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Definitive Data on What Poor People Buy When They’re Just Given Cash
It is increasingly common for governments to give poor people money. Rather than grant services or particular goods to those in poverty, such as food or housing, governments have found that it is more effective and efficient to simply hand out cash. In some cases, these cash transfers are conditional on doing something the government deems good, like sending your children to school or getting vaccinated. In other cases, they’re entirely unconditional.
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- Uncategorized
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An Opportunity for Small Businesses Expanding Affordable Internet Access: Grant Applications Open
New Sun Road designed, built and operated the first 24/7 metered electricity service on an off-grid island chain in the southern part of Uganda. It's exactly the type of small business – providing a critical service, creating jobs – that Microsoft aims to support with its Affordable Access Initiative. Applications are open for a new round of grants through the initiative, and will be accepted through Jan. 31.
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- Technology
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An MVP for Africa: Adapting Poverty Solutions to New Continents and Contexts
Fundación Capital has had success fighting extreme poverty in Latin America, using the Graduation model. Now it's transporting the model to new cultures and contexts on the other side of the Atlantic, starting in Tanzania and Mozambique. Fundación discusses the challenges it has faced in adapting its model to new languages and cultures, and the lessons it has learned in the process.
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- Education, Technology
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The Problem of Mandatory Formalization in Financial Inclusion
An opened bank account in and of itself means very little, and a sitting balance in a bank account is literally a waste of money. What does have meaning is what accumulated savings let a consumer buy or borrow at a lower cost at the right time, without having to beg, borrow (at high cost) or steal. And when that asset grows in a meaningful way, then we have something to write home about: development and wealth accumulation in action.
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Digital Tools for Impact and Scale to Reduce Extreme Poverty
Ana Pantelic writes that Fundación Capital is using tablet-based applications and e-learning platforms to change the way that families living in extreme poverty – and the program mentors who work with them – access information and build local capacity. By integrating digital solutions into its work, the organization has improved and standardized the quality of training, and as a result, scaled national responses to eliminating poverty.
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- Education, Technology
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Weekly Roundup: Social Impact Sector Reacts to Trump With Fear, Uncertainty … Room for Hope?
It may be hard to believe – and even harder for some to accept – but Donald Trump is now the most powerful man in the world. And like many, the social business and global development world was, shall we say, taken aback by his victory this week. As the new reality sinks in and leaders and commentators try to make sense of his election, we’ve compiled a few of their more memorable reactions.
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- Social Enterprise
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You Asked, We Answer: Can Microloans Lift Women Out Of Poverty?
You've probably heard the stories. A desperately poor woman in a poor country gets a tiny loan — a couple hundred dollars. It's the break she's always needed. With that money she can finally buy the materials to start a small business. She turns a profit. Her income rises. Now she has money to expand her business even further, buy her kids more nutritious food, pay their school fees. Over time, she lifts her whole family out of poverty.
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- Impact Assessment
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Peer Mentorships Helping Colombia Write Its Next Chapter
Peer learning provides mutually beneficial relationships that advance the knowledge and well-being of all participants. In the second post in our series on the Graduation model of alleviating poverty, Fundación Capital explores the power of local peer mentors in supporting the income-generation projects of individuals affected by the violence in Colombia.
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- Education