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Please help Pakistan!

During the past few weeks, a group of colleagues from the World Economic Forum visited Pakistan, including areas which have been devastated by floods and landslides. The experience brought home to us the true gravity of the situation.

Pakistan is already affected by serious challenges including energy shortages, poor water supply, and widespread poverty in addition to constant terror threats and a challenging political situation. Torrential rains have now caused the worst floods in 80 years which many of you may have read about or seen in the news over the past month.

The data is staggering. Some 20 million people are affected by the floods and by some estimates one fourth of the land is under water. Many lives have been lost already, many remain in acute danger of disease and malnutrition and it will take months, if not years, to rebuild the infrastructure that has been destroyed.

The Forum has appealed to its staff to collect funds that will be donated to a trusted and reputable local organization such as the Edhi Foundation to ensure that our support reaches people most in need. Once this emergency relief phase is over, we also hope to be involved in longer-term rehabilitation efforts with our members and partners and by supporting local social entrepreneurs such as the Kashf Foundation.

Africa Social Entrepreneurs awarded in Dar es Salaam

Five social entrepreneurs have been recognized as Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 in Africa during the Opening Plenary session of the 20th World Economic Forum on Africa, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Shona Mc Donald, founder of Shonaquip had previously been recognized as the Social Entrepreneur for South Africa. The other four winners are Godwin Ehigiamusoe of LAPO in Nigeria, Brien Holden and Kovin Naidoo of ICEE, and Victoria Kisyombe of SELFINA in Tanzania. They received their awards in the presence of President Jakaya M. Kikwete of Tanzania and the Co-Chairs of the 2010 World Economic Forum on Africa. Watch the ceremony below.

Social entrepreneurs emphasize long-term sustainability instead of short-term gains. Their primary focus is to maximize benefits for society and the environment by implementing innovative approaches to key challenges. They operate social businesses or organizations that are a mixture of non-profits and for-profits in areas such as energy efficiency, education, waste management, health, education, youth and rural development.

Who is attending the World Economic Forum on Africa?

Meet the Social Entrepreneurs attending the World Economic Forum on Africa which will be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 5-7May 2010.

Latin American Social Entrepreneurs of the Year 2010 awarded

Six social entrepreneurs have been recognized as Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 in Latin America during the Presidents Plenary session of the World Economic Forum on Latin America, held in Cartagena, Colombia, on 8 April. Suzana and Claudio Padua, founders of Instituto de Pesquisas Ecologicas, had previously been recognized as Social Entrepreneur of the Year Brazil. The other four winners are David Gaus from Ecuador, Vladimir Delagneau from Nicargua, and Joseph Philippe and Anne Hastings from Haiti. Read portraits of the winners here.

They received their awards in the presence of President Uribe from Colombia and President Martinelli from Panama. 

Social entrepreneurs emphasize long-term sustainability instead of short-term gains. Their primary focus is to maximize benefits for society and the environment by implementing innovative approaches to key challenges. They operate social businesses or organizations that are a mixture of non-profits and for-profits.

Schwab Foundation celebrates a decade of social entrepreneurship

The 40th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting also marks the 10th anniversary of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. For a decade, the Schwab Foundation has brought visionary social entrepreneurs together with global business and government leaders at the World Economic Forum. This year, 31 leading social entrepreneurs will share their compelling ideas for sustainable solutions for the benefit of society and the environment in 160 sessions under the Annual Meeting theme of Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild.

“Over the last decade, we have seen how the role of social entrepreneurs has become increasingly more relevant and important. Their projects are helping to build a more equitable and sustainable world," said Hilde Schwab, Chairperson, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. “We are proud to have provided a unique community, network and platform to accelerate and support proven solutions to improve society,” added Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

During the Annual Meeting, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship will host a 10 Year Anniversary Reception celebrating a decade of social entrepreneurship, with more than 200 participants, including its community of social entrepreneurs, its partners and leading business figures.

On this occasion, Thilo Bode will be recognized as the winner of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year competition in Germany, a prestigious award given in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group and the Financial Times Deutschland. Professor Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Laureate and Managing Director, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh, will give the award in his capacity as Foundation Board Member of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.

Irad Eicher & Offer Cohen - Social Entrepreneurs of the Year 2009 in Israel

Irad Eicher and Offer Cohen of Shekulo Tov have become the Social Entrepreneuers of the Year in Israel. The jury selected the two founders of Shekulo Tov for their engagement for the mentally handicapped.

Shekulo Tov specializes in providing occupational rehabilitation services for the mentally handicapped in Israel so they can become equal members of society. Shekulo Tov was founded with the belief that every person has the right to be fully integrated into the community. Through its jobs programme, Shekulo Tov has changed the attitude towards rehabilitating the mentally handicapped in Israel.

The organisation operates nine enterprises and ventures and 80 sales points in eight regions in Israel. It provides employment and rehabilitation services for 1,400 mentally handicapped persons as well as a range of cultural and recreational initiatives for 700 additional rehabilitants, including regular trips throughout Israel, bicycle groups and coffee shop gatherings.

The founder Irad Eichler studied criminology and sociology, with a specialization in anthropology. During his studies, he began to work at Rihan Hostel for young girls at risk, as a guide at the Rosh Ha’Ayin Scouts, and as a coordinator at hostels for the mentally handicapped. The CEO Offer Cohen joined the group from the business and food industry world, where he served in various executive positions. His previous position was COO of the Erez Bread bakery chain, where he was responsible for all operations and logistics of stores and cafes.

Thilo Bode is Germany’s "Social Entrepreneur 2009"

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, The Boston Consulting Group and the Financial Times Deutschland have chosen Thilo Bode, the founder of foodwatch to become Germany’s "Social Entrepreneur 2009". Thilo Bode and foodwatch were chosen from among 60 candidates and five finalists.

Foodwatch works to strengthen consumers' rights in the food market through the various activities and services. Through independent research and analysis, foodwatch informs the public which food products contain toxins and name the parties responsible. To guarantee absolute independence, foodwatch declines government funding and is financed solely by means of contributions and donations. Funding from corporations is also not accepted to avoid any conflict of interest that may arise or to prevent its work from being influenced.

 

Thilo Bode is mostly known for his work for Greenpeace and their campaigns in the 1990s. From 1989 to 1995, he was head of Greenpeace Germany, and then Greenpeace International from 1995 to 2001. Read a portrait of Thilo Bode in the Financial Times Deutschland.

Pierre Duponchel is the Social Entrepreneur of the year in France

Pierre Duponchel, founder of Le Relais has become the Social Entrepreneur of the Year in France.

The Social Entrepreneur of the Year in France is an initiative of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) France. The award was handed over in Paris by Martin Hirsch, High Commissioner for Active Solidarities against Poverty in the French government.

Le Relais collects, sorts and resells or recycles second-hand textiles, employing socially excluded people. The company has created 1,500 jobs in France and Africa. Facing the difficulties met by employees in finding a new job, Le Relais has been developing since 1993 activities that provide both training and sustainable employment.

Pierre Duponchel is focused on making Le Relais become an Entreprise à But Socio-Economique (a company with a socio-economic objective). From a small door-to-door collection activity in the north of France, Le Relais has today become a major industry, treating more than 60,000 tons of textiles each year.

The textiles collected are used for different purposes: top quality material is resold in Ding-Bring boutiques, an integrated network of second-hand shops; and approximately 40% are exported to Africa, where they are sorted again and resold on local markets. Textiles that cannot be resold are recycled into industrial rags. Le Relais is also committed to recycling textile and paper waste, reusing more than 85% of the 60,000 tons of textiles collected every year.

Schwab Foundation announces India's Social Entrepreneurs of the Year

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has selected three social enterprises with significant impact in India as winners of the India Social Entrepreneurs Award for 2009: Rajendra Joshi, Managing Trustee, Saath; Brij Kothari, Director, PlanetRead; and Padmanabha and Rama Rao, Co-Directors, RIVER.

These social entrepreneurs will be honoured at the India Economic Summit 2009 on Monday 9 November at 13:00 GMT in the presence of Anand Sharma, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, and Venu Srinivasan, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Watch the session live on Livestream.

This is the fifth edition of the award, which has been given annually since 2005 to individuals that have founded organizations or companies that do not maximize profits, but benefit society or the environment. Previous winners, which have been included in the Schwab Foundation’s global network of the world’s 150 leading social entrepreneurs, include Vikram Akula, SKS Microfinance (2006), Harish Hande, SELCO (2007) and Arbind Singh (2008). For the first time since the beginning of the competition in 2005, the Foundation Board has decided not to pick just one winner in a country, but three. The Board thus acknowledged that India is home to a significant number of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs.

The three winners are:

Rajendra Joshi, Saath, Ahmedabad
Today, more than 60 million people live in slums across India, lacking access to healthcare, education, employment and housing. In 1989, Rajendra Joshi developed Saath, which uses public-private partnerships to improve the lives of over 40,000 people per year. In 2009, Saath’s employment programmes with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation placed 8,000 slum residents in jobs at firms like Tata Indicom and Kotak Mahindra. Its Slum Networking Program has improved the physical infrastructure of 6,000 households while its four Urban Resource Centers in Ahmedabad have given 22,000 slum households access to microfinance accounts, insurance packages, preventive and natal healthcare, and pre-school education.

Brij Kothari, PlanetRead, Mumbai
Two hundred million Indians remain functionally illiterate despite having completed Class V education. Brij Kothari’s organization, PlanetRead, uses Same Language Subtitling, or SLS, to improve Indians’ reading abilities. Subtitles are inserted for popular Bollywood songs, and broadcasted in eight major languages on Doordarshan’s network. Reading practice thus becomes a by-product of entertainment already consumed by audiences. Research by IIM (Ahmedabad) has shown that regular exposure to SLS increases the percentage of children who become good readers after having received five years of primary schooling from 25% to 56%.

Padmanabha and Rama Rao, RIVER, Andhra Pradesh
Teachers in India’s 1.1 million single-teacher schools lack the appropriate methodologies, curricula and support systems to educate their students. RIVER’s education model helps teachers adapt to these challenges. Government curricula are adapted for local context, and divided into smaller modules so learning is aligned with each student’s ability. Local accountability chains are established between teachers, parents and government. RIVER’s success in improving the quality of primary education has led to its replication in over 75,000 schools as part of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, reaching eight million children across India per year.

Paolo Richter selected as „Swiss Social Entrepreneur 2009“

The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship selected Paolo Richter, founder of Gump- und Drahtesel as "Swiss Social Entrepreneur 2009". In this fourth edition, the Foundation together with its partners, The Boston Consulting Group, Die Mobiliar and the weekly Bilanz, honours organizations with innovative and sustainable solutions to societal and ecological challenges.

Paolo Richters company Gump- und Drahtesel convinced the jury with its sustainable international project that has helped unemployed people to be re-integrated into the labour market in Switzerland while recycling old bicycles for Africa.

Paolo Richter has made his hobby - collecting and restoring old bicycles - into one of the most respected work integration programmes in the canton of Bern. 750 people are employed in his bicycle and wood workshops every year and receive professional coaching and training to re-integrate the labour market. A part from restoring bicycles for Africa the workshops also restore antiques which is then sold in its factory shop Pico Bello in Bern.

A jury comprised of representatives of the partner organizations as well as, among others Pascale Bruderer, Vice President of the Swiss National Council, Roland Decorvet, CEO Nestlé Switzerland and Gisèle Girgis, Member of the Board, Migros selected the "Swiss Social Entrepreneur 2009“ among a group of four finalists. The other three finalists were Patrick Honauer, Founder axisBildung, Helen von Arx, ESPOIR and Robert Schmuki and Midnight Projects.