Browse by Theme: Livelihoods

Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) are a key way to provide access to financial services for people living in areas which financial institutions typically ignore and where the cycle of poverty prevails. They do exactly what their name suggests: provide a way for a group of individuals in any community to save their money and to access loans. But the benefits don’t stop there: later on, VSLAs also serve as an onramp to formal financial services.

The Philippines has been classified by the World Bank as a ‘lower-middle income’ economy. On the surface of things, the Philippines’ economic gains in recent years, and its growing numbers of new middle-class citizens, represent an optimistic narrative. But as the country still struggles to come to terms with the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, is this the real story on the ground?

Sri Lanka is still only five years free from a long-standing and debilitating civil war, and 10 years since the Tsunami in which 35,000 people lost their lives. But huge changes are taking place in the quest for ‘modernisation’. How will Sri Lanka cope with its transition to a middle-income country? How positive will the process of change be for every Sri Lanka citizen, and how can inclusive growth for all be created in the future?

The IAIA Special Symposium on Resettlement and Livelihoods took place in Kruger Park, South Africa in late October. The nice location (and emblem of environmental conservation) was most probably selected with security issues in mind, but it also represents a case study of how resettlement should not be done.

Last month I was in Islamabad, supporting the efforts of the CARE International team there, who have led a very successful set of engagements with the private sector to address social issues in Pakistan. In a country beset by a number of political and social tensions, CARE has decided to flip the traditional paradigm to ask, instead of what companies “can do for us”, what “CARE can do for business”. It’s a bold move, and one which is so far paying dividends.

CARE International and the Fairtrade Foundation are hosting an event at this year’s Conservative Party conference in Birmingham to bring together business, civil society and politicians – Inclusive chocolate? How can private sector partnerships ensure women farmers and workers get a bigger chunk of the benefits?

As one of the estimated 30,000-40,000 people who took to the streets of London yesterday (as well as one of an estimated 570,000 people who protested across 161 countries) I am calling on governments of the world to take action on climate change URGENTLY. We cannot tackle poverty without tackling climate change – we have an urgent moral responsibility to stop the causes of climate change, and to help the most vulnerable to adapt to the impacts that are already locked into our climate system. This is not an environmental issue – this is a human rights issues.