Since 1945 the United Nations has established the contemporary global, obligation to address the economic and social well-being of ordinary citizens. A very new concept when written into their charter: “The United Nations shall promote higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of progress and development in the economic and social order.”
Over time, for at least economists and policy makers, this development agenda has become synonymous with “improving economic opportunities through increased production of goods and services.” The implicit assumption is that economic growth will increase quality of life standards, life expectancy, improve nutrition and health.
Since 1945, there have been impressive advancements in the elimination of extreme poverty, but still many professionals wonder how to accelerate growth even more throughout the world – particularly in Africa and South Asia, two regions with a great number of poor. The issue has prompted economists and policymakers to analyze the importance of several factors, policies and institutions, finding six factors for successful development:
1. Social inclusion – With a healthier and more educated population, nations can enjoy a more effective economic and political life. Illiteracy is a major barrier to participation in the economy. Without widespread education, citizens are more easily manipulated by un-just governments – allowing for the empowerment of counter-productive leadership.
2. Quality management – Governments must manage their national macro-economic environment; if there is no over-arching/holistic governance, the nation loses its credibility both in private sector business, and the citizenry. The “political capital” of a country cannot be wasted, and moreover, if public resources and urgent needs are not continually addressed, then the country falls into a burden of “catch up” where they are always behind in development, comparatively.
3. Transparency and accountability – Transparency is essential to prevent corruption and financial fraud, and promotes citizen participation. Experience shows that trust in one’s government encourages citizens and businesses to pay their taxes, thus advancing development and social services. Companies invest and expand more, creating greater confidence in the government and a “virtuous circle” of development ensues.
4. Technology and innovation – Economic production is no longer just about capital and labor, now knowledge and innovation are just as important. It has been proven that technology gaps can explain the disparity in productivity between different countries. Technological adoption, knowledge dissemination and information communication technology (ICT) are imperative for national competitiveness.
5. Economic opportunities – Increasing the access and use economic resources to citizens is imperative. Free and open access to markets can contribute significantly to development; access to goods, labor and financial markets for personal use, production and exchange; especially the promotion of small-businesses.
6. Administrative Infrastructure – Business and society often come down to bureaucratic needs: issuance of licenses, permits, birth certificate, passport, filing taxes, starting a business, registering a title, property rights, contract settlements, foreign trade authorization, hiring an employee, use the public health services, etc. The efficiency of bureaucracy is pertinent to advancing greater and more equal access to public resources.
– Mary Purcell
Source: ITC
Photo: amateurinafrica.com
Water: The Elixir of Life
Water cooperation was the theme of this year’s World Water Day. There is a higher need to access of water and security of water resources especially with the estimated population increase which suggests that by 2050 there will be 9 billion people in the world. Thus, dependency on water will continue to be a major source of concern, especially when taking into account that each individual holds the power to affect others’ access to clean water because each individual can pollute and/or waste water.
Some concerns and challenges include that water is needed in every aspect of life; for example, the growth of the agricultural industry and service sectors depend on access and availability of water. However, in addition to maintaining the availability of water, there is also a need to decrease pressure on the excess disposal of water, especially for economic development. Water should be used in relation to its “biophysical limit.” Water also faces the threat of “commercialisation,” where water markets dictate that access to clean and safe water depends on the ability to pay for it. Thus, there should be a push for more water rights for poor communities.
Hence, water cooperation would lead to many benefits: “social harmony in water allocation and increasing human welfare.” Cooperation can prevent conflicts and competition over water access, can promote water use efficiency and better water management. Cooperation can occur between municipalities and private providers in order to “stimulate resource mobilisation.” Also, industry and government must cooperate to efficiently mobilise finances for water projects.
Water cooperation calls for an “inclusive and innovative approach.” The main goal is to sustain the growing population, preserve water availability and access, promote peace and security and mutual respect, and ultimately maintain economic growth. After all, water is truly the elixir of life.
–Leen Abdallah
Source: The Hindu
Photo: Google
Madonna Auction’s Her Painting for Charity
On May 7, 2013, Sotheby’s will auction a painting from Madonna’s art collection, in its Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale. The sale of the Fernand Léger’s “Trois femmes à la table rouge – Three Women” painting is estimated at $5 to $7 million, and all proceeds will benefit the Ray of Light Foundation to support girls’ education in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries.
“I have a great passion for art and a great passion for education. In conjunction with Sotheby’s, I would like to share these two passions. I cannot accept a world where women or girls are wounded, shot or killed for either going to school or teaching in girls’ schools. Let’s change the world!” commented Madonna.
In Afghanistan, just 12 percent of women are literate and it is estimated that only seven girls to every ten boys are able to attend school. In Pakistan, which has one of the largest populations of out-of-school children in the world, it is estimated that there are more than three million primary school-aged girls unable to attend school.
The Fernand Léger painting was done in 1921, at the height of his Mechanical Elements series. Over time, Léger’s rendering of female subjects became increasingly abstract and this painting on auction is an example of his unique Cubist moment. Madonna is taking this valuable piece of art, and turning it into an even more valuable catalyst for social-good.
– Mary Purcell
Source: Look At The Stars
6 Factors for Successful Development
Since 1945 the United Nations has established the contemporary global, obligation to address the economic and social well-being of ordinary citizens. A very new concept when written into their charter: “The United Nations shall promote higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of progress and development in the economic and social order.”
Over time, for at least economists and policy makers, this development agenda has become synonymous with “improving economic opportunities through increased production of goods and services.” The implicit assumption is that economic growth will increase quality of life standards, life expectancy, improve nutrition and health.
Since 1945, there have been impressive advancements in the elimination of extreme poverty, but still many professionals wonder how to accelerate growth even more throughout the world – particularly in Africa and South Asia, two regions with a great number of poor. The issue has prompted economists and policymakers to analyze the importance of several factors, policies and institutions, finding six factors for successful development:
Source: ITC
Photo: amateurinafrica.com
U.S. AID Sponsors A NEAT Way To Help Nepali Farmers
After a decade of armed insurgency by Maoists, tension in Nepal has increased making some impoverished areas more susceptible to insurrection. The Nepal Economic Agricultural and Trade Activity (NEAT), a USAID funded program, has addressed this problem with a new campaign which involves circulating agricultural training materials throughout impoverished communities in Nepal.
By attempting to decrease poverty, reduce conflict and improve lives, NEAT has targeted the illiterate and semiliterate with training materials. The program is working with 67,510 food insecure and disadvantaged households in 20 districts. Combining photos and written descriptions, the 263,000 pieces outline different ways to increase the quality and quantity of 13 different crops and three types of livestock.
The effect of this type of aid is not only a stronger economy in rural and impoverished areas of Nepal, it is also an improved resistance to insurgency and other roots of violence.
This program falls in line with USAID’s newly implemented efficiency program, USAID Forward, which works toward cutting its global footprint. Programs such as NEAT are made from Nepali people who can more easily assess their country’s problems and work toward a sustainable solution.
Thus far, NEAT has helped Nepali farmers increase their household incomes by a total of $8.5 billion,, with 99 percent of them reporting that they had increased access to markets for their crops. The project is slated to close in August 2013.
– Pete Grapentien
Source: FinChannel.com
Photo: Nepal Santoshs
China: A Model for Ending Poverty
It is predicted that by 2015 China will decrease the number of its citizens living in poverty by 50 million. Other developing countries are taking note of China’s success and, with the help of foreign investment, hope to employ the same methods. With its growing economy and monetary assistance, China is, by example, taking a leading role in foreign aid and assisting the developing world.
China’s representative for the World Food Programme, Brett Rierson, explains how China used a bottom-up method of alleviating poverty. The Chinese government focused on aiding poor farmers by implementing policies that permitted farmers to keep a higher percentage of their profits and allocating foreign investment and technology to small villages. Investment in infrastructure, as well as improving nutrition education, women’s health, and agriculture production, are also factors responsible for China’s success story.
A majority of China’s aid goes to countries in Asia and Africa. These developing countries can mimic China’s strategy by investing in infrastructure and farming communities. Deborah Brautigam, director of the international development program at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, reminds us that it was China’s decision to invest in agriculture that helped reduce poverty, not just foreign assistance. African countries have the potential to lift themselves out of poverty, but it depends on how they invest the money they received from foreign aid.
China formerly received foreign aid from Western countries and is now ready to begin investing in other developing countries. With China’s help, the United Nations is on track to reaching the Millennium Development Goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030.
-Mary Penn
Source: SCMP
Photo: The Guardian
8 Ways to Use Social Media for Social Change
In this day and age, nonprofit organizations are multiplying by the second. In a sea of social awareness, it can become hard to make your organization stand out and grab the audience’s attention. Whether you’re a member, a donor, or on the Board of Directors, here are 8 simple ways to use social media to bring about social change.
Gather Advocates: Look at your network. See where certain individuals or groups have their strengths. By identifying key donors and volunteers, you can take advantage of their skills and contacts. For example, if you recognize a member who has a strong presence on Twitter in their own right, approach them with specific requests to advocate for your group and help spread the word. Or if there is someone who writes well or is able to easily communicate your organization’s message, ask if they would be willing to blog or create a Twitter account and put their skills to use!
Let Ideas Sit and Develop: A lot of good ideas and suggestions will come not just from active members but one-time visitors to your social media pages. This requires letting ideas and conversations to sit and simmer. Even if a topic produces controversial comments, don’t jump the gun and remove it. Sometimes, controversy can be a good thing and lead to an unintended brainstorming session. Topics may be left untouched for a while as well but you never know when it will gain popularity randomly and create a big social media buzz.
Authenticate Your Voice: Many organizations these days have multiple social media accounts. Whether its Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, etc., its always important to keep your ‘voice’ consistent. By voice, it means the style of the content. Does your organization use highly intellectual vocabulary? Is it more relaxed and casual to appeal to a younger audience? Or maybe it simply posts news updates. Either way, make sure each site adheres to the same voice. This will clearly illustrate your intent and goals to anyone reading up on the organization no matter what medium they’re using.
Sustained Conversations: Many organizations host live chats as part of their outreach. What is important with these however is to keep it going! Choose a time and place to host it. Whether its once a month or once a week, make sure its all consistent. This way, once the event is known, people will know where they can always find it. Reddit’s AMA (Ask Me Anything) series is an amazing way to create an open dialogue and get some serious exposure to new and curious members.
Its a 2 Way Street: Certain groups will stick to easy advocacy meaning they simply put out information and leave it up to people to do what they please with it. If you really want to make moves and create social change, the actual social aspect has to be there! If someone tweets about your organization or you see an applicable hashtag, retweet! Show people and followers that you know they exist. On org websites, think about incorporating a chat room or allowing people to post comments. It is of course important to manage what is being said but social change won’t happen if everyone is just thinking silently in their own heads!
ID the Demographic: No, they don’t need to be 21, but find out where your supporters are! Where do most of the donors come from? Are they the same people who blog about your organization or talk about it on Twitter? Make sure you have a presence on any and all social media sites that you think will attract the best type of advocates for your cause
Don’t Dumb it Down: While sites such as Twitter may have character limits, don’t let that limit the conversation. People are finding more ways to get the message across and make something meaningful come out of it everyday. Legitimate advocacy and change can come in the form of photography or short videos, even through games.
– Deena Dulgerian
Source: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
REwiRE Brings Electricity to 67 Million
Rural Electrification with Renewable Energy (REwiRE) has taken the multi-level task of financing, developing and managing renewable and sustainable energy power grids in emerging markets. In this type of setting, once a company is on the ground in a foreign country, many unforeseen challenges present themselves.
REwiRE has chosen Indonesia, where 67 million people are without electricity, as the best country for the business. Indonesia presents almost the perfect situation for a startup such as REwiRE. The archipelago landscape has made fuel shipments to the country’s 18,000 islands very costly leaving some communities without power completely. However, this provides the perfect context for smaller scale power grids which can provide the communities of Indonesia with much needed and affordable electricity.
Faced with a new culture, diverse landscape, and unfamiliar legal system, REwiRE has teamed up with Ibeka, an NGO which has been helping REwiRE get accustomed to local culture and other challenges.
Providing electricity to impoverished communities is one of the most important building blocks to creating an infrastructure that can pull a developing country into the developed world. By contributing this tantamount element to Indonesia’s diverse landscape REwiRE sets the stage for more future development.
-Pete Grapentien
Source: Social Capital Markets
Photo:
How Cell Phones Are Reducing Child Mortality In Mozambique
The problem of disseminating health-related information to impoverished communities is consistently at the forefront of humanitarian aid. On March 27, Mcel, a mobile telecommunications provider in Mozambique, along with UNICEF and the Ministry of Health signed a partnership which enables all Mcel customers to receive educational text messages.
This project, dubbed “SMS for Life,” spreads information to all Mcel users free of charge. The topics addressed in the text messages go over disease prevention, injuries, violence against children, and the importance of using health facilities. The program is scheduled to last three years and contributes to the national effort to achieve Millennium Development Goals four and five established by the UN. These goals focus on reducing child mortality rates and improving maternal health.
While the use of mobile phones in Mozambique isn’t as common as in the United States, Mcel’s subscribers cover all social groups – this project alone is predicted to reach nearly five million people.
One of the interesting aspects of this partnership is the use of the private sector in contributing its resources and support to public health and national goals. This type of success includes low involvement from external countries and simply aids the nation’s own companies and people in addressing national problems.
-Pete Grapentien
Source: UNICEF
The Sound of Change Concert featuring Beyonce and Women Empowerment
Chime for Change is throwing a huge concert that will elicit large crowds because of the musical artists performing. Those who have the privilege of attending The Sound of Change concert on June 1, 2013 in London will see and hear performances by Beyonce, a member of the Chime for Change founding committee, John Legend, Florence and the Machine, Ellie Goulding, Iggy Azalea, Timbaland, Laura Pausini, and Rita Ora.
However, the driving force behind this concert is not the showcasing of musical talents or putting on a great show but rather raising funds and bringing attention to problems plaguing women globally, especially in the areas of health, education, and justice. In between the musical performances, attention will be directed towards women’s issues and personal stories of women across the globe. In addition to drawing attention to the issues,the Chime for Change organization and Gucci are ensuring that all proceeds from ticket sales are given to nonprofit organizations that are helping empower women.
Chime for Change is an organization founded by Gucci that brings together the voices of women across the globe to create discussion and raise funds and awareness for girls’ and women’s empowerment. In bringing this concert to London, as well as broadcasting it online for people all over the world to view, Chime for Change is putting girls’ and women’s issues on a world stage. Discussion of these issues are sure to occur as the result of this concert, which is one of the main points of the Chime for Change campaign. According to Ariana Huffington, an advisory board member of Chime for Change, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of The Huffington Post, the organization “brings together a range of voices, from women’s advocates and experts to business leaders and philanthropists” working to make girls’ and women’s issues a top priority.
Mixing fashion (Gucci) and charity work seems to be a winning combination. The Sound of Change concert will surely draw a large crowd and bring issues plaguing girls and women everywhere to the front and center.
– Angela Hooks
Sources: Elle, Huffington Post
3 American Tech Companies and Africa
While Africa has its share of security issues, it has its share of economic growth as well. In fact, as a continent, it is growing at a faster rate than North America. This has spurred a big push in many African countries to modernize technologically which has given rise to many tech hubs and even a few tech cities. All of this begs the question: What are American tech companies doing to contribute to and capitalize on this type of growth? Here is a list of what three of the largest American tech companies have been up to in Africa.
IBM
IBM recently opened an office in Dakar, Senegal which the company believes will bring in roughly $20 billion by 2015. IBM is no stranger to the region as it sold supplies to South Africa in 1911. Recently, IBM has become more and more focused on Africa and has established a presence in 20 of Africa’s 54 countries. No doubt IBM is hoping to establish a bigger presence in many of the upstart tech hubs which have begun sprouting up all over the continent.
Microsoft
In an attempt to gain ground in the smartphone market as well as capitalize on Africa’s quickly growing tech industry, Microsoft has introduced its Microsoft 4Afrika initiative. Microsoft 4Afrika will be producing a moderately price $150 smartphone. The phone will be marketed toward Africa’s middle-class which comprises one quarter of Africa’s billion people. Microsoft has plans with Nokia to release two more smartphones in the near future. This decision was likely influenced by Africa’s number one spot as the world’s fastest growing region for smartphones. The region has grown by 43% per year since 2000.
Google
Google chairman Eric Schmidt noted that Nairobi has become a remarkable tech hub and has the potential to become an African leader in innovation. However, Google seems to be losing ground in Africa as French based mobile operator Orange and Baidu, China’s answer to Google, have collaborated on a jointly branded smartphone. This comes as no surprise as China has been aggressive in its attempts to forge business partnerships all over the quickly changing continent.
Africa’s main draw to tech companies is that it continues to grow while larger economies have stalled. If this trend continues, those companies who are left behind investing in these developed markets may see their profits eclipsed by these fast growing economies.
-Pete Grapentien
Source The Economist