Poverty-Reduction Through Innovative Pro-Poor Microfinance Services
Women perform 66% of the world’s work but earn only 10% of its income and own just 1% of global property (Global Poverty Project). They are more likely than men to be poor and at risk of hunger because of the systematic discrimination they face in education, healthcare and employment. Women also experience much higher […]
Poverty Reduction Through Innovative Microfinance Services
Women perform 66% of the world’s work but earn only 10% of its income and own just 1% of global property (Global Poverty Project). They are more likely than men to be poor and at risk of hunger because of the systematic discrimination they face in education, healthcare and employment. Women also experience much higher […]
Celebrating the Tenth Annual Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards
On Wednesday, we celebrated the tenth annual Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards. Looking back over the last decade of the Awards, I am extremely pleased at how they have helped to recognise how great business journalism can showcase successes, highlight challenges and support broad economic growth within Africa. A strong independent media have a critical […]
Listening to New Voices in International Development
The global development discussion, like global development itself, often appears to be a one-way street: experts in the developed world discuss different strategies for uplifting the world’s poorest communities. It is a worthy but limited conversation, and too often does not include the perspectives of those on the receiving end of development policy. This needs […]
Mixing Business and Social- What Really is a Social Enterprise?
Of course we all know what a ‘social enterprise’ (SE) is in a developing country. It’s obvious, surely? It’s, um, a business that does good things for people, and also makes money. Don’t nit-pick! This is all about dynamism, creativity and innovation. Well, OK, point taken. But nagging doubts remain. What sorts of good things? […]
Trade Facilitation: Everyone’s a Winner
For a container to pass between OECD countries, it takes on average 5 customs documents, 10 days and 735 euros, whereas between African countries it requires twice as many documents, takes 3 times as long and costs at least twice as much. The Trade Facilitation Deal that will be discussed at the WTO Ministerial in […]
Innovation Leaders: 3 Questions for Non-profit & For-profit Innovation Leaders
I returned home to Boston after a 10 day conference “intensive” – the Council on Foundations in Chicago, the World Healthcare Congress in Washington, D.C. and the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship in Oxford – looking forward to a Patriot’s Day holiday to recover and enjoy a beloved Boston tradition, the Marathon. Of course, […]
Innovation Leaders: 3 Questions for Non-profit & For-profit Innovation Leaders
I returned home to Boston after a 10 day conference “intensive” – the Council on Foundations in Chicago, the World Healthcare Congress in Washington, D.C. and the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship in Oxford – looking forward to a Patriot’s Day holiday to recover and enjoy a beloved Boston tradition, the Marathon. Of course, […]
Mo Ibrahim’s Recipe to ‘Deliver Africa’s Promise’
Alice Allen, Head of Advocacy, Care International UK What do you get if you combine the youngest participant in the 2012 Olympics (13), ‘making agriculture sexy’ and the establishment of a business corruption index? The answer? Africa delivering on its promise and fulfilling its economic and social potential, according to the Sudanese-born, global mobile communications […]
Preventing another Rana Plaza: Mapping the Path Forward
This week American stakeholders announced the formation of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety and signatories to the European Fire and Building Safety Accord released their Implementation Plan. While both agreements represent steps in the right direction, to address the root causes of the Rana Plaza disaster, both initiatives must take further measures to build […]
Best Practices from a Small Nonprofit on the Big CSR Trend
Can tea and running shoes help the poorest of the poor? Well, no. Not exactly. But if you put corporate social responsibility (CSR) into the mix, you have a recipe for a unique business strategy that supports sustainable development. Trickle Up, a U.S.-based, nonprofit, global poverty alleviation organization focused on helping the poorest of the […]
Innovation, Scale, Returns, Failure… If BIF Is A Pilot, What Are We Learning From It?
So what have we learnt about inclusive business in the last three years, running the Business Innovation Facility? Quite a lot, as it turns out. As Country Managers and theme leaders met in London last week, we worked through some of the ‘big questions’ together. Where in our portfolio do we see the greatest innovation […]
Innovation, Scale, Returns, Failure… Lessons from the Business Innovation Facility
MY World Citizens: Technology and a Revolution in Global Policymaking
Since they were adopted by all UN Member States in the year 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have made a huge difference to the lives of millions of people around the world. The MDGs have helped to define a truly global agenda in the fight against poverty and have also provided a clear frame […]
Peter McAllister: When Words Are Not Enough
Like many of you reading this, I struggled to find the right words following news of the Rana Plaza collapse in late April. It was difficult to fully convey the horror and anger at this truly tragic loss of human life. Even worse was that workers had tried to uphold their right to not work […]
Engaging Business Globally on Human Rights
For a long time, the policy debates, advocacy campaigns and practice sharing about business and human rights has been concentrated in the corridors of London, Geneva and New York. In 2009, the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights (GBI) identified that awareness of how companies headquartered in emerging and developing markets can and do impact […]
What’s So Special about the United Nations Approach to Business and Human Rights?
The United Nations has pondered and contemplated the subject of business and human rights for decades with rather little success. Until 2005 that is, when the Human Rights Council requested the Secretary-General to appoint a Special Representative to “identify and clarify standards of corporate responsibility and accountability with regard to human rights.” This task fell […]
The Bigger Picture of Youth Economic Opportunity
Youth unemployment has taken center stage in global economic policy – and with good reason. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has put jobless youth at a minimum of 75 million worldwide, with young people unemployed at twice or even thrice the global adult unemployment rate. Yet, while job creation is indeed critical, generating widespread economic […]
The Private Sector and Fragile States
The development conundrum facing the international community in the 21st century is the increasing number and persistence of fragile and conflict affected states. There are almost 50 fragile and conflict affected states in the world today. They are characterized by persistent conflict, poor governance, weak institutions, widespread corruption, lack of legitimacy, the inability to provide […]
Business Engagement in Fighting Rural Hunger and Poverty
Government assistance is simply not enough to tackle rural poverty. The U.S. food security program, Feed the Future, is a relatively new effort to target key countries and communities to promote food security. It is vitally important and has been carefully-designed and implemented. Feed the Future is focused on 19 countries; but food security and […]