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MIT Scaling Development Ventures: Bridging Innovation and Impact
This marks the third year that international development, entrepreneurship, and public service programs at MIT have come together to organize the MIT Scaling Development Ventures conference. Each year, the conference brings together perspectives from the international development and business communities to examine the best ways to bring poverty-alleviating solutions to market at scale. This year’s conference takes place at MIT on Saturday, April 11. Registration is free for members of the MIT community.
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- Impact Assessment
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World Bank President Outlines Strategy to End Poverty, Welcomes New Development Partners
World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim today announced a broad strategy to end extreme poverty by 2030, and he welcomed emerging players such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, established by the BRICS countries, as potentially strong allies in the economic development of poor countries and emerging markets.
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- Energy
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10 Impact Investors in India That You Should Know
Out of the total 1.3 billion population in India, around 80 per cent are living in poverty. There are some companies in India — both in the tech and no-tech segments — helping this large segment to address various problems related to irrigation, lending, travel, education, etc., by providing cost-effective solutions. These impact ventures are getting financial assistance in the form of grants or funds from various investment firms, called Impact investors.
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- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Cellphones for Women in Developing Nations Aid Ascent From Poverty
Here is what life is like for a woman with no bank account in a developing country. She keeps her savings hidden — in pots, under mattresses, in fields. She constantly worries about thieves. She may even worry about her husband taking cash she has budgeted for their children’s needs. Sending money to a family member in another village is risky and can take days. Obtaining a loan in an emergency is often impossible.
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- Technology
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MCE Social Capital Reaches $100 Million in Loan Guarantees for Social Good
Launched in 2006, the nonprofit impact investing firm has used its innovative loan guarantee model to generate economic opportunities for nearly two million people living in poverty.
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- Uncategorized
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Interview: Transforming Banking for the Poor: A Q&A With Jonathan Morduch
Microfinance was once heralded as a key weapon in the fight against global poverty. Yet some 2.5 billion impoverished people across the world still don’t have access to basic financial services, according to the latest World Bank data.
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- Uncategorized
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Does Microfinance Still Hold Promise for Reaching the Poor?
Nearly two decades ago, when the concept of microfinance as a poverty reduction tool was in its infancy, there was hope that microcredit would transform economic and social structures. With its focus on reaching the previously unbanked, microcredit was expected to bring about change at the household level, a market in developing countries that traditional financial institutions had failed to reach.
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- Uncategorized
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The 169 Commandments
Moses brought ten commandments down from Mount Sinai. If only the UN’s proposed list of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were as concise. The SDGs are supposed to set out how to improve the lives of the poor in emerging countries, and how to steer money and government policy towards areas where they can do the most good. But the efforts of the SDG drafting committees are so sprawling and misconceived that the entire enterprise is being set up to fail. That would be not just a wasted opportunity, but also a betrayal of the world’s poorest people.
- Categories
- Environment
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