NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Dies at 71

NAIROBI, Kenya - Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist who started out by paying poor women a few shillings to plant trees and went on to become the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, died late on Sunday after battling cancer. She was 71. Mrs. Maathai, one of the most famous and widely respected women on the continent, wore many hats - environmentalist, feminist, politician, professor, rabble-rouser, human rights advocate and head of the ...

Source

The New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

The Big Save

TWO years ago Sabina sold flowers on the street from a shopping trolley. Today she has her own storefront in Queens, thanks to a $1,500 loan from Grameen America, a microfinance institution based on Grameen bank, which was founded by Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. Since opening its first American branch in January 2008, Grameen has found fertile ground. It has lent more than $25m to 7,300 borrowers. At 15%, interest rates are high, but far less than a loan shark or payday lender would charge (...

Source

The Economist (link opens in a new window)

Solar-Powered Water ATMs Provide Clean Drinking Water to the Thirsty

Clean water is a luxury; one in eight people around the world lack access to supplies of the stuff, and unsafe water is responsible for 60% to 80% of all disease in India alone. There are plenty of possible solutions--new wells, pricey community water filters--but an organization called Sarvajal has devised a fix that is rapidly spreading across India: solar-powered water ATMs. Sarvajal was honored...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Bill Clinton Gets 194 Pledges to Tackle World Woes

(Reuters) - Pledges to train 40,000 Tunisian youths to open businesses, give a million poor U.S. students access to broadband and teach 600 Indonesians a trade were among the commitments made at former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s philanthropic summit, which ended on Thursday. With a focus on creating jobs, programs for women and girls and sustainable consumption, heads of states, business leaders, humanitarians and celebrities at the seventh annual Clinton Global Initiative made 1...

Source

Reuters (link opens in a new window)

Walmart Targets Women-owned Businesses

Walmart says it has decided to access services and goods from women, including Africa, after being accused of gender discrimination in the US. The US Supreme Court threw out the gender-discrimination lawsuit against Walmart, but the bad press it generated has led the US retailer to change some of its buying rules. In 2001 a number of previous female employees of Walmart decided to sue the retailer. The world’s biggest retailer opposed the action which after a decade, eve...

Source

Business Day (link opens in a new window)

African Forest Policies Crowned Best in World

The prize is awarded annually by the World Future Council, a foundation that brings the interests of future generations to the centre of policy making. The jury which decided on the winning policies was composed of experts on sustainability and forests from all five continents. Runners-up were forest policies from Bhutan, Nepal and Switzerland. The US Lacey Act’s 2008 amendment, which bans the import of illegally harvested wood, received the second Silver Award. Rw...

Source

AfricaNews.com (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Education

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Loan Ranger

On a hot summer day in Manaus, Brazil, Diana Taylor, the former banking superintendent of New York and longtime companion of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, was strolling through a slum. A city of about two million in the middle of the Amazon, Manaus is where the Boston-based microfinance group Acción International started an ambitious lending operation in February, and Taylor, who is chairwoman of the group’s board, had flown down with a delegation...

Source

The New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Thriving Social Enterprise Empowers Rural Poor in Philippines

Gandang Kalikasan, Inc. of Philippines has emerged as one of the sterling examples of how social enterprises can make a difference while being profitable at the same time. GKI is a unique social enterprise that was established four years ago by two sisters in Philippines, Anna Meloto-Wilk and Camille Meloto. It is now making a meaningful difference to the lives of thousands of rural poor in Philippines, while running an internationally successful business. Sisters Anna Meloto-Wil...

Source

Justmeans (link opens in a new window)

Region

Asia Pacific