A just transition is undermined by a disconnect between human rights and climate issues
Human rights and climate change are increasingly understood as issues that are inherently linked. The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, stated earlier this year that the climate crisis presents the biggest threat to our survival as a species and is already threatening human rights around the world.[1] Similarly, any action taken to achieve a low-carbon economy […]
Why we need to radically reimagine leadership to achieve gender equality.
Gender equality matters. You know that right? Not just morally. Not just because all of the world’s people have a right to live on equal terms. Equality has a critical impact on whether economies and societies thrive. It is key to realising the UN Sustainable Development Goals and bringing about a fairer, more resilient future […]
What are Green Skills?
The need to transition towards more environmentally sustainable modes of production and consumption has become imperative, for developed as well as for developing countries. Sustainable Development Goal 9 includes the target of upgrading infrastructure and retrofitting industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial […]
Uncovering Vulnerability Inspires Authentic Leadership
What if executive coaching were made available to women early in their careers to increase and deepen their impact in the world? Executive coaching is typically a privilege offered only to the most valued business professionals. After 20 years of working her way into the C-suite, Jane Finette’s employer offered her that opportunity. The experience […]
Reflections on the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer: How business can play a key role in restoring trust
After the extraordinary events of 2020 business has emerged as the most trusted institution, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, which was released earlier this month. The annual survey of more than 33,000 people across 28 countries asked respondents how much it trusted various institutions to do what is right. Business was the most trusted […]
Five mantras for effective COVID-19 vaccine communication
As scientists move closer to an effective COVID-19 vaccine, the global health community is preparing for how it will build trust in its safety and efficacy. GAVI (The Vaccine Alliance) Civil Society Constituency recently convened a webinar on Keeping Trust in Immunisation: Community Perceptions of Vaccination in the time of COVID-19 to explore the communication groundwork required to ensure […]
Business Fights Poverty Fortnightly Round Up
New Insights Report: How can self-care help health systems rebuild better during COVID-19? COVID-19 has placed enormous pressures on already fragile health systems. Developed with life sciences company Bayer, our new Insights Report explores how wider uptake of ‘self-care’ approaches can reduce pressure on strained health systems, improve vulnerable people’s health outcomes and empower individuals […]
Fast + Fair: Vaccine plans must be inclusive and leave no one behind
The comprehensive vaccine program, at a cost of $2 per person, will help ensure that frontline health workers have appropriate training and equipment, vulnerable populations such as women, girls, and refugees have safe access to medical services as well as the vaccine, and that communities receive critical information and advocacy to promote uptake. CARE’s approach draws from 75 years of experience in emergency […]
Women in industry – why we need more gender-sensitive statistics
Since COVID-19 emerged in late 2019, scientists have been poring over the data to understand better how the virus behaves and how to fight it. After multiple clinical trials conducted around the world at record speed, there is now encouraging news on potential vaccines. But scientific studies show that many trials fail to take the sex […]
Enabling greater inclusion of PWD’s amid the pandemic
The World Health Organization offers a definition of disability that encompasses three dimensions: 1) Impairment in a person’s body structure or function, or mental functioning 2) Activity limitation such as difficulty seeing, hearing, walking or problem-solving 3) Restricted participation in normal daily activities such as work, social interaction and recreational activities. Over 800 million people […]
We can’t ignore mindsets if we want to reset capitalism
Does the disruption created by Covid-19 create opportunities to reset capitalism in the long term, or will inertia prevail? That is the key New Year question as we look beyond the Covid crisis to possible future pathways. Our contention is that mindsets will determine whether this disruption catalyses deeper change, or is just a swing […]
Business Fights Poverty Fortnightly Roundup
The New Year presents an opportunity to set new resolutions and examine our intentions for the future. This year, the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and the political unrest in the USA has made these questions more pressing than usual. What is the future that we want, and what is our role, both professionally and personally, in […]
Business Mentorship for LGBTQ Refugees
LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers around the world are fleeing their home countries due to life-threatening persecution and violence. Even when this vulnerable population arrives in a host country where same-sex relations are not criminalized, they can still face discrimination, isolation and fear of rejection. To help LGBTQ refugees integrate into their new communities and […]
Kicking our addiction to plastics
The demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to this year’s COVID-19 pandemic has seen single-use plastic waste soar across the globe. The use of face masks in China alone is 12 times higher than pre-pandemic levels, with people getting through 116 million a day in February. If the whole world were to use […]
Top 10 Articles of 2020
Amidst the darkness of the pandemic, this community has shone. I have been humbled by the willingness of people to step forward and openly share their insights and knowledge – through articles, online events, or by engaging in our rapid Challenge-based collaborations – in an effort to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on the most […]
Business Fights Poverty Fortnightly Round Up
At the end of a challenging year, it is wonderful to end our program of content with more examples of leadership and purpose from across the Business Fights Poverty community. Several of our articles continued the theme of our Virtual Summit on Gender, held at the beginning of this month. In Gender-Based Violence and Tourism, […]
Corruption, Covid-19 and Inequality: the vital role of companies in preventing this deadly mixture
So far, there are almost 40 million cases of COVID-19 globally and more than one million deaths. Despite these staggering numbers, we now know the virus does not affect us all equally. Failing to address corruption risks in this environment can make that inequality so much worse. And alongside policymakers, businesses arguably have the biggest […]
A sustainable equitable food system needs to be nourished at the source
COVID-19 has exposed many of the vulnerabilities in our food system, one of which is just how reliant global supply chains are on people’s well-being at every step of the journey. The small-scale farmers in emerging markets who produce much of the world’s food ingredients, live in countries that face high rates of malnutrition, with […]
Business Fights Poverty Fortnightly Round Up
At the beginning of December, we held the second in our series of online Virtual Summits – this time, with a focus on gender. Hosted in partnership with CDC, the 2X Challenge, UN Women and CARE International, the Gender Summit included live events, peer networking, and a wealth of online learning resources, from seminars to toolkits, reports, […]
Seeing Purple!
Perhaps like me, your heart was touched by the story last month of Chris Nikic. The 21 year old American entered the Guinness Book of World Records by becoming the first person with Down Syndrome to complete the Ironman event: swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles and running a 26.2-mile marathon. “You have shattered barriers […]