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Toyola Charcoal Stove: Improving the Environment and Health of the Poor in Ghana

Toyola Energy Limited is a company that operates in Ghana. It produces and distributes energy efficient charcoal stoves and solar lanterns for domestic users in the urban and rural parts of Ghana. Toyola entrepreneurs Suraj Wahab and Ernest Kyei – two artisans - have implemented an innovative...

Pot-in-pot Enterprise: Fridge for the Poor

In 2000, Mohammed Bah Abba was awarded the Rolex Award for Enterprise for his innovative Pot-in-Pot system to provide affordable, electricity free, refrigeration in arid Nigeria.

Cemex makes home improvements accessible for the poor in 5 Latin American countries

CEMEX, a global leader in the building supply and cement industry, has recently expanded its highly-successful Patrimonio Hoy initiative. Originally started in 1998 with the goal of reducing the housing deficit in Mexico, Patrimonio Hoy has since expanded into 4 additional Latin American countries...

The Asian Development Bank and Non-Governmental Organizations: Working Together

The Microcredit Project in Indonesia, established by the Asian Development Bank and approved in 1994, focuses on microenterprise support, recognizing the potential of microenterprises to create jobs at low capital input costs and raise the income levels of the poor.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation makes financial services accessible to the poor

The Financial Services for the Poor initiative created by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provides poor people with reliable access to a range of safe, affordable financial tools and services intended to help them build better, healthier lives.

PwC supports minority children education project in collaboration with Save the Children and local government

The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) team provided support to the Yunnan Minority Basic Education Project (YMBEP), which was formed through a collaboration between Save the Children International and the local government.

Multinational Corporations fund Hathay Bunano Proshikshan Society (HBPS), an NGO trying to promote the emploment of women in Bangladesh

While many NGOs in Bangladesh try to generate employment for the poor through microcredit, Hathay Bunano Proshikhan Samity (HBPS) chose to provide direct employment opportunities for poor women in rural areas, with special preference given to disadvantaged groups. Since 2005, the company produces...

A sucessful community/private/public partnership model for waste recycling in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, the large proportion of urban population combined with limited waste collection systems poses serious social, environmental and health problems. A social enterprise called Waste Concern has found a way to transform solid waste into organic compost using a low cost, low-tech and...

Parternships in Belarus providing affordable Health Care to the Poor

Cardiovascular diseases are common among the population of Belarus. Belarus lacks quick cardiac diagnostic and treatment services in many remote areas outside of major cities. Telemedicine offers a solution to this problem by connecting a doctor in a local hospital with a cardiac specialist in a...

Votorantim Celulose e Papel (VCP) in Brazil: Planting eucalyptus in partnership with the rural poor

Brazil suffers from high income inequality and widespread poverty, especially in rural areas. Despite recent policies to support rural settlements through land reform, a mismatch remains between the rural population’s social demands and the state’s capacity to respond.

SKS Microfinance Case Study - Lakshmi's Story

SKS Microfinance Limited (SKS) is a non-banking finance company regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and currently operating in 19 of India's 28 states. SKS' mission is to eradicate poverty by providing financial services to the poor.

Partnerships allow Rural Finance Corporation to promote rural development in Moldova

Rural Finance Corporation (RFC) is a non-bank for-profit financial institution that has been functioning on the financial market of the Republic of Moldova for 10 years. Its mission is to directly take action against poverty in Moldova and promote rural development, offering favorable financial...

Ouro Verde is part of the New Ventures initiative at the World Resources Institute

Brazilian entrepreneur Luis Laranja's company, Ouro Verde, is part of the New Ventures initiative at the World Resources Institute. New Ventures works with small and medium enterprises that have positive environmental impacts, and helps grow environmental entrepreneurship in emerging markets.

Meeting the demand of low-income women: Lifespring’s maternal care in India

LifeSpring Hospital in India is innovatively meeting the growing demand of low-income women who deserve affordable and dignified medical care. By focusing on a particular niche, maternal care, and different cost-saving strategies, this hospital provides maternal care at one-fifth of market...

Through an initiative of ASGN, micro-credit and tourism save giraffes in Niger

ASGN (the Association to Safeguard the Giraffes of Niger) used grants from the Wildlife Protection Foundation in the UK and from the Zoo de Doue in France to set up a successful micro-credit scheme.

Uganda : Project Hope and Hard Work

The importance of microcredit in Uganda has soared in the recent decade and the instrument is now seen as one of the most effective tools to tackle poverty in the country.

Mobile Telesystems (MTS) helps to improve health in Belarus

MobileTeleSystems (MTS), the largest cell phone provider in Belarus, provides telecommunication services to hospitals, while also improving the health care of the poor.

Freedom from Hunger’s Benkadi Tongorongo association provides micro loans and group support in Mali

In rural Mali, Miama sells rice to support her family, thanks to both a microloan and the group support she receives from Freedom from Hunger's Benkadi Tongorongo association.

Partnerships allow Maison Energy to provide energy to rural communities in Morocco

About two million people live without access to electricity in Morocco, mostly in remote rural areas where scattered and unevenly distributed homes make their connection to the national power grid difficult. As a solution, the National Office of Electricity (ONE) opted for a decentralized system of...

Microcredit : a success-story from Nepal

Mahila Sahayogi Sahakari Sanstha (MSSS), a micro-credit provider in Nepal help the women in the country earn money by providing micro credit loans. The employees of the micro-finance institution come to their doorsteps to provide them credit and the borrowers do not have to offer their property as...