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Activating a Network of 4 Million: Community Health Workers are Key to Fighting COVID-19 – Here’s How They Can Accelerate Financial Inclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the role of community health workers. According to Tanjila Mazumder Drishti, Khondokar Anwar Shadat and Raiya Kishwar Ashraf at BRAC, it has also demonstrated their potential as proponents of financial access — for themselves and the families they serve. They explore a BRAC initiative to enroll its 50,000 health workers in Bangladesh in mobile money, and share how this scalable model could have enormous implications for global financial inclusion.k
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Health Care, Transportation
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Transforming Microcredit After COVID-19: Why ‘Building Back Better’ Will Require a Radical Reboot of Local Financial Systems in the Global South
Microcredit advocates have expressed the expectation that the industry can play a major role in economic and social recovery in the Global South after the COVID-19 pandemic. But economist Milford Bateman argues that shifting these micro-lending programs into community-owned financial institutions would make a more substantial impact. He shares a roadmap for empowering community-focused economies, and explores how a plan modeled after elements of the U.S.'s New Deal could transform local finance.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Social Protection Goes Digital: Lessons From an Innovative, WhatsApp-Driven Outreach Campaign in Paraguay
The COVID-19 lockdown has reshaped social policy in Paraguay, as programs that depended on face-to-face contact to reach participants suddenly found themselves unable to conduct their usual outreach. Cristina Heisecke, Carolina de Miranda and Mauricio Royg of Fundación Capital share lessons from an innovative solution to this challenge: a digital campaign that used WhatsApp to offer a remote alternative to the in-person training and coaching of the country's flagship cash transfer program.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Social Enterprise, Technology
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India Needs Over $900 Billion in Climate Finance by 2030: This Roadmap Can Mobilize Private Sector Investment
India is committed to lowering its greenhouse gas emissions, but its goals under the Paris Agreement are not ambitious enough. Simmi Sareen at GreenFunder and Shravan Shankar at the BIG Green Collaborative argue that the country must focus on increasing energy storage and efficiency, decreasing agriculture and manufacturing emissions, and adapting to a more hostile climate. They explore how innovative and scalable technology can address these priorities by 2030 — and how strengthening India’s climate financing structures can help generate the $100 billion in yearly private investment this will require.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing
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Developing a ‘Purpose Mindset’: How Microsoft’s Employee Giving Efforts Are Impacting the Company – and the World
Microsoft is mainly known for its tech innovations, but it has brought a similarly inventive approach to employee giving. Akhtar Badshah at Catalytic Innovators Group, who led Microsoft’s philanthropic efforts for 10 years, explores this model in his new book, "Purpose Mindset: How Microsoft Inspires Employees & Alumni to Change the World." He discusses the company's efforts to effect large-scale social change through small-scale staff donations and volunteerism, and shares lessons for other organizations that want to foster a culture of purpose and empathy.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Technology
- Tags
- COVID-19, nonprofits, philanthropy
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Addressing COVID-19 While Building Long-Term Capacity: Trends and Opportunities in Africa’s Growing Pharmaceutical Markets
The African pharmaceutical market’s estimated worth is between US $40 – $65 billion, but it remains largely untapped, with a heavy reliance on imports. According to Biodun Awosusi at Health Systems and Development Enterprise, the COVID-19 crisis shows the urgent need to unlock new partnerships and investments to accelerate the local production of medical supplies, medicines and vaccines, which could save lives and create jobs. He explores how Africa’s pharmaceutical sector is responding to the pandemic, and how it could be strengthened for the longer term.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care
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Social Enterprises as Job Creators: Four Ways the Sector Can Boost Employment Opportunities in Africa
By 2030, there will be about 1 billion people in Africa of working age – an increase of approximately 40% since 2018. This means more jobs will urgently be needed to improve living conditions, reduce unemployment and create sustainable economic growth in the region. Carola Schwank at Siemens Stiftung argues that impact-oriented entrepreneurs can play a key role in creating these jobs – but they need backing to maximize their untapped potential. She shares four key recommendations on how to support social enterprise job growth in Africa, taken from a recent report.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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An Overlooked Engine of Economic Growth: Delivering Products – and Enabling Livelihoods – in Refugee Communities
The Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee camps in Kenya are home to nearly 200,000 people from 22 countries. Contrary to the stereotype of refugee settlements, these are thriving communities with around 2,500 businesses and over $56 million in economic activity per year. But as Sasha Kapadia at Mastercard points out, their economic growth is stifled by a lack of reliable electricity. She discusses a public-private partnership co-chaired by Mastercard and USAID, which is training people in these communities as sales agents for solar energy products, to spur entrepreneurship and boost access to energy and other essential products.
- Categories
- Energy
