NextBillion - A WDI Publication

IDB, Oikocredit, Incofin and Calvert Foundation Back Credit Cooperative in Ecuador

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has closed a $9 million syndicated loan with Jardin Azuayo, a community-based savings and loan cooperative in Ecuador . The loan will fund the co-op’s Credits for Community Development project, which channels funds to municipalities, community organizations and other local entities to finance improvements in social infrastructure such as schools and roads. Th...

Source

iadb.org (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

With Mobile Technology Vodafone and the U.N. Improve Health in Brazil’s Remote Communities

The Vodafone Foundation and the United Nations are working together again on a mobile initiative for social good --this time in Brazil and with an eye on ...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

Facebook, Twitter Could Learn Social Responsibility from South Africa’s Social Network

MXit, a popular mobile messaging client that reaches an astounding 40% of South Africans , has an aggressive corporate social responsibility program that US-based social networks could learn from. In addition to live educational, drug, and suicide-prevention counselors, MXit recently added a civic responsibility app, Sm...

Source

Fast Company (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Rockefeller Foundation Sees Social-Change Dividend

The Rockefeller Foundation is banking on paying for social change that works. To that end, the foundation will this week announce a $400,000 gr...

Source

The Wall Street Journal (link opens in a new window)

Live Q&A: Social Franchising And Social Enterprise

Franchising is a well-established means of expanding a business, and one which is coming under increasing scrutiny by social entrepreneurs. Yet a recent report from the Social Enterprise Coalition found that there were a number of barriers to expanding social franchising, including understanding, finance, intellectual property and capacity. The report said that more support was needed for social enterprises who wa...

Source

The Guardian (link opens in a new window)

In Egypt, Will an Economic Revolution Follow?

The popular uprising in Egypt has quickly been accorded a conventional explanation: The people want democratic government. This is not necessarily wrong, but it risks ignoring deep-seated trends in Egypt that, if neglected in the coming political transition, will only boil over again. Specifically, Egypt suffers from a stagnant economy and it should not be surprising that a lack of economic opportunity contributed to ...

Source

Inc. (link opens in a new window)

Region

North Africa & Near East

Founder, Teach A Man to Fish Wins Anti-Poverty Achievement Award

News Release: San Francisco, CA, February 14, 2011 - Martin Burt, Chief Executive Office of both Fundación Paraguaya in Paraguay and Teach a Man to Fish , which operates globally, has been named the 2011 Opportunity Collaboration Achievement Award recipient. Presented every World Poverty Day on the final evening of the annual ...

Source

Press Release: Opportunity Collaboration

Engineers Hone Clean-Energy Stoves For The World

Almost half the world still cooks its food with solid fuels, such as wood and charcoal. The results are deforestation and black carbon, which contributes to global warming. And smoke-related disease kills an estimated 1.6 million people a year. In war zones, the daily hunt for firewood can present families with terrible dilemmas, says Veronique Barbelet of the World Food Programme. "You hear women in northern Uganda and places like that telling you, ’My choice is between...

Source

NPR (link opens in a new window)