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Connecting women entrepreneurs to global opportunities

In India, a non-profit organisation is enhancing the links between women-owned businesses and global supply chains. The aim is to eventually roll out a data platform that serves and promotes women entrepreneurs from 17 other countries. Across South Asia, women are far less likely to be employed than men, with less than a third of women holding or looking for a job, compared with 80% of men. According to the International Labour Organization, women’s labour force participation rates in India actually declined in recent years, from about 37% in 2004-05 to 31% seven years later. As in many developing countries, Indians who are employed are more likely to work in the informal sector, where income is low and benefits and protections scarcely exist. Empowering more women to succeed as entrepreneurs is one way to address the persistent gender gap in employment and incomes. WEConnect International is a non-profit organisation that connects women-owned businesses with international buyers, tapping a growing number of multinational firms that have committed to using their purchasing power to support women’s economic empowerment. The organisation has already played a key role in promoting women entrepreneurs in nearly 20 major markets. In India, it identifies, educates, registers and certifies enterprises that are at least 51% owned, managed and controlled by one or more women. WEConnect provides direct support to small businesses operated by women through its eNetwork, outreach events, training, networking and mentoring. “There are so many opportunities for women entrepreneurs and business owners around the world,” says Elizabeth Vazquez, CEO and co-founder of WEConnect, “if only we can find these women and give them access to knowledge and the networks to expand their businesses from a start-up in the informal sector into something where they can create jobs for others and for their communities.” To strengthen WEConnect’s […]

4 lessons from Bhutan on the pursuit of happiness above GDP

In the picture:Novice monks at the Dechen Phrodrang Buddhist monastery walk down a hillside to have breakfast in Bhutan’s capital Thimphu. Waking to the sound of monks chanting prayers and drumming their gongs during countless traditional pujas, a ceremony of honour, worship and devotion; running up the steep Himalayan mountain slopes under colourful prayer flags hung between trees in the lush natural landscape; looking out at the expanse of forests and mountains that surrounded its capital city, Thimphu. These are the memories that remain imprinted in my memory after two years living in Bhutan – the Himalayan Kingdom best known for its concept of “Gross National Happiness” (GNH). But, what is GNH and are the people of Bhutan really the happiest in the world? GNH as a development philosophy in Bhutan dates back as far as 1972, when the fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, announced that Bhutan would pursue “happiness” in its path towards development, rather than measuring progress merely through growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Revered in Bhutan for his many progressive actions as king, this forward-looking leader recognized that GDP did not take into account the ultimate goal of every human being: happiness. What does the pursuit of happiness really mean? John Lennon sums up the concept, and the tensions behind it, beautifully. He wrote: “When I was five years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” Naturally, “happiness” is a challenging goal to understand, let alone measure. Yet, since the 1970s, much has been done to move GNH from being […]

The paradox of meritocracy

Blind spot? Managers in meritocratic organizations fail to recognise their own bias. From founders to funders, Silicon Valley prides itself on its meritocratic ethos; however, new research from MIT finds that organizations with meritocratic values are often the worst offenders of bias, specifically as it relates to gender. Authors Emilio Castilla and Stephen Bernard found that organizations with meritocratic principles favor men over “equally performing women” via higher bonuses and favorable career outcomes. Conversely, when the authors stressed organizational values that emphasized individual autonomy (and not meritocratic principles), they found no statistical significance in the difference of bonus amount awarded by gender. Their work supports previous research, which finds women and minorities are paid less than white male peers – even when they have the same job, supervisor, human capital and performance evaluation score. Castilla and Bernard conclude, “Merit-based pay practices in particular may fail to achieve race or gender neutral outcomes.” Why does this happen? It appears that when managers work for meritocratic organizations, they believe they are more impartial, and thus (unknowingly) give themselves permission to act on their biases. And when people view themselves as unbiased, they are less likely to self-scrutinize. Castilla calls this, “the paradox of meritocracy”. Biases from beginning to end We all have biases, and they’re revealed beyond bonus times. In fact, they creep in throughout an employee’s entire career – in hiring, retention, promotion and attrition. When reviewing resumés during hiring, our unconscious biases – or the bias we are unaware of that allows us to gather information quickly – often finds that we prefer male to female candidates and “white” sounding names (like Emily and Greg) to more ethnic sounding names (like Lakisha and Jamal). In fact, both men and women will prefer to hire a male applicant – even when […]

Global power generation shortfall in 2030

A 2016 research paper in the Journal Nature predicts a 40% shortfall of available water across the globe by 2030 with effects not just for drinking, food production, hygiene and public health, but also for 98% of global electric power generation. Presented at the Asia-Pacific Energy Leaders’ Summit in New Zealand the early findings of a new report, ‘The road to resilience – managing the risks of the energy-water-food nexus’ from the World Energy Council is calling for immediate action in order to secure resilient energy infrastructure. Supported by a task force of over 140 experts from across the world, the report makes five recommendations: Improve understanding of the water footprint of energy technologies in order to mitigate the risks of stranded assets Account for the price of water, particularly in areas of water stress Consider a wider range of financial and insurance instruments to hedge short term risks such as adverse weather incidents and associated electricity price volatility Give investors the confidence to invest by providing them a full risk assessment that includes different climate and hydrological scenarios in financial analyses Provide a reliable and transparent regulatory and legal framework that takes into account water issues and competing stakeholders’ interest. Christoph Frei, Secretary General World Energy Council said: “The energy-water-food nexus poses a systemic risk which could impact the robustness of the energy supply and demand over many years to come. Power plants across the world could be affected by changes in precipitation patterns, which are combining with increasing competition between water users to adversely affect the resilience of energy services. “Clear co-ordination and integrated planning needs to take place now, or we will start to see the effects of water scarcity on energy supplies in the very near future. Assuming a water price during project planning is one […]

Canada helps Nepal rebuild and prepare for future earthquakes

February 29, 2016, DEHLI – Jean Lebel, President of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and His Excellency Nadir Patel, Ambassador of Canada to Nepal announced a new initiative to help Nepali communities rebuild following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the country in April 2015. This $1.2 million investment will restore housing, public buildings, and infrastructure, as well as promote better mitigation and management for future natural disasters. This initiative contributes to wider Government of Canada reconstruction efforts in Nepal. Working with a local partner, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), this partnership will support rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in Dhungentar ward. This initiative will strengthen the capacities of communities and institutions for disaster risk management and climate change adaptation, and build eco-friendly, climate and earthquake resilient homes. The disaster risk management and adaptation capabilities and practices that are developed and refined will be scaled up to help other communities better prepare for climate and non-climate hazards. The Government of Canada has so far provided $23 million in humanitarian assistance funding in response to the crisis, which has been directed to experienced humanitarian partners, including UN humanitarian agencies, Canadian NGOs and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). “This initiative will support mountain communities in their rebuilding and rehabilitation efforts following the earthquake of 2015,” said IDRC President Jean Lebel “and the knowledge generated will be shared in the wider region to improve disaster planning and preparedness to reduce the devastating impacts of such events.” “In the aftermath of last year’s earthquake in Nepal, Canada provided a timely and comprehensive response to humanitarian needs. Canada remains committed to work with Nepal in supporting the most vulnerable people affected by this tragedy. The ICIMOD project supported by IDRC will help in the long term […]

Food waste

SINGAPORE: If you and your family made it a point to finish every morsel of your Chinese New Year meals, then you have all done exceptionally well. This is because every year, Singapore sees hundreds of thousands of tonnes of food going to waste. According to the National Environment Agency, the country wasted approximately 790,000 tonnes of food in 2014. During the Chinese New Year period, food waste increases by up to 20 per cent. As a small country with limited agricultural ability, Singapore is heavily reliant on imports for food. In 2014, Singapore spent US$10.6 billion (S$14.8 billion) importing 5.93 million tonnes of food. But out of that, 13 per cent of its imports, or US$1.4 billion worth of it, end up as waste. Since 2004, food wastage has increased almost 50 per cent, while food imports have been steadily increasing by 37 per cent over the same period. “As the country gets more affluent, society gets richer, more people have more income to buy food,” said Mr Eugene Tay, the founder of sustainability consultancy, Green Future Solutions, in an interview with Channel NewsAsia’s It Figures. “We can buy a lot of food imported from different countries. You buy more stuff, and you can’t finish it, and it expires and then it goes to waste.” In Singapore, food wastage has been traced to each and every step in the lifecycle of food production, from farm to dinner plates. At the root: The Farm Mr Alan Toh has been managing his farm, Yili Vegetation, for almost two decades. It is one of 200 small farms in Singapore. Along with his son, Mr Zheng Jie, he is part of Singapore’s agriculture industry, which occupies just 1 per cent of the island’s land space. With only four hectares of land to work […]

Protecting their crops through green technologies, Caribbean women fend for themselves

Through workshops, women farmers in Barbados, Grenada and Jamaica are learning more sustainable farming techniques and securing their livelihoods. Often totally dependent on rainfall for irrigation, battling increasingly longer droughts and intense bursts when the rain does come, Caribbean women farmers are looking to more sustainable means of crop production. With UN Women support, the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) has led a project focused on women agricultural producers’ role in sustainable development in the Caribbean. Implemented in Barbados, Grenada and Jamaica, the project aims to reduce women’s lack of access to resources. Their crops include Irish potatoes, organic mushrooms, strawberries, vegetables and other fruit for the production of juices, pepper sauces and dried fruits. The women sell them at local markets in their communities and to tourists. “After I began growing mushrooms, I was able to support my family. For now, I sell mainly to hotels,” says 52-year-old Theresia Msacky, from Grenada. For many women, farming is their only income, particularly if they have children still in school. Through workshops on the evolving green economy – an approach that will result in improved human well-being and reduced inequalities, while not exposing future generations to significant environmental risks and ecological scarcities– the women learn to use more sustainable farming methods as a more stable and reliable way of making a living. Theresia said the workshops taught her about the value and importance of protecting the environment for her livelihood. She learned about water conservation and rain-water harvesting. “We learned about the importance of crop rotation,” she explains, “not planting an entire area in one crop but rotating the area … and using natural materials in the environment to conserve the moisture and increase the fertility of the soil. Now I am also using natural barriers like lemongrass to eradicate the […]

10 visions of the future

www.themirrorinspires.com Most books report on what has already happened. John O’Brien has written one that describes the future. But it’s not just built on his ideas. Visions 2100: Stories from Your Future presents scenarios from 80 of the world’s leading environmental thinkers and influencers. 1. Robogardeners, LaserBubbles and Parceldrones are things Like most people, my family and I grow lots of our own food. (Ok, Robogardeners do most of the work. But we tell them what we’d like). We eat real meat occasionally, and Newmeat more regularly. The kids like Newmeat better but they don’t really have adult palettes yet. We travel by bike. We all have Copenhagen Wheels for the hills and I love our LaserBubbles that protect us in the rain. We live just a few kilometres from work and school. Parceldrones carry the big things for us when we go shopping. 2. There’s an app to share human poo Every resource – even human waste – is used to its highest capacity via ‘Need and Want’ sharing apps. All of our stuff is designed to neatly turn into other stuff – or fuel. We dress in virtual, chameleon-like clothing for our virtual adventures to make holographic videos to show our virtual friends. We are free to live vibrantly without being overwhelmed. 3. The elderly don’t live alone Elder lifecare re-integrated into AllAge areas is massive now. Add all the required cooling, catering, shared resource-cycling has changed so much of our lifestyle, architecture and spatial planning. Then the on and offshore arcology, plans advanced for Moon and Mars and already on Antarctica. So, we see it works when it makes sense for economy, society and ecology. 4. Women take charge Did having an all-female G7 Summit ten years earlier have anything to do with the smoothness of the […]

Sustainability changing cities for the better

More than 800 experts in planning, urban design and commercial property will come together at the City of Sydney-sponsored Green Cities conference to discuss sustainable building initiatives. The annual conference, run by the Property Council of Australia and the Green Building Council of Australia, will attract some of the most innovative and influential specialists in the field, from 22–24 March, in Sydney. The City will showcase its leading sustainability projects at the conference, which provides a platform for professionals to share knowledge and explore the latest ideas on sustainable buildings, cities and communities. “Eighty per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions in the City of Sydney area come from buildings, so it’s important we look for new ways to create sustainable, energy efficient developments,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said. “Central Sydney and the inner city are home to many commercial and residential properties, which have embraced new sustainable technologies and innovative building techniques. “These energy-saving technologies and designs are evolving fast, so this conference gives planners, designers and commercial developers an opportunity to share their practical experience and insights into making Sydney’s new high-density developments innovative and sustainable.” The City will provide $20,000 in cash sponsorship for the conference, which is now in its tenth year and attracts more than 800 delegates from across the Asia-Pacific region for three days of practical site tours, hands-on masterclasses, networking events and inspiring speakers. Next year’s conference theme is ‘Disruption’ and will include discussions about: • The importance of pedestrian zones in George Street and integrated transport planning; • Creating connected cities with light rail, cycling and walking; • Sustainable urban renewal projects, such as Green Square; • The issues related to city growth, densification, social and environmental sustainability; • Affordable housing for a diverse population; and • Wellness in the workplace. Green […]

How to Change the World – Greenpeace

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