Jin-Yong Cai: How to end poverty? The private sector is part of the solution
Four years after the global financial crisis struck, the world still faces major economic challenges. Shocks from Europe, Asia, or the United States could undermine recoveries in many developing countries, hurting the poor the most. The threat is acute in Sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly half the population still lives in poverty, and many countries remain […]
Quality medicines for all
Ensuring that patients in the developing world get access to the medicines they need remains an unfulfilled desire. This is true in spite of the significant progress over the last decade in providing treatment to poor people suffering in particular from the “big three” pandemics, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The reasons for this access gap […]
How to end poverty? The Private Sector is Part of the Solution
Four years after the global financial crisis struck, the world still faces major economic challenges. Shocks from Europe, Asia, or the United States could undermine recoveries in many developing countries, hurting the poor the most. The threat is acute in Sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly half the population still lives in poverty, and many countries remain […]
Simon Brown: Corporate volunteering in China – a massive opportunity
Photo credit: Arup The role of the private sector in development is evolving rapidly, nowhere more so than in China where the role of the private sector per se has changed so dramatically in the last decade. With this in mind, VSO China began research into corporate volunteering in China earlier this year. The results, […]
The Talent Paradox: Funding Education as a Global Public Good
Addressing the massive needs of India’s education system was one small part of the discussion at the most recent World Economic Forum in Delhi. But for a country that is projected to supply approximately 25 percent of the global talent pool by 2030, what could be more important than getting education right? Especially for corporate […]
What role for Islamic microfinance?
Conventional interest based microfinance has come under increasing scrutiny and its benefits questioned in recent years. Does Islamic microfinance present a viable alternative? Quite possibly. Islamic, more correctly termed Shari’ah compliant’, finance is based on principles that include linking transactions to tangible economic activities, excluding financial speculation and excessive uncertainty, and funding only socially productive […]
Microfinance over the last 10 years: Reflections and suggestions for the future
lendwithcare.org The UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Microfinance recently celebrated 10 years’ of raising awareness of microfinance and the role it can play in reducing poverty. At an event, hosted by CARE International, Dr Ajaz Khan (lendwithcare.org‘s Microfinance Advisor) reflected on the last 10 years and made some suggestions for the future. Since the […]
Prescribe or Facilitate? Exploring collective action in the fight against poverty
The role of multilateral and donor organizations in combating poverty is ever evolving alongside that of corporations. The past decade has seen increased recognition of market-based solutions. One encouraging sign? Upon taking office this summer Jim Kim, President of the World Bank, quickly invited in Michael Porter to talk about shared value concepts. At the […]
Michael Mapstone: Business-NGO partnerships – not why, but how….
For some time now many of us have woken up to the fact that there is more to business-NGO partnerships than money. Money, of course, remains important in these economically tight times – NGOs certainly need all the money they can get at the moment and it’s great to see corporate philanthropy remains strong. We […]
Inadequate health systems damage the growth of developing nations
Inadequate health systems have a disproportionate and crippling effect on the growth of developing nations. And yet the solution is within closer reach than many realise, says Dr Brian Brink, chief medical officer of Anglo American. A robust health system lies at the heart of building a country that has a healthy population, healthy society […]
Waste Is Wanted: Feeding the Hungry Instead of Landfills
The need for proper nutrition is among the most primal. Yet in our own country, one in seven homes and one in five children in the United States are labeled as food At the same time, food waste is also epidemic. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the United States throws out 40 percent […]
What I learned from Social Investors over Breakfast
I was delighted to have the chance to attend the Investor Breakfast at the ClearlySo SBC12 conference. After a career in the City, being around social entrepreneurs feels so “nourishing”. I love their energy and ideas. But I was curious about the investor experience: what are their concerns and aspirations, where are they satisfied and […]
Stepping Away From the Rat Race to Give Back… for a Year
Employee volunteer programsare one thing, but what about centering your entire enterprise around service? It might sound like a pipe dream, but San Francisco-based Fuse Corps is making it happen. Fuse Corps is dedicated to helping entrepreneurial professionals spend a year supporting governors, mayors and community leaders across the country to drive meaningful social change. […]
Unlearning to innovate: 7 steps entrepreneurs need to know when getting into inclusive business
Dr. Fernando Casado Cañeque. Director, Centre of Partnerships for Development It is typically in crisis situations when the absence of political leadership becomes most evident. In such situations, it is also when social innovation becomes most needed. However, as a concept, for innovation to be really social, it should challenge current thinking models and recognize […]
Building a new framework for youth entrepreneurship
From November 12 – 18, 35,000 events in 127 countries will take place during Global Entrepreneurship Week to inspire people to become a force for change. The time is right, as governments across the world are desperate to find solutions to the growing challenge of youth unemployment. High youth unemployment is no longer limited to […]
Crowding to a Cause
Crowdfunding is generally defined as an internet-based collective effort between people who pool money to help fund an activity or an entrepreneurial endeavor. Also called crowdsourcing, crowdfunding is used to underwrite a variety of activities, including new products, artistic efforts, political campaigns or scientific research, just to name a few. In return, if a product […]
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 […]
Promoting New Thinking About Collaboration
Millions of Australians will end it comatose, as the annual Melbourne Cup tradition of drinking-your-entire-body-weight-in-beer-before-lunch will ensure that particular country’s collective outputs for 24 hours will be, at best, sub-optimal. As the table-top dancing down under comes to a close, the United States of America will awake to Election Day, with polls still saying the […]
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 […]