On November 11, 2024 in Dhaka, impact investment fund Truvalu and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation hosted a roundtable for bankers, impact investors and women entrepreneurs to explore ways and means of increasing access to capital for women-owned businesses addressing climate change through energy efficiency, clean energy, recycling or other green products and…(Read more)
Through successive replications of its mixed-income, mixed-use residential tower model, the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corporation has become Winnipeg’s leading social real estate developer. Featuring green construction and generous common spaces, 40% to 51% of each tower’s units are affordable while the rest are rented at market or premium rates. With the completion of…(Read more)
Economists Dani Rodrik and Rohan Sandhu recently published their latest paper on strategies for increasing the labour-absorbing capacities of the services sector in developing economies, where large numbers of young people are entering the workforce every year. As their abstract says: “Manufacturing generates very little employment in the developing world. Urban jobs are predominantly informal,…(Read more)
The African Evaluation Journal has published a special issue in honour of one of the continent’s prime leaders in the field, the late Sulley Gariba, Ghanaian diplomat, policy advisor, and evaluation strategist and practitioner. Dr, Gariba constructed new pathways for African-developed and -owned evaluation by governments and civil society, and promoted youth engagement in the…(Read more)
The 2024 Trafficking in Persons report of the United States State Department praises the human rights protections for migrant workers of the Fair Food Program and other worker-driven social responsibility models: “Over the last several years, government and private sector attention has become focused on resilient supply chains, and there are increasing supply chain transparency…(Read more)
Warm congratulations to Ian Smillie on the publication of his memoir, Under Development, reflecting on his 50 years of learning and action in fighting poverty and advancing justice in Africa and around the world. A perceptive analyst and superb writer, and of Canada’s most accomplished and creative nonprofit leaders, Ian built breakthrough programs at CUSO,…(Read more)
The Group of 78, a Canadian non-profit promoting education and policy solutions for planetary survival, is hosting its annual conference in Ottawa on September 27 and 28, 2024 with the title of Citizens Confront Climate Crisis. Featured speakers will include leading-edge environmental campaigners, scholars, policy researchers, and an Indigenous Elder from the Ottawa-Gatineau region. For…(Read more)
“We need more defiant optimism in the face of adversity,” declared Jagmeet Singh, Leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, in giving the Bell Lecture at Carleton University in Ottawa on April 30, 2024. “I learned from my mother that the phrase for that is Chardi Kala.” Mr. Singh also recounted the ways in which his…(Read more)
Following an expert consultation in early 2024, the International Labour Organization recently published its definition of a living wage. “A living wage is a level of pay that gives workers and their families a decent standard of living. This includes being able to afford basic needs such as food, housing, healthcare, education, transport and clothing”…(Read more)
Following the recent passing by both main political parties in Parliament of a bill that cruelly criminalizes Ghanaians who identify as LGBTQ+ persons and anyone promoting gender diverse lifestyles, the country’s President has asked Ghana’s Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of the bill. The Minister of Finance has warned that the country could…(Read more)
