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Need Blind: Vision Spring and Warby Parker Shake Up Eyewear With Impact
Social enterprises Warby Parker and VisionSpring are finding innovative ways to bring glasses to people who can’t afford huge markups. VisionSpring, a nonprofit social enterprise, focuses on selling low-cost glasses to people earning between $1 and $4 per day. Warby Parker, a for-profit B-Corp, sells affordable eyewear in the domestic market while donating a pair of frames to VisionSpring for each pair it sells.
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment
- Tags
- public health
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Finding the Line Between Technical and Political Solutions to Water Challenges
Technology can increase access to water and sanitation; other solutions seem to hinge on policy. But are the two areas distinct?
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Technology
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
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Namibia: Chinese Enterprise in the Country – Panelised House Manufacturer
It goes without saying that Chinese companies, be it a trade company, or a construction company or a service provider, or a manufacturer, are one of the contributors to Namibian socio-economic development with respect to poverty reduction, infrastructure improvement, employment creation, business vision, technical know-how, market and commodity competition system and working ethics among others.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Tara Thiagarajan Wants the Poor to Get More Out of Their Micro Borrowings
Tara Thiagarajan believes that microfinance institutions (MFIs) have been pursuing the wrong goal. Instead of scale, they should be looking to make loans more effective. That means borrowers should get more out of their borrowings. Along with credit, they should also get the tools and the benefits of a large network to make the most of the credit.
- Categories
- Education
- Region
- South Asia
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UN: Soaring Demands Will Add More Stress to World Water Supplies
Despite recent good news that millions more people now have access to potable water, a new report finds sharply rising demands for water threaten a myriad of development goals.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Tags
- scale
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Organic Farming Promises to Yield a Sustainable Future for India’s Rural Poor
Organic agricultural practices are improving prospects for India's farmers by providing greater profit and sustainability
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- South Asia
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What Went Wrong with Microfinance?
Long before “99%” became a symbol of Occupy Wall Street, the microfinance industry used the number to describe the share of its clients — poor entrepreneurs shunned by traditional banks — who repaid their micro-loans on time. It’s a number used less and less in microfinance these days — not because of Occupy Wall Street, but because many micro-borrowers are starting to default.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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For a New Highway, from Rio to Delhi
Brazil and India can benefit from each other's experience for an inclusive development agenda.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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