Building an inclusive businessmovement in the Asia-Pacific

How can corporate Australia do more to address global poverty? This was the question that in 2006 brought together a group of leading and progressive Australian companies, and soon after, led to the formation of Business for Millennium Development (previously named Business for Poverty Relief Alliance). Founded as a collaboration between government, business and charity, […]

Beyond the MDGs: Business and the New Development Agenda

At a recent event in New York held to coincide with UN General Assembly week, I joined senior representatives from the private sector, development organisations, NGOs and academia to discuss the role for business in developing and delivering a new development framework to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015. In defining a role […]

The Role of Business and Post-2015

Business plays a crucial role in the development process. Without small businesses creating jobs, or large business innovating and creating products that can transform the lives of poor people, we would not have witnessed such remarkable progress toward the current Millennium Development Goals. Business was largely an afterthought in the development of the MDG framework. […]

DFID, Business and the Post-2015 Agenda

Last week members of the UN High Level Panel met in London to discuss the successor to the Millennium Development Goal framework. The meetings, co-chaired by PM Cameron, President Yudhoyono of Indonesia and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, represent a unique opportunity to reflect on what new framework could drive poverty eradication when the […]

DFID, Business and the Post-2015 Development Agenda

Last week members of the UN High Level Panel met in London to discuss the successor to the Millennium Development Goal framework. The meetings, co-chaired by PM Cameron, President Yudhoyono of Indonesia and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, represent a unique opportunity to reflect on what new framework could drive poverty eradication when the […]

What is the role of business in achieving development goals post-2015?

In the period since the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were established business has made a considerable impact on poverty reduction. In the second edition of ‘Business and the MDGs: A Framework for Action’, published in 2008, IBLF identified the three spheres of influence though which the positive impacts of business occur: core business, community investment […]

Business, the MDGs and Beyond

The world has made more gains against poverty in the last 50 years than in the last 500. Since 1990, over six hundred million people have been lifted out of poverty. The world is within reach of seeing every child enrolled in primary school, and many fewer lives are being lost to hunger and disease. […]

The World We Want

In the years up to 2015, the world needs to remain focused on securing as much progress as possible on the current set of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At the same time, discussions have already begun on the goals and targets that could build on and succeed the MDGs. On 25 September, UNDP joined forces […]

The key to inclusive business- Getting better at partnering

“Partnering with other sectors is a bit like being a parent. Until you’ve experienced it for yourself, you really can’t appreciate what it’s like” – head of education partnerships of a multinational bank. Inclusive business (IB) projects, by definition, tend to sit in areas outside of companies’ traditional comfort zones. Whether providing incomes to disadvantaged […]

Meeting the Challenge of Expanding Inclusive Business

Opening Plenary New Member Commitments High Level Panel Event Photos Most of us interested in inclusive business have heard the success stories: Coca-Cola has generated $550 million in additional revenues by integrating local entrepreneurs into their beverage distribution chain in markets across Africa. Vodafone – one of the world’s largest telecommunications firm – now reaches […]

Guy Sebban, Secretary General International Chamber of Commerce: Business plays a key role in achieving the Millennium Development Goals

This year marks the midpoint in one of the most ambitious poverty-elimination efforts ever undertaken – the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG). In this pivotal year, when the objectives are being reassessed and strategies retooled to achieve these objectives, the biennial World Business and Development Awards (WBDA) in support of the goals, to be unveiled […]