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Escaping poverty on the back of a chicken
In the dusty Nigerian village of Nwangele, a 13-year-old girl, Eziuche Chimdi, has escaped a life of oppression. She has only one tool - a chicken.Her life could easily have been very different. Poverty and traditional values dictate the lives of many young girls who will be forced to become child brides. 40 per cent of girls in Nigeria are married by the age of 15, and marriage puts an end to education. Once wedded, she will be subject to a life of servitude as the second or third wife to a man more than twice her age. Disobedience results in violence and young girls are sexually vulnerable and susceptible to HIV/AIDS - the biggest killer of women in Nigeria.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Should Fighting Hunger Be a Franchise Business?
The idea of a business franchise is more likely to conjure an image of a Happy Meal than a famine food ration, but what if the same system that makes McDonald’s globally omnipresent could do the same for food aid or poverty-fighting?
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Young managers from top firms barter fat pay checks to join political system
MUMBAI: Come June, Vaibhav Lodha will swap his pinstripes for crisp white khadi. The 27-year-old manager with Bangalore-based analytics company Mu Sigma is set to leave a high-paying job, where he is serving his notice period, to work as a consultant for parliamentarian Anurag Thakur in Himachal Pradesh.
- Region
- South Asia
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What Exactly Is Social Entrepreneurship?
We’re talking about success and social value. Today many people lump this in a special category: social entrepreneurship. We’re not sure exactly what that is, so we’re interested in learning more. As it turns out, so were two Tuck class of 2013 students, Christopher Halstedt and Brad Callow. This past spring they did an independent study Senior Associate Dean Bob Hansen and Gregg on exactly this topic. They set out to see if they could understand what exactly is social entrepreneurship and how it creates social value. Here are some excerpts from what they found:
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
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Why Companies Can No Longer Afford to Ignore Their Social Responsibilities
In 1970, the economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman published an article in The New York Times Magazine titled, “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.” In the article, he referred to corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs as “hypocritical window-dressing,” and said that businesspeople inclined toward such programs “reveal a suicidal impulse.” Even four decades ago, at a time of growing public concern for the environment, his views represented the general skepticism and contempt with which many in Corporate America viewed CSR.
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Yes, Microfinance Does Work. Here’s How…
By now, anyone with an interest in microfinance or poverty alleviation has read the criticism. There are tragic crises in Andhra Pradesh, the regrettable stepping-down of Muhammad Yunus from Grameen, and provocative headlines in the media claiming to refute microcredit's effectiveness. However, I feel strongly that if readers listen only to the white noise, they'll do themselves and the microfinance industry a disservice and, more to the point, they'll be misled.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Rural women in Gujarat get energy-efficient products
AHMEDABAD: International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is helping Ahmedabad-based Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) provide energy-efficient cook stoves and solar lanters to its members. IFC will provide a partial credit guarantee for a $5 million loan that an Indian private sector bank is providing to SEWA-sponsored Grassroots Trading Network for Women.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Can Funding Entrepreneurs in the Developing World Create 1 Million Jobs?
Big Idea: The Adventure Project is an alternative funding organization that supports entrepreneurs in developing countries, with the goal to produce one million jobs within the next ten years.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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