Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in the Global South — May 16th

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Impact Entrepreneur amplifies and empowers the global movement of impact entrepreneurs and their supporters, focusing on the innovations that build an Impact Economy and contribute to systemic change.
IE Magazine takes an entrepreneur-centric approach — integrating journalism, scholarly research, and financial acumen to tell global stories that celebrate the unique richness of individuals, communities, and cultures while advancing the SDGs and Impact Economy.

 

TOPICS WE COVER

SDGs
More than 700 million people, or 10 percent of the world population, still live in extreme poverty today, struggling to fulfill the most basic needs like health, education, and access to water and sanitation, to name a few.

74 stories

Current estimates show that nearly 690 million people are hungry, or 8.9 percent of the world population.

34 stories

More efforts are needed to fully eradicate a wide range of diseases and address many different persistent and emerging health issues. By focusing on providing more efficient funding of health systems, improved sanitation and hygiene, and increased access to physicians, significant progress can be made in helping to save the lives of millions.

57 stories

About 260 million children were still out of school in 2018 — nearly one fifth of the global population in that age group. And more than half of all children and adolescents worldwide are not meeting minimum proficiency standards in reading and mathematics.

23 stories

Many challenges remainin terms of achieving gender equality : discriminatory laws and social norms remain pervasive, women continue to be underrepresented at all levels of political leadership, and 1 in 5 women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 report experiencing physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner within a 12-month period.

67 stories

Worldwide, one in three people do not have access to safe drinking water, two out of five people do not have a basic hand-washing facility with soap and water, and more than 673 million people still practice open defecation.

26 stories

More focused attention is needed to improve access to clean and safe cooking fuels and technologies for 3 billion people, to expand the use of renewable energy beyond the electricity sector, and to increase electrification in sub-Saharan Africa.

44 stories

One in five countries – home to billions of people living in poverty – were likely to see per capita incomes stagnate or decline in 2020. As job losses escalate, the International Labor Organization estimates that nearly half of the global workforce is at risk of losing their livelihoods.

139 stories

Least developed countries, in particular, need to accelerate the development of their manufacturing sector if they are to meet the 2030 target, and scale up investment in scientific research and innovation. Global manufacturing growth has been steadily declining, even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

130 stories

Inequalities are deepening for vulnerable populations in countries with weaker health systems and those facing existing humanitarian crises. Refugees and migrants, as well as indigenous peoples, older persons, people with disabilities and children are particularly at risk of being left behind. And hate speech targeting vulnerable groups is rising.

122 stories

Cities and metropolitan areas are powerhouses of economic growth—contributing about 60 per cent of global GDP. However, they also account for about 70 per cent of global carbon emissions and over 60 per cent of resource use. Rapid urbanization is resulting in a growing number of slum dwellers, inadequate and overburdened infrastructure and services (such as waste collection and water and sanitation systems, roads and transport), worsening air pollution and unplanned urban sprawl.

112 stories

Economic and social progress over the last century has been accompanied by environmental degradation that is endangering the very systems on which our future development — indeed, our very survival — depends. Each year, an estimated one third of all food produced – equivalent to 1.3 billion tonnes worth around $1 trillion – ends up rotting in the bins of consumers and retailers, or spoiling due to poor transportation and harvesting practices. If people worldwide switched to energy efficient light bulbs the world would save US$120 billion annually. Should the global population reach 9.6 billion by 2050, the equivalent of almost three planets could be required to provide the natural resources needed to sustain current lifestyles.

74 stories

2019 was the second warmest year on record and the end of the warmest decade (2010- 2019) ever recorded. Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere rose to new records in 2019. Climate change is affecting every country on every continent. It is disrupting national economies and affecting lives. Weather patterns are changing, sea levels are rising, and weather events are becoming more extreme.

106 stories

Saving our ocean must remain a priority. Marine biodiversity is critical to the health of people and our planet. Marine protected areas need to be effectively managed and well-resourced and regulations need to be put in place to reduce overfishing, marine pollution and ocean acidification.

29 stories

Human activity has altered almost 75 per cent of the earth’s surface, squeezing wildlife and nature into an ever-smaller corner of the planet. Around 1 million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction. Deforestation and desertification – caused by human activities and climate change – pose major challenges to sustainable development and have affected the lives and livelihoods of millions of people.

20 stories

Conflict, insecurity, weak institutions and limited access to justice remain a great threat to sustainable development. The number of people fleeing war, persecution and conflict exceeded 70 million in 2018. And the births of around one in four children under age 5 worldwide are never officially recorded, depriving them of a proof of legal identity crucial for the protection of their rights and for access to justice and social services.

51 stories

A successful development agenda requires inclusive partnerships — at the global, regional, national and local levels — built upon principles and values, and upon a shared vision and shared goals placing people and the planet at the centre. Strong international cooperation is needed now more than ever to ensure that countries have the means to recover from the pandemic, build back better and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

83 stories

Regions
Highlighting impact economy initiatives in Africa.

74 stories

Highlighting impact economy initiatives in Asia.

86 stories

Highlighting impact economy initiatives in Europe.

58 stories

Highlighting impact economy initiatives that span the globe.

186 stories

Highlighting impact economy initiatives in the Island Nations.

25 stories

Highlighting impact economy initiatives in Latin America.

42 stories

Highlighting impact economy initiatives in the Middle East.

19 stories

Highlighting impact economy initiatives in North America.

157 stories

Highlighting impact economy initiatives in Oceania.

18 stories

Opinions
Distinguished contributors who are featured regularly.

13 stories

Reflections on the impact economy.

22 stories

Statements from our Editorial Board and individual editors.

8 stories

Profiles of innovators and others building the impact economy.

30 stories

Impact Economy
Blended finance is the use of catalytic capital from public or philanthropic sources to increase private sector investment in enterprises that advance sustainable development.

79 stories

Innovative business and finance solutions for transforming our throwaway economy into one where waste is eliminated, resources are circulated, and nature is regenerated.

68 stories

Moving values-aligned capital to creative arenas like ethical fashion, sustainable food, and social impact media to advance sustainability and inclusivity.

40 stories

Increasing numbers of stakeholders – including investors, companies, policy makers, regulators, NGOs, and civil society—are using ESG criteria to evaluate businesses, investments, and markets. Accompanying this is a growing ecosystem of organizations providing and using ESG information.

80 stories

Today, billions of people lack the financial tools needed to fully participate in the economy. Financial inclusion strives to create more inclusive financial systems and services for all — including payments, savings, credit, insurance, transactions — to help improve their lives and prosper.

71 stories

Assessing the impact – positive, negative, or none at all – that potential investments have on women and girls to hasten economic development, increase profitability, scale social impact, and cement lasting change.

66 stories

Investments made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Impact investments can be made in both emerging and developed markets, and target a range of returns from below market to market rate, depending on investors' strategic goals.

189 stories

The ongoing practice of measuring, assessing, and improving impacts on sustainability issues. It is relevant for enterprises and investors who want to manage environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks, as well as those who also want to contribute positively to global goals.

105 stories

Intrapreneurs work inside existing organizations to identify and develop innovative products, services, and business models to solve systems challenges. They work in back-offices and boardrooms to unlock the human innovation potential inside influential institutions and harness institutional assets for impact.

16 stories

LGBTQ+ or “queer-lens” solutions aim to address violence, oppression, and discrimination in employment, housing, healthcare, and funding faced globally by people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, non-binary, and others who are marginalized in terms of gender expression or sexual orientation.

12 stories

Catalyzing and deploying impact capital locally to address the needs of marginalized communities.

45 stories

Policies and regulatory frameworks that enable the development of the impact economy. These policies help create transparency, assist markets in functioning more efficiently, and hold organizations accountable for their impacts.

61 stories

Using economic and other resources to construct deliberate systems and supports to achieve and sustain racially equitable outcomes.

69 stories

Addressing sustainability challenges and barriers to growth by developing strategies to expand and extend positive impacts.

123 stories

A system in which businesses are oriented to serve the interests of all their stakeholders by delivering value to customers, investing in employees, dealing fairly and ethically with suppliers, supporting the communities in which they work, and generating long-term value for shareholders.

102 stories

Transformative systems change moves beyond incremental changes or reforms, includes whole-system awareness, and works towards fundamental reorientation of core relationships, and creating new ways of thinking and action.

147 stories

The intentional design, development, and use of digital technologies to address social challenges and improve social, environmental, and economic outcomes.

69 stories

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