Use of smart technology improves social impact
The NGO Mary’s Mealshas been providing approx. 593,000 schoolchildren in 421 selected primary schools in Malawi with meals for over ten years now. With the aim of feeding children and thereby also increasing enrolment in schools, the young learners receive hot porridge made from maize flour mixed with salt and sugar. The challenge faced by the NGO, however, is a lack of firewood needed to prepare these meals. ... more
Dear Reader,
The following article, “Can Technology End Poverty?” was originally published by Harvard Business Reviewas part of the Insight Center on Scaling Social Impact sponsored by The Bridgespan Group. I am pleased that Siemens Stiftung shares my view that technology has to be suitable and relevant to the lives of its users. To do this for people living in poverty, this means going beyond our own understanding of the usage of technology, looking into others’ experience, and identifying their real problems and needs. I support the “empowering people. Award” and its call ... more
“Technology without borders” cooperated with the Holy Family Hospital of Techiman, Ghana to tackle the problem of where and how to dispose medical waste.
Technology without Borders’ goal is to provide people in developing countries with simple and practical technical solutions for their everyday problems. The non-profit organization works mainly with engineering students who volunteer to foster development by searching for simple and robust technical solutions, teaching local partners how to implement these technologies, and creating micro businesses .
In our projects we focus on water and waste problems, which are often ... more
Deutsche Welle
is the German overseas television and radio station
broadcasting global news and information TV programs. As Head of
the Economics Department,
Manuela Kasper-Claridgeis responsible for the
entire business coverage and also for the science magazine “PROJEKT
ZUKUNFT / TOMORROW TODAY” and the program “Visión Futuro”.
In April 2008, Kasper-Claridge introduced the GLOBAL 3000 globalization program. In cooperation with the United Nations (UN), the TV magazine is aired by over 2,500 partners worldwide. As a member of the jury for ... more
After having worked as a logistics manager in Ethiopia in the 1970s, writing about a European NGO in Ethiopia for years, travelling the most remote rural areas of this vast sub-Saharan country, visiting agricultural projects and conducting discussions with beneficiaries, I then published a book about how their lives have changed – mostly for the better*. My portraits were researched eight years ago. What has happened since then?
Alem, a rather quiet teenager in 2005, became one of the best ... more
Iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) is one of the health issues faced
by over 3.5 billion people in Cambodia. The disease leading to
birth defects and impaired brain development has a lasting impact
on lives. However,
Chris Charles, a graduate student at the
University of
Guelphin Canada, has come up with a novel solution. In an
attempt to address IDA amongst rural women in the region, he
applied findings of the studies conducted in the past, which showed
that using iron pots ...
more
Bringing together, innovators from various fields,
PopTech
gathers people into one global community. Their approach
is an innovative one: A multidisciplinary approach networking
various actors and areas of expertise from around the world to find
solutions for positive change. The community meets in close-knit,
gatherings where participants share their most promising new
solutions. They then set out to work on their new ideas to approach
some of the world’s toughest challenges.
PopTech holds a series of programms with the aims of not ... more
Do you know that we are soon going to be publishing the first
issue of the “empowering people. Award” newsletter? Don’t miss
registering if you would like to receive the latest information on
the developments of the Award; which interesting solutions have
been submitted and who has won. Please register
here.
Photo: iStockphoto.com
Today’s World Water Day is dedicated to the theme of cooperation around water. The objective of this UN initiative is to stress the importance of water as the basis of existence for everybody – because more than 780 million people worldwide currently don’t have access to clean water. Cooperation at the international and local level is vital to tackling future challenges as regards growing demand for water, supply of drinking water and funding.
Actors from politics, civil society as well as individuals worldwide have started cooperating in order to better work ... more
Here are eight myths on social entrepreneurship that we wish to examine as well as try and dispel.
Myth No. 1: Social enterprises are exclusively non-profit
organisations
This myth is the most widespread. In reality there are
various forms of social businesses. If we look for these types of
companies, we’ll find that many of them are profit-orientated or
exist in the form of a hybrid association (part profit, part
non-profit). What is important here is that the solving of societal
problems remains in the spotlight ...
more
