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News and insights from members, partners and BCtA

NEWS

Stories and Updates

Towards Sustainable Development: UNDP Indonesia and UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub’s SDG Finance Academy Organize Training on Measuring and Managing SDG Impact

UNDP Indonesia, under the Accelerating SDGs Investments in Indonesia Joint Programme (ASSIST JP) funded by the Joint SDG Fund, partnered with UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub’s (SFH) SDG Finance Academy, with initiatives such as Business Call to Action (BCtA), SDG Impact Standard, and SDG and Thematic Bond Frameworks, to conduct a two-part training on Impact Measurement and Management (IMM)

NOW ONLINE | New Playbook on Inclusive Public Procurement

The Inclusive Public Procurement Playbook was launched at BCtA’s 12th Annual Forum as a guide to 7 strategies that can promote supplier diversity while guaranteeing important public procurement principles.

Business Call to Action's 12th Annual Forum to Highlight the Power of Multi-stakeholder Collaboration for Sustainable Development

For Annual Forum 2022, we will feature 4 sessions based on the 4 pillars of innovation-through-replication, inclusive procurement, impact measurement and management, and effective private sector engagement for development co-operation, taking place virtually over two days, 21st and 22nd September.

Business Call to Action’s Works on Inclusive Business Featured by the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development

Three BCtA publications were seen by the DCED as good resource materials that tackle the nature of inclusive businesses.

Inclusive Innovation Journey Connects Eight Telehealth Businesses Ready to Pilot their Business-to-Government Models in Colombia

From international mentoring to forging partnerships for telehealth in Colombia, UNDP-BCtA, UNDP Colombia, Accelerator Labs and MiLab’s programme on Inclusive Innovation Journey delivers key results for SDG 3: Good health and well-being.

Three entrepreneurs in Tunisia address climate change through innovative agritech solutions

In this three-part series, BCtA speaks to the entrepreneurs providing innovative development solutions to address the water problems due to climate change in the Tunisian province of Medenine’.

The high-tech approach: Optimizing water consumption through sensor mechanisms

Entrepreneur Nasreddine Somaali’s internet of things (IoT)-based irrigation solution is intended for smallholder farmers who own parcels of land that measure less than five hectares in Tunisia.

The networking approach: Connecting farmers to experts and peers in the region

Alternative irrigation solutions are costly for many small olive farmers in Tunisia impacted by water shortages. Entrepreneur Foued Ben Babis’ digital solution allows such farmers to share resources in finding more cost-effective solutions together.

The biochemical approach: Soil and water analysis for better farming practices

An established approach using biochemical analysis can enable Tunisian farmlands to maximize water usage, letting them withstand climate change and other effects in the long term says Inclusive Innovation Journey entrepreneur Nadia Korchid.

Event: Four tech-based solutions to help Tunisian farmers tackle climate change

Four Tunisian businesses with innovative solutions for farmers to cope with water scarcity linked to lack of rainfall due to climate change will be presenting their solutions as part of a UNDP programme on inclusive innovation.

Nine companies contribute towards inclusive provision of telehealth services in Colombia

A cohort of nine impact businesses has been selected for their solutions on delivering tech-based healthcare services to underserved and vulnerable populations as part of the Inclusive Innovation Journey programme in Colombia.

Call for applications on tech-based solutions in Tunisia to combat water shortages caused by climate change

Colombian companies with telehealth solutions in natal, prenatal and post-natal care are being sought for the Inclusive Innovation Journey, a programme that seeks to advance government-centred innovation by replicating proven business solutions.

Call for applications on telehealth solutions for low-income communities in Colombia

Improving financial inclusion in Jordan through Impact Measurement and Management

National Microfinance Bank in Jordan is working with more than 90,000 clients to socially and economically empower those excluded from conventional commercial and banking services.

Business Call to Action teams up with Yunus Social Business to help reach the Sustainable Development Goals

Business Call to Action (BCtA) and Yunus Social Business (YSB) have announced their collaboration to create new opportunities for inclusive and social businesses in low- and middle-income markets.

Defining the Inclusive Business Features: a guide for companies, investors and policymakers

The Inclusive Business Features seek to act as a guiding document for the adoption of IB through clear and practically defined features for businesses, investors and governments and have been developed specifically for them.

Ebdaa Bank: How Impact Measurement and Management training is supporting microfinancing solutions in Sudan

A Q&A with Ebdaa Bank in Sudan on the impact of IMM in Sudanese financial services and the impact and methodology behind the Bank’s work.

Making decent work a reality for refugee workers

The goal of H&M Group’s Foreign Worker Programme is to increase the level of awareness about formal employment with refugee communities in Turkey and help create a sustainable and circular business model in the apparel industry.

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EVENTS

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GUARDIAN LABS

The content in this section was originally published on theguardian.com as part of the Business Call to Action and Guardian Labs 'Improving lives through business innovation' campaign

Guardian News

Business solutions for poverty eradication

Since its launch, the aim of Business Call to Action (BCtA) has been to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by encouraging the role of the private sector in development and to strengthen the strategic and economic opportunities that come from serving low-income communities.

How agritech can enable resilience in small farming communities

For Shantilata Sahu, a farmer in India’s Odisha state, low soil fertility and old farming methods had led to lower crop quality and yield. Meanwhile, in Ghana, Evelyn Sabunor lost an entire season of crops due to heavy, unseasonal rainfall.

Impact management: lessons from the private sector

For many companies worldwide, measuring success isn’t limited to financial outcomes – social and environmental returns are just as important to understand and manage businesses well.

Inclusive innovative insurance: pragmatic solutions for the economically vulnerable

Whether it is health issues, climate change or a global socio-economic crisis such as that caused by Covid-19, the lack of access to formal risk management can trap low-income communities, and pull people who have managed to escape the cycle of poverty back into it.