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Getting Children Back to School: Lessons Learned from Uganda as it Ends the World’s Longest COVID-19 Shutdown
Uganda recently reopened schools after the world’s longest COVID-19 shutdown. Due to limited access to online education, most young people had not been learning for nearly two years – and officials estimate that roughly a third won't ever return to school. Atul Tandon and Andrew McCusker at Opportunity International explore the impact of pandemic closures on low-cost private schools in the country, discuss the particular risks of school closures for girls, and share three key lessons that can help schools successfully reopen and bring students back to the classroom.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Education
- Tags
- COVID-19, gender equality, youth
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Financial Inclusion that Works for Women: The European Microfinance Award 2022
Lending to women clients has been at the center of microfinance since its modern inception. And as Joana Afonso, Gabriela Erice, Sam Mendelson and Daniel Rozas at the European Microfinance Platform point out, there has undoubtedly been progress in promoting women’s financial inclusion. But they argue that a myopic focus on outreach too often undermines the sector's understanding of the specific barriers women face. They discuss how the 2022 European Microfinance Award's focus on “Financial Inclusion that Works for Women" aims to encourage more effective gender strategies.
- Categories
- Finance
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Boosting STEM Training for African Women: Why Tech-Related Skills are Key to the Continent’s Progress
As the world becomes more reliant on digital technology, the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) training is growing. But as Rachita Sharma at Girl Power Talk explains, there's a wide STEM skills gap between men and women – including in sub-Saharan Africa, where women’s lack of technical skills is undermining their capacity to achieve their economic potential. She explores some of the challenges that are preventing African women from pursuing STEM-related job skills or careers, and discusses some solutions to these issues.
- Categories
- Education, Technology
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Access Alone is Not Enough: Why a Holistic Approach is Necessary to Develop Lasting Energy Solutions
With about 800 million people lacking reliable electricity, energy access is one of the defining issues – and opportunities – of our time. According to Peter Weston at Energy 4 Impact and David Nicholson at Mercy Corps, that's what drove the recent merger of their two organizations. But as they explain, to unlock the full impact of energy access, it's important to ensure that people, businesses and communities can capitalize on it. They explore how a comprehensive market system approach can produce energy solutions that work for farmers, entrepreneurs and others.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment
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Deconstructing the Monolith: Why Understanding Women’s Individual Needs is Key to Closing the Gender Gap in Financial Inclusion
How can financial service providers tailor their products to boost women's financial inclusion? Scott Graham and Anahit Tevosyan at FINCA discuss the findings of a survey of 2,800 financial consumers in the DRC, which showed – perhaps counterintuitively – that focusing on gender as the defining characteristic of a female client is exactly the wrong approach. They explore why it's necessary to “deconstruct the monolith” of female clients by digging into sub-segments of the market to understand their specific needs and constraints.
- Categories
- Finance
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Insuring the Next 400 Million in India: Why the Mutual Insurance Model Presents a Clear Path to Scale
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on India’s healthcare system, causing challenges ranging from a lack of medical oxygen to limited hospital capacity. But as Payal Agarwal at Uplift Mutuals explains, the pandemic has also brought to light the inadequate insurance infrastructure in the country, which accounts for almost 18% of the world's population but only 1.72% of the global insurance market. She shares the results of a new report exploring the potential of mutual and cooperative insurance to close that gap in India, and discusses how this model can be scaled.
- Categories
- Finance, Health Care
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Understanding COVID-19’s Impact on PAYGo Solar: Data From a Pioneering Study Reveals Key Insights About the Sector’s Financial Sustainability
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on PAYGo solar, causing up to 23 million people and 600,000 enterprises to miss out on improved energy access. Drew Corbyn at GOGLA, Bill Gallery at IFC and Roan Borst at Triple Jump share the results of a first-of-its-kind study that measured the impact of the crisis on the sector’s financial performance, based on data collected from 13 PAYGo solar companies. They discuss what these findings mean for the industry as it works to emerge from the pandemic’s ongoing disruptions.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Energy, Finance, Impact Assessment
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Rethinking the Role of Business in Conservation: Why Small Local Enterprises are Key to Biodiversity and Climate Action
Climate change mitigation and adaptation are a key focus of attention in the global development sector. But according to Julia Rohe-Frydrych and Luis Ebert at adelphi, these discussions tend to overlook the conservation of the planet’s biodiversity, and they often fail to envision a role for the private sector that goes beyond providing climate finance. They argue that climate change and biodiversity loss are two sides of the same coin, and explore the importance of empowering local businesses that profit from the protection or restoration of nature.
- Categories
- Environment, Impact Assessment
