We are Proud to Partner with SAP: Prof. Yunus
Friday, January 14, 2011
One year after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, SAP continues to invest in immediate housing assistance and long-term economic development activities that will improve the short- and long-term living conditions of Haitians and help develop sustainable businesses and income opportunities. SAP is working to positively transform lives and society through its expertise, software and investments, and partnerships with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Creative Lab.
“At SAP, we are focused on making the world run better,” said Jim Hagemann Snabe, co-CEO of SAP AG. “We have brought that same focus to our relief efforts in Haiti over the past year and are moving beyond the ’one-time donation’ concept by partnering with Professor Yunus on long-term economic development with the goal of creating enduring prosperity for the people of Haiti.”
“The Grameen Creative Lab Haiti will promote economic empowerment for Haitians by fostering the creation of social businesses in Haiti,” said Professor Muhammad Yunus, CEO of the Grameen Bank, founder of the Yunus Centre and originator of the microcredit and social business concept. “We are proud to partner with SAP, whose passion and expertise will contribute to the long-term success of job creation in Haiti.”
SAP and its partners are providing support to new social businesses through the YY Haiti (Yunus & You) Social Business Fund and the newly created Grameen Creative Lab Haiti. The businesses will focus on solving specific social problems in sectors in areas such as vocational training, agriculture, nutrition, environmental stewardship and information technology (IT). The first social business pilots, including a cocoa processing factory in Camp-Perrin and an eco-hotel in Cap Haitien, will be launched soon, with additional social business ideas in the planning phase.
Haitians will handle the projects from idea generation to implementation, and will own the businesses that are developed. To support these efforts, Claudine François, a Haitian-born professional with private sector and international development expertise, has been appointed to lead the Grameen Creative Lab Haiti.
