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Major New UN Report Calls for Overhaul of Global Financial System
The report is a joint product of the Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development, which is comprised of more than 60 United Nations Agencies and international organizations.
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Viewpoint: Winning the War on Poverty
According to recently released data, between 2015 and 2017, Canada reduced its official poverty rate by at least 20 percent. Roughly 825,000 Canadians were lifted out of poverty in those years, giving the country today its lowest poverty rate in history.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- North America
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How Can Fintech Serve the Poor? A Q&A with CGAP CEO Greta Bull
As fintech innovation transforms the financial sphere, what are the implications for low-income and unbanked individuals? Greta Bull, CEO of CGAP, explored this question in a widely read essay earlier this year, and NextBillion followed up to get a deeper sense of her views on fintech's potential (and practical) impact. Her thoughts offer an important barometer of an organization and an industry in transition, as the tech revolution continues to reshape financial inclusion.
- Categories
- Finance
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The Development Challenge You’re Overlooking: Seven Things You Need to Know About Land Rights
Approximately 72 percent of the world’s population – more than 4 billion people – live on property for which they do not hold formal rights. This presents obstacles to social cohesion, financial inclusion and economic growth – in fact, in many countries, landlessness is the best predictor of poverty. Yet the problem remains under-recognized in many global development discussions. Tim Rann, a partner at Mercy Corps’ Social Ventures team, lays out seven things you should know about the issue.
- Categories
- Environment
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A microloan can help poor people in Bangladesh. What about New Jersey?
The Grameen Bank, one of the pioneers of microfinance, which has been operating its program in Bangladesh since the 1970s, released a study on one of its programs in New Jersey. The program works like this: Low-income women apply for a microloan as part of a small group, and all members of the group are accountable for ensuring each member makes payments.
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- Finance
- Region
- North America
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Viewpoint: The Problem With Opportunity Zones
The framework, funded in part by the Kresge Foundation, is an important first set of principles to guide this rapidly emerging market. But those principles are only as useful as their adoption.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North America
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Press release: The PepsiCo Foundation Partners with CARE to Tackle Gender Inequality in Agriculture with an $18.2 Million Investment in She Feeds the World
Grant will provide resources and training to 5 million women farmers and their families worldwide to help them increase crop yields and income.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Don’t Fall for the World Bank’s Bold Claims About Financial Inclusion and the SDGs
"It sounds so simple: Everyone gets access to financial services and – presto – the foundations for the SGDs will be laid." That's the key message Phil Mader and Maren Duvendack took away from World Bank economist Leora Klapper's recent NextBillion post. But that rosy scenario, they say, bears no resemblance to reality. In fact, according to their exhaustive new review of existing research, the inconvenient truth is that financial inclusion is not accelerating progress toward the SDGs – and isn't even fundamental for attaining them.
- Categories
- Finance
