Items tagged:
International Labour Organization (ILO)
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Corporate responsibility: what's in a name?
At the latest provocation from IIED and Hivos, held in Brussels last week (22 June), a group of around 60 policymakers, academics and development practitioners gathered to discuss, among other things, the role of CSR in achieving development goals such as poverty reduction and the empowerment of small-scale farmers.
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Fair trade: still centred on smallholders?
To what extent do approaches such as fair trade, corporate social responsibility and inclusive business models allow the private sector to meet commercial objectives while also reducing poverty and empowering small-scale farmers? This was the question posed at the latest in a series of IIED and Hivos ‘provocations’ held at the European Parliament in Brussels last week (22 June).
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Sourcing gender
Designing business models that reach and benefit poor women working in agriculture can be a challenge for businesses.But is that surprising?
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Together we're better - sharing for sustainability
The spotlight was on transparency and sustainability at yesterday’s Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) meeting in Amsterdam. The organisation, which works on sustainability reporting frameworks, was holding its annual conference with a focus on this dual issue, and speakers included media representatives from the UK-based Guardian and others from the United Nations and International Finance Corporation (IFC) The thrust of the GRI’s message is that ‘transparent communication changes perceptions, builds trust, and motivates action towards greater sustainability.’ And sustainability is key as we emerge bleary-eyed from years of ‘bubble’ thinking and the global economic meltdown that triggered.
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Recovery “kick off”? Of football, sausages and lost opportunities
When it’s done, the global tally could be 50 million. So says the International Labour Organization (ILO) about job losses from this recession.In richer countries, that has meant growing pressure on central government resources, as formal jobs have been lost and draws on government benefits have increased. Estimates include 8 million jobs lost in the US and 1.3 million in the UK.In developing countries, people are more likely to juggle several jobs than in the developed world. This means underemployment