can play in […]
Implementing a Transformative Development Agenda
In September 2015, the international community is expected to agree an ambitious post-2015 development agenda (the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs) to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), aiming to combine economic, social and environmental objectives in a balanced manner. At the same time there will be a financing for development conference in Addis Ababa in […]
An Evolving Relationship between NGOs and Private Businesses
A common misperception regarding NGO-private sector relations is one based on mutual distrust and occasional confrontation, or with the advent of corporate social responsibility funding, one solely based on donor-recipient transactions. With the international development landscape rapidly evolving, some historical and present-day assumptions are simply inaccurate. The following statements are NOT true of operational U.S. […]
Business as a Partner in Development
Partnerships are vital if we are to make the greatest possible impact on development. This is why the whole global community – governments, businesses, emerging and developing nations, civil society – needs to agree a new partnership to work together and unite behind the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and work together to achieve them. […]
Securing Growth with Depth
In the push for African states to collaborate with business for economic transformation, this report offers fresh, promising ideas for the “how.” Economic transformation, as we champion it at the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), is growth with DEPTH. That is, growth with diversification, export competitiveness, productivity increases and technological upgrading, all leading to […]
Partnering for Impact
Despite growing optimism about Africa’s economic prospects, progress is fragile and incomplete. Growth has yet to benefit many Africans, with almost half the population still living on less than $1.25 a day. With almost 200 million people aged between 15 and 24, Africa has the youngest population in the world, and with that number expected […]
Engaging the Private Sector in the Post-2015 Agenda
Philippe Scholtès and Tim Wall consider the new forms of partnership required to implement innovative business models that respond to commercial imperatives, while also delivering on the development front. In the last two decades, increasing economic growth rates in many developing countries have reshaped the global economy and opened up new opportunities for learning and […]
Tackling Illicit Financial Flows & the Post-2015 Goals
With world champions Spain, the Netherlands and Chile in their World Cup group, it’s fair to say that Australia were always going to struggle to make an impact in Brazil last month. But they will have a much greater say at another global gathering this year, one that could have much grander implications for Brazil […]
Tackling Illicit Financial Flows & the Post-2015 Goals
With world champions Spain, the Netherlands and Chile in their World Cup group, it’s fair to say that Australia were always going to struggle to make an impact in Brazil last month. But they will have a much greater say at another global gathering this year, one that could have much grander implications for Brazil […]
Development Challenges And Business Opportunities
Though the importance of the private sector role in economic growth has long been acknowledged, it is only in recent years that the full range of players and activities related to the private sector have started to be wholly embedded in development strategies and programmes. A recent major shift in the landscape of international development […]
Voices from the South and the Post-2015 Agenda
The second Bridging the Gap for African Women in business conference was held in Kampala Uganda on 6 March 2014. The conference was part of this year’s International Women’s Day celebrations organized by the charity Let Them Help Themselves Out of Poverty and aimed to engage African Women in Business in a conversation on the […]
Global Partnerships for a Post-2015 World
The case for development partnerships is clear: We know that in order to tackle the global challenges we face, we need to get important actors from different sectors to work together towards a common agenda for tackling complex problems like malaria, malnutrition, poverty, or environmental degradation. What we don’t understand well enough yet is HOW […]
Mistaken Beliefs Blocking Progress for the Poor
Melinda and I published our latest Annual Letter this week. It’s a bit of a departure for us. Unlike the past five letters, this one isn’t about the foundation’s work. Instead, we decided to take on some of the myths — about poverty, overpopulation and foreign aid — that are blocking progress for the poor. […]