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Seeking the Anti-Poverty Holy Grail: Can a ‘Trust Mark’ Boost Microfinance’s Social Impact?
In an effort to find which microfinance practitioners are most successfully alleviating poverty, Truelift – with the help of other microfinance rating agencies and technical experts – designed an assessment tool and beta-tested it on nine institutions around the world. The result, essentially, is a global “trust mark” for anti-poverty action. Organizers are looking for opportunities to use the tool to support assessment of a variety of service providers.
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- Uncategorized
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SPRING announces 19 startups joining East Africa cohort
Disrupt Africa reported in 2015, SPRING launched its inaugural program in East Africa, focused on supporting startups improving the lives of adolescent girls living in poverty. 18 startups were selected to join the first cohort, receiving an average of US$80,000 each. A second program was conducted in Asia.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Why India needs to work on financial literacy now more than ever
India is home to 17.5% of the world’s population but nearly 76% of its adult population does not understand even the basic financial concepts. Empirical evidence shows that digital efforts on financial education have had a far greater impact than the traditional media.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Opinion: Adopting the sustainable development goals is a business opportunity for Australia
Business as usual is not an option. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), launched in 2015, are 17 goals for ending poverty, transforming health and education, improving our cities and communities, addressing gender equity and tackling urgent challenges such as climate change. Collectively, they propose a new development pathway, based on partnership between governments, civil society and business that could transform our societies.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Study Calls on Impact Investors to Close Educational Attainment Gaps
According to a recent Global Impact Investing Network survey, impact investments in the education sector accounted for only 2 percent of global impact investing assets under management. The report further suggests that foundations can play a catalytic role in ensuring the flow of capital to educational organizations and for interventions designed to boost equitable access to higher education for underserved populations through the provision of "blended capital" (a combination of grants, "patient" or more affordable equity, and/or debt capital).
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New Partnership Aims To Lift Women Microentrepreneurs In Myanmar Out Of Poverty
OPIC and DAWN announced in early May that the former had agreed to provide a $5 million loan to support DAWN’s activities in the country. An outgrowth of Save the Children’s Myanmar operation, DAWN has been operating independently of the NGO for the past two years, with strong support from Accion and other stakeholders. When DAWN launched in 2015, it had 27,000 clients carried over from Save the Children. Two years later, it serves 80,000 women and has its eye on rapid expansion.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Building an App in Africa: Lessons From an Aspiring Tech Disruptor
The motorcycle taxi, or boda boda, industry is the second-highest employer in Uganda, but is marked by rising crime and road accidents. SafeBoda, founded in 2015, wants to change this through an app that connects its community of trained, professional drivers with passengers who are looking for a safer ride. The company's co-founder discusses what they've learned so far about building an app in Africa.
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- Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
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Meet Vikash Das, who left his high-paying job at IBM to help tribals become social entrepreneurs in India
Even as he was making big bucks at IBM, his heart yearned to do something for the tribal community in India. At a time when people at his age are focussed on career making and launching their startups, Vikash wanted to become a social entrepreneur and enable the tribal communities in eastern India as well.
- Region
- South Asia