Publications by Tag: Women & Sustainability
Blog
HERproject: Educating Factory Workers and Company Executives Alike
Marcus Chung, Director, Vendor Compliance and Corporate Social Responsibility, Talbots
With small teams and limited resources, we CSR practitioners must often integrate our work into other departments' business processes to achieve our strategies and objectives. Given that, one of the most important parts of my job is to educate other Talbots departments and colleagues about what I do and why it's important to consider the external effects of our decision-making. Read more
HERproject Partner Profile From Bangladesh: Awaj Foundation
Amaya Gorostiaga, Manager, Advisory Services
Note: This is the third blog in a three-part series highlighting the impact of HERproject in Bangladesh. The first blog explored impacts within and beyond factory walls through the stories of HERproject peer educators. The second blog shared a participating brand’s perspective on health and business impacts she has seen, and this blog profiles one of our NGO partners. Read more
HERproject: A Perspective From Primark
By Libby Annat, Senior Ethical Trade Manager, Primark
Note: This is the second blog in a three-part series highlighting the impact of HERproject in Bangladesh. The first blog explored impacts within and beyond factory walls through the stories of HERproject peer educators. This blog shares a participating brands’ perspective on health and business impacts she has seen, and the third blog profiles one of our NGO partners. Read more
Talking to HERproject Heroes in Bangladesh
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
Note: This is the first blog in a three-part series highlighting the impact of HERproject in Bangladesh. This first blog explores impacts within and beyond factory walls through the stories of HERproject peer educators. The second blog shares a participating brands’ perspective on health and business impacts she has seen, and the third blog profiles one of our NGO partners. Read more
Conflict Minerals and Local Development Concerns
Marshall Chase, Manager, Advisory Services
Note: This is the second of three blogs highlighting the critical issues that risk getting lost in the rush to implement due diligence on conflict minerals. Our first blog discussed the local impacts of supply chain policies, and the next will explore the connection with global responsible sourcing issues. Read more
Women’s Empowerment and HIV/AIDS: A Call to Action on World AIDS Day
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
When I was in college, I thought “women’s issues” was a soft political science—post-conflict reconciliation and diplomacy, poverty alleviation, and democratization were the tough issues that required the most attention on the global stage. Years later through my work on BSR’s HERproject and global research on gender inequality, I now understand that in fact women’s empowerment lies at the heart of solving (or failing to solve) most global development challenges—including the fight against HIV/AIDS. Read more
How Companies Can Help Prevent Trafficking
Celine Suarez, Manager, Advisory Services
It’s estimated that 80 percent of global trafficking victims are women, and the vast majority are ensnared in sexual exploitation through the promise of legitimate jobs, marriage, “a way out,” or the lure of love from a male figure. Women and girls often become trapped in their situations through the threat (or reality) of violence, physical bondage, psychological control, and drug addiction. Around the world, poverty and illiteracy are some of the most common factors among female victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Read more
Empowering Women Through Mobile Technology
Cammie Erickson, Associate, Partnership Development
Google’s announcement this week to buy Motorola Mobility for US$12.5 billion signals its move into the telecommunications hardware business and provides further evidence that mobile technology is on the rise—and here to stay. Read more
For Financial Services Companies, Women Represent an Enormous (Missed) Opportunity
Chhavi Ghuliani, Manager, Advisory Services
As BSR’s recent report on the topic highlights, the world’s working poor need access to a range of formal financial products and services—including credit, savings, insurance, and remittances—in order to invest in economic opportunities, manage their money more effectively, and reduce risks related to illness or loss of employment. Read more
Audits Are Falling Short for Women
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
Last month, the Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights (formerly the National Labor Committee), released a report documenting widespread human rights abuses at a factory in Jordan that supplies apparel products to international buyers. Among the allegations were numerous reports of sexual abuse by facility managers, highlighting a history of abuse by one manager in particular. Buyer responses, to date, have been to cite their commitments to rigorous auditing protocols and established social-compliance standards. Read more
A Quick Guide to the HERproject Toolbuilder
Elissa Goldenberg, Associate, Advisory Services
Recently, I traveled to Jakarta, Indonesia, to unveil BSR’s HERproject Toolbuilder, a web-based application that helps global health educators create culturally relevant training tools for factory- and farm-based health education in developing countries. The Toolbuilder includes a collection of more than 200 images on seven different health topics. Read more
Global HERproject Partners Gather in Indonesia for Annual Convening and Country Launch
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
Last week in Jakarta, Indonesia, HERproject partners from around the world gathered with more than 40 participants from Indonesian factories and NGOs and HERproject participating companies to discuss workplace women’s health solutions and kick off the initiative in the country. At the meeting, we shared HERproject impact stories and data from Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam; explored challenges and solutions to workplace interventions; and discussed methods to sustain and replicate successful programs. Read more
Where BSR Will Be in June
June is shaping up to be a busy month for BSR staff around the world. Here’s a few of the place we’ll be—and events we’re hosting. We hope to see you there! Read more
Embedding the Millennium Development Goals into Business Strategy: the World’s Women Can Help
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
During the CERES conference earlier this month, Levi Strauss CEO John Anderson made an important announcement: Levi Strauss will begin to require their suppliers to go beyond compliance and support the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through workplace policies and programs and community outreach. Using the MDGs as a measurement for impact, Anderson said, will help apparel companies and apparel manufacturing businesses create positive benefits for local communities—such as improved health and nutrition, or access to bank accounts and financial literacy. Support for local communities and economic growth can lead to industry stability and ensure a sustainable supply of quality products. Plus, it’s the right thing to do. Read more
HERproject Inspires in China and Vietnam
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
I’ve just wrapped up a 10-day tour of China and Vietnam, including visits to seven factories participating in HERproject with the support of Abercrombie & Fitch, HP, Li & Fung, Marks & Spencer, Nordstrom, and Talbots. Read more
The Economic Power of Women
Amaya Gorostiaga, Manager, Advisory Services
Women represent the largest market opportunity in the world. Globally, they control US$20 trillion in annual consumer spending, and this number could rise to US$28 trillion in the next five years. According to the Boston Consulting Group survey “What Women Want,” this potential would constitute a growth market bigger than those of China and India combined. Read more
HERproject Takes to the Field in Kenya
Jennifer Schappert, Associate, Advisory Services
During my most recent trip for HERproject with colleague Ryan Flaherty, the term "fieldwork" took on a whole new meaning—we found ourselves suiting up in boots and smelling roses. Ryan and I traveled to Naivasha (an hour northwest of Nairobi) to lay the groundwork for expanding HERproject into the cut-flower and food-processing industries in Kenya. Traditionally, BSR’s HERproject—a factory-based program that provides peer-to-peer health education to female workers—has operated in factories in the garment and information technology (IT) sectors. Read more
Bringing Women to the Center of the Conversation
Thursday morning plenaries at the BSR Conference 2010 provided thought-provoking ideas about tackling the challenges and opportunities around women and gender. Watch the highlights of addresses from Women for Women International's Zainab Salbi and Avon's Andrea Jung. Read more
When Business Works With Women
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
This Tuesday in London, BSR held a workshop to explore the intersections of women and business in emerging economies and the resulting opportunities and responsibilities for business. As companies expand their operations, improve their supply chains, and grow their markets around the world, sustainable growth will require investments in and recognition of women as consumers, employees, supply chain workforces, and community members. Read more
Improving Women’s Health in the Developing World Begs More Than Money
Peder Michael Pruzan-Jorgensen, Managing Director, Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
At the close of this week’s UN Summit on progress toward achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced a US$40 billion investment in women and children’s health. This announcement came less than a week after Johnson & Johnson announced a commitment of US$200 million and CARE International pledged $1.8 billion to address the same issue. Read more
Advancing Entrepreneurship with Women in Saudi Arabia
By Nandini Hampole
BSR recently met with a number of leading women entrepreneurs in Jeddah as part of a three-part workshop on corporate social responsibility and human rights for Saudi companies, NGOs, and employees of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). This meeting was a unique opportunity to better understand developments in the Kingdom regarding women’s participation in the private sector and in the job market. Read more
Now is the Time for Women and Girls
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
Everyone is talking about women and girls this week in Washington, D.C.—from Ban Ki-Moon, the White House’s Valerie Jarrett, the State Department’s Melanne Verveer to Arianna Huffington, the former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, and Melinda Gates. Companies are talking too: Coca Cola, Newmont Mining, Exxon Mobile, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, Gap, Inc., and Vestergaard Frandsen, among others. Read more
Growth Potential and Sustainability Challenges in Africa
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
While on a recent trip to Egypt and Kenya to research employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for women in export-processing zones, Betsy Fargo and I found that both countries are on the verge of expansion in a number of critical industries, creating growth opportunities as well as potential sustainability challenges. Read more
HERproject: Making Women’s Health Care a Global Reality
Aron Cramer, President and CEO
Ever since Al Gore was focused on NAFTA, not climate change, debate has raged over whether globalization has helped or hurt workers, communities, and national economies. One question in particular has been front and center: what about the treatment of workers in the thousands of factories that make products for western consumers? But too often, the particular needs of women driving the global economy have been overlooked. Read more
International Women’s Day: Supporting Women’s Empowerment Across the Globe
Cody Sisco, Manager, Advisory Services
As we take a moment to reflect today on International Women’s Day, it is important to recognize the progress we’ve made on ensuring respect for human rights for women around the world. We must also take this opportunity to consider the challenges that still need to be overcome in order to ensure women’s full participation in the global economy. Read more
In Conversation with Factory Workers in Bangalore
By Nandini Hampole
I was recently in Bangalore to kick off the HERproject Southern India expansion through renewed partnerships with international companies, their supplier factories, and our local partner St. John’s Medical College. Read more
BSR Conference Session Summaries
BSR Insight Articles
Making Factory-Based Programs Last: Observations from HERproject in India
Elissa Goldenberg, Associate, Advisory Services
During a recent visit to HERproject programs in Southern India, I saw firsthand the positive impact of workplace-based, peer health education. As discussed in last month’s feature on Levi Strauss & Company’s new supply chain management strategy, an increasing number of companies are working with their suppliers to implement programs focused on workers’ well-being, which typically depend on local NGO support. When that support ends, factories who want to sustain their programs often struggle. Read more
Levi Strauss’ Michael Kobori on Supply Chain Sustainability
At last week’s Ceres Conference, the “Great Expectations: Building a Sustainable Supply Chain” session examined how companies are improving workers’ well-being in the supply chain. Read more
Improving Worker Well-Being: A Case Study of Levi Strauss & Co.‘s Supply Chain Approach
Jessica Davis Pluess, Manager, Advisory Services; Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
Consider two stories that illuminate challenges in the typical approach to supply chain compliance today: Read more
Increasing Gender Diversity in the Boardroom
A new group of institutional investors, governance experts, and executives from U.S.-based companies including Campbell Soup and the Hopgood Group launched the 30% Coalition last week to promote the idea of securing a minimum of 30 percent women on Fortune 500 company boards by the end of 2015. Read more
Innovative Solutions to Improving Women and Children’s Health
Elissa Goldenberg, Associate, Advisory Services
A new UN report explores how to improve women and children’s health globally. The report details what’s needed for successful development programs, outlines critical health needs, and highlights 10 innovative business models (including BSR’s HERproject) for delivering health services and products. Read more
Walmart CEO: ‘Holding Women Back Holds Economies Back’
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
Last week, Walmart made a US$20 billion commitment to increase sourcing from female-owned U.S. businesses and to double the amount it sources from female-owned businesses globally by 2016. Through a broader initiative, the company will also offer women on farms and in factories training, market access, and career opportunities; provide low-income women with job-skills training and access to higher education; increase the gender diversity among its major suppliers; and grant US$100 million to organizations supporting women’s economic empowerment. Read more
The 4:1 ROI for Women’s Health Initiatives
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
BSR’s factory-based women’s health education program has the potential to deliver a US$4 return for every dollar invested in the project, according to a new study. Read more
New BSR Tool Educates Women in Developing Countries on Health Issues
Elissa Goldenberg, Associate, Advisory Services
BSR’s new HERproject Toolbuilder allows public health educators to create accurate and culturally relevant tools to educate women working in factories and farms in developing countries about health issues. BSR’s HERproject has demonstrated that investments in women’s health deliver business benefits such as reduced absenteeism and turnover and increased productivity. Read more
Coca-Cola Announces US$6 Million Investment in Clean Water Programs
According to the World Health Organization, African women and children spend up to 40 billion hours per year collecting water. Because they often travel long distances to retrieve clean water, women frequently resort to using unsafe water sources, putting themselves and their families at risk of life-threatening diseases. Read more
Closing the Gender Gap in Agriculture
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization released a new report on the business case for addressing gender issues in agriculture and rural employment. According to the report, women in all regions face gender-related constraints that reduce their productivity and impose real costs on society. Read more
Women and Sustainability: Integrating Women Into Your Business and Sustainability Strategies
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
Growth in women’s income, education levels, and labor participation rates makes them essential participants in the global economy, and engagement with women and girls increasingly critical to sustainable growth for every industry. Women contribute to the private sector’s social license to operate; market, crop, and supply chain stability; a talented and stable employee base; and market growth and innovation. Additionally, investments in women have a multiplier effect, as women are more likely to reinvest in education, health, and economic activities at the community level. Read more
Overcoming the Obstacles to Investing in Women
Jennifer Schappert, Associate, Advisory Services
Last week in London, BSR hosted a workshop where representatives from businesses and NGOs explored the intersections of business and women in emerging economies. As companies expand their operations and supply chains, sustainable growth will require investments in and recognition of women as consumers, employees, and community members. Read more
Understanding the Health Needs of Female Factory Workers
Nandini Hampole
HERproject—BSR's factory-based women's health initiative—recently released new resources to help companies understand the specific health needs of women workers in their supply chains: Read more
Focusing on Women’s Health for Business Returns
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
Last week, BSR and 25 of our HERproject partners from China, Egypt, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to share best practices for our factory-based women's health-education program, create curriculum standards, and launch the program in the country. Read more
HERproject Report Reveals Positive Impacts on Women and Business
According to BSR's new report on HERproject, our factory-based women's health initiative has provided positive benefits for business and significantly improved women's health awareness, leadership skills, and relationships with their employers. Read more
Investing in Women for a Better World
Racheal Yeager, Manager, HERproject
There has never been a better time to invest in women. Read more
State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
According to a UN report, the world's 370 million indigenous peoples suffer disproportionately (and often exponentially) higher rates of poverty, health problems, crime, and human rights abuses. This report illuminates several key themes that could be relevant to companies whose operations may affect indigenous communities: Read more
Embedding Gender in Sustainability Reporting: A Practitioner’s Guide
The International Finance Corporation and Global Reporting Initiative's practitioner's guide covers trends, stakeholder perspectives, and recommendations for how companies can embed gender in sustainability measurement, policies, and reporting in the following areas: Read more
HERproject Update: Promoting Women’s Health in Pakistan
Last month, an appreciation ceremony in Karachi, Pakistan, celebrated the accomplishments of HERproject, a BSR initiative that raises female factory workers’ awareness of general and reproductive health issues. Read more
Can Women Solve the World’s Woes? A Q&A with Half the Sky authors Nicholas Kristof and Sher
Interview by Racheal Yeager, Associate, Partnership Development, BSR
In October 2009, New York Times journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn published a powerful call to action in their book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors posit that individuals and organizations worldwide can advance economic progress and fight poverty by investing in women and girls. Read more
Using Public Policy to Enhance Sustainability Initiatives
Ryan Flaherty, Manager, Advisory Services
According to a new business brief written for BSR's DR-CAFTA Responsible Competitiveness Project, more governments are developing public policies that encourage corporate responsibility. Common policies include voluntary and binding guidelines, awareness-raising, and fund allocation criteria; however, governments often lack the coordinated, strategic approach necessary to create comprehensive policy frameworks. Read more
Events
BSR Conference 2011: Leadership Required
Leadership in business is changing fast. In today’s global, integrated, and transparent world, business is expected to do more than deliver shareholder returns. At its best, business is a creative force and an integral player in delivering prosperity for 9 billion people, applying game-changing technologies for social benefit, and radically reducing our use of natural resources. Learn more
Reports
HERproject: Health Enables Returns | The Business Returns from Women’s Health Programs
HERproject health needs assessments have demonstrated that women’s health remains a critical area of investment for international companies and their supplier partners. This study seeks to provide a clear business case for such investments. Read more
Women and Sustainability | Employing Women Responsibly: The Emerging Market Context
With post-secondary education and formal workforce participation rates approaching 50 percent, women employees may be just what multinational companies need to overcome labor shortages in emerging markets. At the same time, fair and equal formal-sector employment represents the most powerful contribution to gender equality that a company can provide. Read more
Women and Sustainability: Investing in Women's Health
The gender dimensions of health have significant impacts on workplace productivity, the consumer marketplace, community stability, and community member well-being. Investments targeted at raising women's health awareness and access to health products and services, can deliver important immediate business benefits, such as more productive workforces or more informed consumers. In the longer term, these investments also support women's full economic participation and contribute to healthier, more stable communities. Read more
Women and Sustainability: Investing in Women Economic Empowerment
Investments in women's economic empowerment are a strategic means to create and support markets, by providing jobs, opportunities for professional development, financial literacy and access to banking, and start-up capital and capacity-building to help women run small businesses. Read more
Investing in Women for a Better World
Our 2010 report on HERproject confirms that our factory-based women's health initiative has provided positive benefits for women and business. The report summarizes the impacts of HERproject programs to date, which have touched approximately 50,000 women in China, Egypt, India, Mexico, Pakistan, and Vietnam. Read more
Can Women Solve the World’s Woes? A Q&A with 'Half the Sky' authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn—authors of a new book about how to turn oppression into opportunity for women—talk with us about what they say is the key to economic progress: investing in women and girls. Read more
Human Rights in a Wired World
Sixty years after the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the world finds itself in a very different place, where almost anyone, anywhere, has the potential to access an endless source of information and communicate directly with the rest of the world. Information and communications technology (ICT) has been one of the most powerful drivers of change in our global society and has greatly shaped how we protect and advance human rights today. Read more
Women's General and Reproductive Health in Global Supply Chains
Women between the ages of 18–25 comprise the vast majority of workers making products for export from the developing world to the developed world. They often work in environments where access to information about reproductive health, as well as critical services, is lacking. Read more
Case Studies Report
Driving Innovation Through Partnerships
Since BSR’s founding, we have been strongly committed to achieving our mission through powerful partnerships. BSR’s Partnership Development team is dedicated to catalyzing collaboration between business and social and environmental innovators in the public and nonprofit sectors to make progress on systemic sustainable development challenges. Learn more
HERproject: Investing in Women Workers for Health and Business Returns
The global economy has brought millions of women between the ages of 16 and 25 into employment in export factories all across the developing world. Because many of these women are migrants working long hours, they are often isolated from traditional support networks that can help them with challenges such as working conditions, proper compensation, and access to education, health care, and other social services. At the same time, there is a great opportunity to leverage their presence in global supply chains to improve the welfare of these women, many of whom are entering the formal economy for the first time. Learn more
Women’s Health Enables Return in Global Supply Chains
Women between the ages of 18 to 25 often comprise the vast majority of developing world workers making products for export to the developed world. Much of this work is performed in environments where access to information about reproductive health, as well as critical health services, is lacking. Moreover, factory managers often question the value of investing financial resources in health programs due to high turnover and the perception that young, unmarried women workers are not sexually active and thus are not at risk for reproductive health problems. Despite the challenges presented by this reality, we set out to leverage our unique position to improve the general and reproductive health of women workers along global supply chains. Learn more
Sustainability Matters
CANCELLED: The Power of Women as Consumers
Women represent the largest market opportunity in the world. Globally, they control US$20 trillion in annual consumer spending, and this number could rise to US$28 trillion in the next five years. Today’s marketplace is being transformed by the fact that globally 1 billion women participate in the workforce—this number will likely grow to 1.2 billion in the next five years. Women’s earned income is also rising, growing at 8.1 percent versus 5.8 percent for men. This has tremendous implications for women’s purchasing power. Learn more
Opportunities to Improve Women’s Health in Factories: Moving Beyond HERproject
BSR's HERproject provides health education to female factory workers in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam. Through our programs and local partners, we've learned what the unique health needs of women workers are, how these needs are being met, and how they relate to compliance. Learn more
BSR Review
Women and Sustainability
In response to a question about Saudi Arabia's economic competitiveness in 2007, Bill Gates famously announced to the gender-segregated audience: "If you're not fully utilizing half the talent in the country, you're not going to get too close to the top." View email publication
Other Publications & Events Tagged, Women & Sustainability
- Blog [ 26 ]
- BSR Conference Session Summaries [ 1 ]
- BSR Insight Articles [ 21 ]
- BSR Review [ 1 ]
- Case Studies [ 2 ]
- Events [ 1 ]
- Research Reports [ 8 ]
- Sustainable Investment in China Article [ 0 ]
- Sustainability Matters [ 2 ]
BSR member-only content; valid login required.