Australia’s Foreign Aid Program and the Private Sector
Today Julie Bishop launched Australia’s new foreign aid policy. Central to the Foreign Minister’s address at the National Press Club was her opening statement that our foreign aid program will have two main goals: human development and private sector development. Human centred development makes sense. We all understand the imperative to meet basic human needs […]
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 […]
Brands, Retailers And The ‘Protect’ Pillar
16 June 2014 is a significant date – three years since the UN Human Rights Council endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Also known as the “Protect, Respect, Remedy” framework, it sets out a role for states to protect human rights, for business to respect these rights, and for both […]
Proactive Business Responses to International Disasters
Governments and the humanitarian community around the world are struggling to cope with the frequency and scale of international disasters. During Responsible Business Week 2014, senior business, INGOs and government representatives discussed the key opportunities and challenges to business engagement in international disaster response, recovery, mitigation and preparedness. The following highlights some of the key […]
A Warning and an Appeal to the Diamond Industry
In Africa and South America there are more than one and a half million diamond diggers working in arduous and highly dangerous conditions for paltry reward. They and their families – up to 10 million people in total – barely survive on less than two dollars a day and their communities are trapped in abject […]
Lessons on Supporting Energy Access Enterprises
Inclusive Business In Asia – Abuzz With Potential
Photo: Selling fish in Myanmar Asia, the most populated continent, is well used to fast growth. But as the call for inclusive growth gets stronger, attention is turning to inclusive business. During April and May the team at the Practitioner Hub for Inclusive Business have been in touch with a host of contributors across the […]
Hanging By A Thread: Workers’ Rights And Lives
Campaigning On Workers’ Rights In One Sector Can Bring Important Gains – But In Doing So, We Must Not Ignore The Needs Of Vulnerable Workers In Other Sectors I was working in my room on the fourth floor of a hotel in Dhaka, Bangladesh’s busy capital, when I saw a man hanging by a rope. […]
Fashion Industry Workers: Shock Absorbers Or Assets?
The problem of bad labour conditions in the garment supply chain is quite straightforward. If brands and retailers direct orders to wherever they get the best combination of (lowest) price, quality and delivery, suppliers have two choices. Either they constantly increase their efficiency in order to lower unit costs, or they constantly cut every cost […]
Profit Follows Purpose
“There is considerable potential for business and social impact goals to align.” That sentiment was heard repeatedly at the 2nd TA Initiative Summit, held May 5-7 in Nairobi, Kenya. Organized by Acumen, the 3-day event brought together intrapreneurs from global corporations and social entrepreneurs from throughout East and West Africa to explore the potential for […]
How Haiti is Becoming a Leader in the Production of Quality Apparel
Three high-level business leaders just did what others might think is too risky and counterintuitive. Joey Adler, the CEO of Diesel Canada and founder of the OnexOne Foundation; Richard Coles, the owner of Multiwear, one of Haiti’s leading apparel manufacturers; and Rob Broggi, a former hedge fund executive, created a company to demonstrate that Haiti […]
Silo Busting: 4 ways to do good business
Role of business in shaping a better tomorrow Solutions to the world’s most pressing problems and exciting opportunities are global, interconnected and interdependent. Business’ resources dwarf those of the philanthropic and public sectors combined. All require leaders with vision and capacity to build systems for change across industries and borders. Yet alone, now and in […]
Real Change: How Mobile Tech is Transforming Africa
For years analysts have said that “Africa is Rising,” but now it’s really happening. With an expanding population and steady economic growth, social enterprise in Africa is today seeing real returns on investment. This “double-bottom line” success — financial plus humanitarian gains — is drawing new attention to Africa to not only advance, but also […]
A Networked Approach to International Development
The ever increasing – and much delayed – focus on impact measurement in international development is leading to some hard questions about how best the industry needs to be shaped. We all know that international development needs to become more responsive to local needs, less dependent on large head offices and in short, more effective. […]
Christine Bader’s The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist: When Girl Meets Oil
An illuminating read, Christine Bader’s new book, The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist: When Girl Meets Oil is particularly valuable to anyone who has wondered what it would be like to promote sustainability or respect for human rights from within a multinational corporation. By recounting her own experiences and weaving in stories from other Corporate […]
My First 100 Days as an Intrapreneur
As an intrapreneur, I’m developing a new concept that I hope will enable Barclays to support our communities and contribute to growth by funding social enterprises. I like to think it harkens back to the original role that banks have always played in local communities. It could ultimately transform the “impact investing” market and build […]
Want to Campaign for Change with the Private Sector?
Want to campaign for change with the private sector…read on Increasingly, NGOs are moving towards an approach to campaigning for social change that works with business. CARE, Barclays and Plan are recruiting for a strategic campaigner to help develop an alliance built around new international principles to responsibly link informal savings groups to financial institutions […]
Design for People, Plan for Good Business
There have been lots of declarations of goodwill on the anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh. But if we really hope to do justice to the memory of the 1,138 men and women who were crushed to death, we must look at ourselves and evaluate what we are doing. Fashion has a highly […]
1 Billion + 3 Reasons to Think about 2030
There is a lot to think about when you are in a room filled with social media pioneers, global thinkers, and experts from one of the world’s most populous countries: India. Everything you think about, in fact, starts with the reminder that 1 billion people are counting on the answers to how we tackle the […]
Uniting to Combat Nelegeted Tropical Diseases
This year, World Health Day is shining a light on the devastating impact of vector-borne diseases. These diseases cause more than one million deaths each year and leave hundreds of millions more debilitated, disfigured, blind or just too sick to work or go to school due to their long-term effects. For us at Legatum, our […]