-
Finalists Announced for 7th European Microfinance Award on Access to Education
On Wednesday 21st September 2016, the Selection Committee for the 7th European Microfinance Award, on “Microfinance and Access to Education”, composed of members of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) and Inclusive Finance Network Luxembourg (InFiNe.lu), chose the three finalists who will go on to compete for the €100,000 prize: Fundación Génesis Empresarial from Guatemala; Kashf Foundation from Pakistan; and Opportunity Bank of Uganda. This year, the Award recognises the role of microfinance in enabling access to education for children and/or skill-training for youth and adults to enhance their employment and self-employment opportunities.
- Categories
- Education
- Tags
- microfinance
-
Maternal Health in Masaka Receives Boost
In a country where the number of patients outmatches the number of nurses and midwives by mindboggling ratios, becoming a mother qualifies as a matter of life and death.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Liberian Nurses Learn to Spot Danger Signs in Babies as Healthcare Gets Shot in Arm
The Well Baby clinic in Buchanan is busy. But that’s not unusual. The clinic, a two-hour drive from Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, sees between 700 and 1,000 mothers and children each week.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- public health
-
Uganda is trying to close a for-profit school chain backed by Zuckerburg, Gates and the World Bank
Ugandan education officials have called for the closure of 63 nurseries and primary schools operated by Bridge International Academies (BIA), a controversial for-profit school chain that offers standardized, internet-based education in developing countries.
- Categories
- Education
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
How Can Academics and NGOs Work Together? Some Smart New Ideas
Just finished ‘Interaction’, a thought-provoking report on ‘How can academics and the third sector work together to influence policy and practice’. Written by Mark Shucksmith for the Carnegie UK Trust, the report has some good research and new suggestions on a hoary old topic. First up, a striking stat that underlines the imbalance in size and resources between academia and the third sector (voluntary organizations, NGOs etc): a total of 200,000 academics work in UK universities. Wow.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
-
SAP and ISB collaborate to jumpstart social enterprises
SAP and the Indian School of Business (ISB) are collaborating to nurture the social entrepreneurship ecosystem with relevance to national priorities. The ISB-SAP Social Enterprise Jumpstart will identify five social enterprise startups and provide training, mentorship and access to networks to accelerate their growth.
- Categories
- Education
- Region
- South Asia
-
Impact Investing Takes Hold on Business School Campuses
The likes of Harvard and Wharton are teaching investing for both financial and social benefit. Danielle Reed was already an impact investor when she stepped onto the campus of the University of California-Berkeley Haas School of Business in 2013 — though her family didn’t know it. They thought she worked at a nonprofit. But Reed actually worked for San Francisco-based boutique impact investing firm Imprint Capital, which was gobbled up by Goldman Sachs in 2015.
- Region
- North America
- Tags
- impact investing
-
Johns Hopkins Students Design Ebola Protection Suit Improvements
For health workers in the field treating people stricken with Ebola and other diseases, a protective suit is the first defense against infection. The suit and head covering itself, however, can hamper their ability to help by impeding breathing, or heating up so quickly in high temperatures and humidity that they can scarcely work for more than an hour.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care