Creating a Pipeline for Economic Growth in Myanmar
3 min read Short-termism thrives in times of economic crisis, and Russia is offering a quick fix. As oil exports to the West dry up due to the Ukraine conflict, Moscow is looking eastwards for countries in need and has found a buyer in the shape of Myanmar. Fuel prices in Myanmar have more than […]
Creating a Sustainable Future for Businesses With Gender Equality Mainstreaming
Women represent almost half of the global population, but when it comes to economic empowerment and power balance, it will be 132 years to see a world with complete gender equality, unless we dramatically increase the pace of change. Despite the increasing share of women in the paid workforce and leadership roles in recent years, […]
Creating A Sweet and Sustainable Future For The Philippines’ Cocoa Industry
3 mins read All over the world, chocolate is associated with happiness, joy, and celebration. Paradoxically, its production comes with a whole lot of hazardous side effects for farmers and the planet. As the demand for cocoa grows every year, the need for sustainability in the cacao industry remains a remarkably significant concern. In the […]
Creating Positive Social Impact: Reflections and Learnings from IKEA
3 min read We recently released our fourth annual review — reflecting on our methods, initiatives and learnings — and surfacing social entrepreneurs’ positive social impact. The global context In 2022, we saw global crises multiply and their effects compound. The climate emergency, coronavirus pandemic, war and inflation affected people across the world. But in […]
Decentralised Renewable Energy for India’s Farmers
SwitchON Foundation Our foundation works on issues of global importance and the local issues of poor and marginalised farmers in rural and Indigenous communities. We are dedicated to strengthening the nexus of energy, water and agriculture in India by starting innovative projects and incubating successful ventures in renewable energy access, agrarian and allied livelihoods, skilling, […]
Digital Education for Students, Job Seekers and Small Businesses – How JUMP is Empowering Overlooked Communities
6 mins read With the support of Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, AVPN (Asian Venture Philanthropy Network) partnered with Merry Year Social Company (MYSC) to launch the USD 1 Million Digital Transformation Fund in 2021. The Fund aims to support non-profit organisations in South Korea to support small and medium business owners and job seekers from […]
Digital Education for Youth and Young Adults with Disabilities – Strengthening the Employment Capabilities of People with Disabilities Through Software Education, the Story of SWKorea
7 minutes read With the support of Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, AVPN (Asian Venture Philanthropy Network) partnered with Merry Year Social Company (MYSC) to launch the USD 1 Million Digital Transformation Fund in 2021. The Fund aims to support non-profit organisations in South Korea to support small and medium business owners and job seekers from […]
Digitizing Financial Education: A solution to improving financial literacy and inclusion
4 min read Financial inclusion is identified as a key enabler to achieving eight of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. To achieve the goals, many governments and civil society organizations have been working on providing access to financial services and products to the unbanked. However, without the right understanding and financial skills among […]
Don’t Forget “Impact” in Impact Investing – The Case of India
A new study, based on interviewing over 30 stakeholders in the impact investing ecosystem in India, takes stock of the progress of impact investing in India to date, through asking some difficult questions.
Driving Prevention of Cervical Cancer for Foreign Domestic Workers From the Philippines and Indonesia
Every year, more than 500,000 women develop cervical cancer, and 270,000 women die from the disease. Most of these deaths occur in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), where high mortality rates reflect a lack of access to cervical cancer screening. In Southeast Asia, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women, and with roughly 175,000 […]
Driving Progress: Funding Hepatitis Elimination Programs for Lasting Impact
4 minutes read Viral hepatitis poses a significant global health challenge, with 354 millions of people affected by hepatitis B and C. Despite the availability of affordable and curative treatments, progress towards eliminating hepatitis has been limited, especially in low- and middle-income countries. To address this funding gap, a coalition of partners is exploring a […]
Ease of Health Care Approach
5 min read The pandemic has had a silver lining – it reminded every stakeholder of the relevance of resilient, reliable, and professional healthcare, for all. While health for all has long been an aspiration goal for the Government of India and civil society, progress has often been slow and unsatisfactory. One key challenge is […]
Economic Empowerment for Asia’s Women Requires More Support
This article was originally featured on Nikkei Asia here. 5 min read Women bear the brunt of war, pandemics and climate change. Globally, women are 14 times more likely to die in climate events and four times more likely to be displaced because of climate, according to research by Aon and Women+ in Climate Tech. […]
Education in the Age of Climate Crisis: How Teacher Autonomy Can Be the Innovation We Need
4 min read From sweltering summers and harsher winters to tangible air pollution and people struggling to catch a breath of fresh air: fighting climate change is a global effort. Vietnam is among the top five countries at the receiving end of climate changes’ catastrophic impact. According to the World Bank (2019), “almost 60 percent […]
Embracing Digital-Led Financial Ecosystems for A Better Lifestyle
8 minutes read By enabling convenient and secure transactions, digital financial ecosystems have significantly improved lifestyles, empowering people with greater financial freedom and control. The rise of digital-led financial ecosystems has revolutionized the way people live, enabling swift and efficient transactions, expanding financial service access and empowering individuals by allowing them to take greater control […]
Embracing Youth Participatory Approaches: Our Learnings Along the Way
Co-Author: Tanvi Mishra 6 min read The idea is simple: no programme can be truly transformative until it intentionally embeds and empowers the communities that it is meant to benefit. This belief has driven EMpower’s work. We believe that the greatest experts on girls’ lives are girls themselves. Over the last 12+ years, we have […]
Enhancing Youth Engagement in Asia-Pacific: A Toolkit for Corporates
Traditional, siloed approaches often fall short when tackling complex social issues. There is a need for a holistic, collaborative effort involving all stakeholders, especially small and medium-sized NPOs.
ESG Trends to Watch for 2022
In 2022, climate change has come to surpass corporate governance as the most pressing ESG issue commanding investors’ attention, and ESG investing truly has gone mainstream (and is attracting the regulatory attention to prove it). Yet there are new risks emerging for companies, investors and the planet in the coming decade that will test how well we have learned the lessons of the past.
Facing Hard Truths Head-On: Lessons and Opportunities in Catalytic Capital Investment From Pioneer Practitioners in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe
4 minutes read Eighteen months of extensive research and engagements with social investors in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe have revealed an important uniting fact about the field of catalytic capital: the practice is gathering pace in these regions, and there are untapped opportunities that could accelerate this much needed, positive trajectory. To ensure […]
Factory Efficiency for Climate, Health and Productivity Gains
Good Business Lab Rapid climate change and global warming have highlighted the importance of thinking through and adopting technologies and strategies for mitigation. Businesses are key to world environmental outcomes, and to mitigating adverse effects for workers. Climate induced loss in labour productivity and the growing cost of production with growing energy and fuel demand […]
Farmer Producer Organisation: Empowering Climate-Smart Agriculture
SwitchON Foundation Agriculture workers are 55% of all workers in India, where 58% of rural households work in agriculture. Small and marginal farmers (with less than two hectares of land) account for 86% of all farmers in the country, but they own just 47% of cropped land and are generally excluded from modern market arrangements […]
Financial Inclusion for a Sustainable Tomorrow
For years, women have always had less access to monetary facilities than men in many parts of the world. In a 2021 World Economic Forum Report on gender gap, India’s performance is one of the worst in South Asia and ranks 140 out of 156 countries.
Five Sectors at the Forefront of Southeast Asia’s Transition to a Green Economy
2 minutes read Southeast Asian nations have initiated ambitious transitions to green economies that promote sustainable, climate-friendly growth. The potential is huge: up to US$1 trillion in annual economic opportunities and 30 million green jobs by 2030, according to a new report from The Bridgespan Group. Five sectors are capable of generating US$150 billion in […]
Four Innovative Approaches to De-risking Financing in Asia’s Plastic Circular Economy
Up to US$ 995 billion needs to be mobilised between 2022-2040 to ensure circular supply chains can meet the global demand for plastics. This immense financing need has been a persistent point of discussion as negotiations continue on the legally binding instrument to prevent plastic pollution. We know that investment into interventions along the whole […]
Four Things You Should Know About Blended Finance for Climate
4 min read During COP26, Convergence and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), published the Blended Finance for Climate Report, exploring the successes and the gaps in mobilizing private capital to climate solutions. The report includes insight and feedback from our engagement with over 20 donor organizations, MDBs, DFIs, 100+ investors (e.g., asset […]
From Ambition to Actualisation: What Would It Take for Mgnregs to Transform India’s Rural Landscape?
4 min read Census India Ensuring social protection for low-income households is crucial in India, with 65% of its population residing in rural areas, where economic opportunities may be thin. This is where the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) steps in—the world’s largest employment guarantee scheme that assures employment to every rural […]
From Butchery Chicken Waste to Fabrics: Upcycling Opportunities
Mudita & Radhesh Private Limited Mudita & Radhesh Private Limited is an innovative social enterprise established in 2017 that aims to transform the lives of tribal women in India through sustainable development. Mudita & Radhesh Private Limited has developed a new natural wool-like fibre by up-cycling feathers of chicken butchery waste. These feathers, spun into […]
From Grassroots to Global Impact: Asia’s Impact-Driven Social Entrepreneurs
3 mins read Asia is currently facing various socio-economic and environmental challenges, including poverty, inequality and climate change. However, amidst these challenges, there is hope. The rise of Asia’s young social entrepreneurs is a true source of optimism and inspiration. Young people in Asia are often at the forefront of social change and many are […]
From SDG Alignment to SDG Action
What are the SDG Impact Standards? Why should organisations and investors adopt them and what does that entail? Ben Carpenter, the CEO of Social Value International (SVI), which has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in developing the SDG Impact Standards, answers all your questions about the framework. What are the SDG Impact […]
Funding Field Catalysts from Origins to Revolutionising the World
3 min read Co-author: Emma Nothmann, Kevin Crouch, and Cora Daniels Even with modest beginnings, systems-change organisations seek world-changing outcomes. But solving complex social problems offers unique challenges. We surveyed these social-change makers to learn what they can use most from funders. In mission-driven circles, systems-change work — which is focused on the root causes […]
G20 Impact Day: Partner Consultation
11 min read The G20 Impact Day: Partner Consultation, 20 June 2022, in Bali, Indonesia brought together different member organizations for roundtable discussions on the G20 Presidency Themes and Priorities agenda. Professor Bambang Brodjonegoro, Lead Co-Chair of the T20 Indonesia, gave the opening remarks outlining the economic challenges ahead for the ASEAN region. As the […]
Getting from Ideas to Impact: Four Things We Gave Up to Get Ahead
3 minutes read How can social good organisations continue to keep our collective eyes on impact? How can we use the strengths that we have to continue finding new ways to support children around the world to realise their right to live healthy and fulfilling lives? This is the story of an idea, borne out […]
Giving Trust: The Result of Unrestricted Giving on Asian Nonprofits
Co-author: Elyas Tampubolon, Katrina Agulan, Amanda Kee 10 min read Philanthropy must address power imbalance instead of enabling it. This is the spirit that has undergirded MacKenzie Scott’s giving, which saw nearly US$ 13 billion in unrestricted funding deployed globally. The results from Mackenzie Scott Foundation’s one-year report have demonstrated that trust is the bridge […]
Going Beyond Classrooms to Bridge the Learning Gap
4 min read India is facing a learning crisis. According to a 2019 World Bank report, 55% of 10-year-olds in India are unable to read and understand simple text. The crisis has further deepened post-pandemic, with this figure now at an estimated 70%. Like in many parts of the world, in India too, private schools […]
Grassroots Organisations are the Beating Heart of India’s Philanthropic Collaboratives
3 minutes read Co-authors: Anant Bhagwati, Akshay Gambhir Best known in the past as a spice-trading post, today Mundhra is a busy port town in the Kutch district of Gujarat, India. Mundhra is also home to Ujas Mahila Sanghatan (UMS), an NGO founded and run by the women of the region. The UMS office buzzes […]
Greening Sanitary Care for Women
Padcare Labs Private Limited Menstrual management is an underserved space in climate action and health. Thus, PadCare aims to serve as a hygiene management solution that completes the loop of the menstrual hygiene economy by generating harmless, recyclable output out of soiled pads. We seek to bring about positive and significant changes in the sanitary […]
