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Answering Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Bangladesh with Skills Development, Artisan Training
Innovation is often associated with the newest technology or the latest app. But it also can be seen in the fresh application of a tried-and-true strategy – just in a new context. In Cox’s Bazar, a small town on the southeastern coast of Bangladesh, extreme poverty, a fraught socio-cultural landscape and the Rohingya refugee humanitarian crisis have exacerbated existing vulnerabilities and placed an unprecedented burden on women in the host communities. Sadiaa Haque and Samira Syed of BRAC explain how the organization is helping them bounce back through artisanal skills training and employment opportunities.
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- Uncategorized
- Tags
- creative economy, refugees
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Indonesian Sustainable Village Project Wins Grand Prize at Social Enterprise Forum in Taiwan
The unique approach of addressing civil society issues with design ingenuity won an Indonesian social enterprise organization the Grand Jury prize at this year’s Asia Pacific Social Enterprise Summit (APSES) in Kaohsiung.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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- creative economy
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Reviving India’s Artisans: How a Hybrid Model Helped One Social Enterprise Connect Craft Makers with Consumers
Exploitation in the global garment industry is well-known. But despite the perils of the sector, social enterprise Industree Foundation sees in it an opportunity. The organization provides skills training, safe working conditions and necessary equipment to rural women in Indian villages, bringing sustainable livelihoods to remote areas and time-honored artisan craftsmanship to the wider world. As part of NextBillion's "Course Correction" series, two Industree employees share how the organization overcame challenges of scale and sustainability with a hybrid model of social business.
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- Social Enterprise
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Too Much Money Chasing Too Few Deals? Why the Creative Economy Could Be the Next Big Focus for Impact Investing
Even with the many diverse focuses of impact investing these days, something is missing, says Laura Callanan of Upstart Co-Lab. She argues that investors are overlooking the creative economy, and that the impact sector should focus its attention on art, design, music, entertainment, fashion, food and more – a global economy worth $2.25 trillion that's the source of 29.5 million jobs.
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- Investing
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Beyond Microcredit: Why Tackling Poverty Requires More Than a Loan
It's clear that microcredit is not enough to end poverty, say Gary Carrier and Harrison Pharamond of MCE Social Capital. But this does not stop MCE from investing in microfinance institutions. Instead, they maximize the impact of these investments by supporting MFIs in offering “credit-plus services” - additional services that address poverty holistically.
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- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
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To Fix the Gender Gap, Fix the Digital Divide
Most job growth will come from STEM fields, yet women make up only 12 percent of engineering students. That’s why MIT’s new Solve initiative launched a Women and Technology Challenge asking for technology-fueled solutions that enable women and girls’ full participation in the economy. Selected solutions will receive support from cross-sector leaders interested in investing in innovative social impact projects – the Solve challenge deadline is Aug. 1.
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- Education, Finance, Impact Assessment, Technology
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Startups to Get $76m in Government’s Microcredit Guarantee Program in Indonesia
Creative Economy Agency (BEKRAF) has said it will distribute Rp 1 trillion ($76 million) from the government’s micro-credit guarantee program (KUR) to Indonesian startups. The loans will be provided by three of Indonesian state-owned banks – PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk (BBRI), PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk (BBNI), and PT Bank Mandiri Tbk (BMRI).
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Report: Nigerian President Planning to Offer Government Microloans to 1 Million Artisans, Market Women
More details are emerging about the social protection programmes of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency, including a scheme to grant soft loans to about one million artisans and market women in the proposed 2016 budget.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa