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Press release: Village Capital and MetLife Foundation Award $50,000 To Middle East Financial Health Startups at Forum in Dubai
“MetLife Foundation is proud to partner with Village Capital on this innovative financial health forum that identifies and accelerates early-stage entrepreneurs who are leading the way toward a more financially inclusive Middle East,” said Dennis White, President and CEO, MetLife Foundation. “Village Capital’s approach to identify and support local entrepreneurs that have a deep understanding of culturally-relevant customer needs and solutions helps advance MetLife Foundation’s overall goal to provide individuals and communities with the tools they need to achieve sustainable financial well-being.”
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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Microloans: Boon or bane for Cambodia’s rural poor?
Microfinance evokes both wariness and optimism here in the Cambodian countryside, where low incomes and savings mean farmers often borrow small sums at high interest rates to fertilize their plots.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Indian State to partner with Yunus for poverty eradication
The Yunus Social Business (YSB) is an initiative that creates and empowers social businesses to solve social problems.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Development aid in Africa is flowing to the rich in urban areas and not the poor
In his paper published this month, Ryan C. Briggs, an assistant professor at the department of political science, shows that there are spatial differences in the degree to which aid reaches the poor in Africa. Briggs examined the data by dividing the African continent’s map—including North Africa and the islands—into 10,572 cells after which he aggregated aid projects, population, and poverty levels into each cell.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The UBI Debate: What We Know – and Don’t Know – About Universal Basic Income
Policymakers from Nairobi to Silicon Valley have lately been considering the same approach to reducing poverty: universal basic income (UBI). Evidence from ongoing randomized evaluations will be key to understanding the impact of UBI, and how this disruptive concept might fit into a broader portfolio of social policies. In the meantime, there is much we already know from impact evaluations of related interventions that can help make sense of the debate. Alison Fahey at J-PAL provides an overview.
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- Uncategorized
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Yes, Microcredit Requires Subsidies … and That’s Great News
Recent research should finally put to rest the assertions that affordable microcredit aimed at poor households does not require subsidy: Serving poor customers well is always going to be expensive. On the plus side, the subsidies are quite small and, according to Timothy Ogden, those who perceive this as anything other than great news bought into the inflated expectations around microcredit.
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- Uncategorized
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Ethical Investors Tightening Screws on Emerging-Market Debt Issuers
Prices on Vale and Samarco bonds plummeted by about a third after the disaster. Vale, along with mine co-owner BHP Billiton, is facing a multi-billion dollar claim. Events like that are increasingly spurring fund managers to look closer at environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks before investing in emerging markets, where polluting industries and accounting issues have often gone unpunished.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Latin America
- Tags
- regulations
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How social enterprise i=Change raised $500,000 through e-commerce donations to empower women globally
“I had no idea of the social enterprise space at the time, all I wanted was to have an impact on what many consider the most endemic issue of our time. Whether it’s helping girls stay in school, or stopping them from being married at 12, there needs to be equality in how we support young girls around the world.”
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- gender equality, startups
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