Facing The Poverty Tsunami: How Business Can Support the Lives, Livelihoods and Access to Learning of the Most Vulnerable People and Communities
The Poverty Tsunami: COVID, Conflict and Climate Change COVID, conflict and climate change are among a confluence of challenges driving a tsunami of poverty that is already crashing into the lives of vulnerable people and communities around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures to contain its spread led to 97 million more people […]
GBV and Domestic Violence in Ukraine and How Businesses Can Help
This in-depth article on Gender-Based violence in Ukraine was commissioned by Business Fights Poverty, with the support of Avon. Domestic and gender-based violence is a phenomenon of constant concern in the world. Fighting it is the focus of many international organizations, human rights defenders, and socially responsible businesses. Unfortunately, as a reasonably stable phenomenon (i.e. […]
Women at the Center of Africa’s Post-Pandemic Recovery
Every year, Women’s History Month is a chance to celebrate women of the past who have shaped the Africa we have become – and to highlight African women who are making history today. History will look kindly on the women whose pioneering responses to the pandemic saved many lives. Women like Dr Tlamelo Setshwaelo, who […]
Business and the Ukraine Crisis: Supporting Women and the Most Vulnerable
At the heart of Business Fights Poverty is our focus on harnessing business to support the most vulnerable people and communities around the world. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, and unleashed a humanitarian crisis, business has been quick to respond. There is an ever-growing list of businesses taking action—through their philanthropic giving to […]
Gender Equity: The Foundation for a Resilient Future
The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day, on 8 March, is “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow”. This reflects the fact that women are disproportionately impacted by climate change, while also having less access to the opportunities that a transition to a greener future can bring. More women live in extreme poverty – […]
Nudges & Bridges: making better decisions & finding common ground
In this first episode of Nudges & Bridges: Making Better Decisions & Finding Common Ground, I suggest that each of us could find common ground with those we may disagree with on social and political issues. How do we do that? There may be many ways and I do not suggest that what I am […]
What If we created our own celebration days?
Francçois Taddei, co-founder of the Learning Planet Institute, writes about the importance of celebration to foster collaboration and co-creation among engaged actors, including the business community, to transform education for the future of the planet, and extends an invitation to join us at the #LearningPlanet Festival from the 22nd to the 29th of January 2022. […]
Seeking entrepreneurs and SMEs that are innovating in the care economy
The entire global economic system relies on care giving – the millions of unrecognised and under-valued hours spent ensuring offices are cleaned, children and the elderly are taken care of, and food is prepared for families and workers. Usually this type of work is viewed as a ‘burden’, and a barrier to women’s economic empowerment, […]
Powering the just transition – The biggest opportunity for inclusive business
Next year, I will celebrate my 10th anniversary in the inclusive business community. Supporting the Asian Development Bank’s IB initiative in Manila in 2012, an amazing universe of thought leaders and pioneering companies, investors and policymakers opened up to me. Driven by the desire to achieve social impact beyond the single bottom line, they have […]
What can a dog park teach us about bridging great societal divides?
The name of today’s game seems to be “us vs them.” Certainly here in the United States, but in many places around the world, divisions seem to become starker and more irresolvable by the day. Sadly, some see it in their self-interest to stoke those divisions. There may be only so much anyone can do […]
A Great Reset On Disability
In the run-up to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3rd, David Grayson, who is a member of the Business Fights Poverty Circle of Advisers and the chair of the international, pan-disability charity Leonard Cheshire, argues that businesses and society need a “reset” on disability. Apparently, the Harvard economist and author Rebecca […]
Enlightened climate policy for Africa
As the world convenes in Glasgow for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26), it is time to recognize the role Africa has in averting a climate disaster without compromising the continent’s growth and poverty reduction. The world needs to transition away from fossil fuels. But access to electricity is a human […]
Carbon accounting madness makes a mockery of the UK’s net zero plans
The race to go ‘net zero’ is top of the agenda at this month’s COP26 in Glasgow. The latest United Nations’ Climate Change Conference is widely thought to be our last chance to get countries to commit to necessary cuts in greenhouse gases (GHG) and avert unstoppable climate collapse. But government targets to make the […]
This COP26 it’s time to listen to farmers and workers
This COP26 it’s time to listen to farmers and workers, value their expertise and work with them to rebuild better. Co-op and Fairtrade Africa are reimagining the future of programmes. The eyes of the business world are trained on Glasgow for COP26 this week. The environment is increasingly topping the agenda for boardrooms at the biggest companies. At […]
The role of social procurement for inclusive value chains
By definition, social procurement leverages the purchasing power of companies to achieve broader social impact objectives. It goes beyond responsible sourcing which integrates and manages ESG criteria into the procurement process. Instead, it focuses on buying goods, materials, or services from social businesses with the explicit intention to create net positive impact. Why is that […]
Putting People at the Heart of Climate Action: 3 Reasons Business Must Care
We’re just over two weeks away from a critical milestone in the fight against climate change. The UK will host the COP26 climate conference, bringing together countries to enhance their commitments for the first time since they made them under the Paris Agreement in 2015. The focus of attention has, rightly, been on those highlighting the […]
Why does so little funding go to women entrepreneurs, and what can we do about it?
Chetna Gala Sinha never thought she would start a bank. “But women came to me and said they wanted to open a savings account”, she recalls, “one woman blacksmith was insistent that she wanted to save to buy a tarpaulin cover for the rain. The banks were not ready to let her open an account […]
Equality, justice, and investment in nature must be at the heart of the corporate climate response
With the release of the latest report from the IPCC on climate science, the planetary emergency sirens are sounding louder than ever. And as the world awaits the outcome of crucial international climate talks in Glasgow, momentum is building for ambitious global action that delivers net-zero greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050. Through initiatives such as […]
Creating Economic Opportunity in the Northern Triangle: Breaking Down Barriers to Growth to Stimulate Recovery
The Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Fragility caused by poverty, violence, and corruption are drivers of migration. The COVID-19 pandemic and two back-to-back hurricanes that struck the region in November 2020 decimated weak local economies and increased suffering. A new Center for Strategic […]
Let’s learn from local communities and step up more to create climate and social impact
Next month, the international community will gather at COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, to further accelerate global action towards climate change. The aim is to “to build back better, and greener”, states Alok Sharma, COP President. According to him, this is necessary because, like the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change is disrupting the global […]