Engaging Youth to Advance Women Empowerment
May 3, 2013Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan once said, “Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace.” While UN Women Singapore continues to call upon the international community – governments, civil society, businesses and the general public – to recognize gender inequality and the …
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It’s an exciting time for Myanmar. The Southeast Asian nation is undergoing rapid cultural and political shifts as it transitions to democracy. New market reforms are creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to pull themselves out of the poverty that has gripped the country. But many people lack the skills needed to capitalize on this evolution. That’s where Mercy Corps steps in. …
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Filipino women paying it forward
March 14, 2013Meet Joy Sallan, Marina Reyes and Maribel Tolentino – the ‘nanays’ (Tagalog for ‘mothers’) who I met last week in Manila, capital of the Philippines. They represented the over 1000 nanays who have undergone business literacy and business skills training with Hapinoy. Hapinoy equips women with the knowledge, tools, and resources to run sari-sari stores—small …
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Holiday Shoppers in Japan Go ‘Cashless at Christmas’ to Make a Difference in the Lives of Children in Need
December 13, 2012This holiday season, MasterCard and Roppongi Hills are teaming up once again to support children in need through the Purchase with Purpose™ program at the Roppongi Hills Christmas Market 2012. For every transaction made on a MasterCard card at the Christmas Market, Roppongi Hills and MasterCard will make a donation to support children who were orphaned by …
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Are We Closing the Gender Gap in Financial Literacy?
July 19, 2012We’ve often spoken about the increasing importance of financial literacy for women. They generally outlive men, have shorter working years, and are still earning less than men. This creates an even greater need for women to be financially independent and secure. What’s unfortunate is that historically, women have fallen behind their male counterparts on this …
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Over the past few decades, India has made remarkable progress in many areas of growth, development and in improving the lives of its citizens. There is increasing recognition that improving Indian women’s participation in the workforce can assist this process greatly. The proportion has remained below 35% for almost three decades. A recent report cited …
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William S. Reese is President and CEO of the International Youth Foundation The launch of the Young Entrepreneurs initiative is great news for 700 young people in Delhi and Mumbai who will learn how to start and grow their own small businesses. It also confirms the growing recognition that public/private partnerships offer the most productive ways to …
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Empower Women, Inspire Change
March 7, 2012As the world celebrates International Women’s Day and we reflect on how far women have come over the years, let’s not forget that disparities and obstacles to equal opportunity still exist – in both the developed and emerging worlds. Women’s empowerment is ever important as our world becomes increasingly connected. The numbers speak for themselves (sourced from UN Women) …
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Ethical Spending and the Importance of Giving
February 21, 2012We recently released the MasterCard survey on ethical spending, which was conducted via online interviews with 12,500 consumers from 25 markets across Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa. The findings from the survey were quite interesting – for example: Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and China have stepped up to be the region’s most conscientious shoppers, ahead …
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