Empowerment - The act of taking authority or control over certain aspects of one’s life.
Socially Responsible Investing
-Many people at one point or another choose to make investments in an attempt to create capital.
Usually the investor will look into companies in which maximum profits are expected. Many investors however are beginning to look at more than just the money. Socially responsible investing is when a person considers moral values while selecting a company to invest in. They can avoid investing in companies who use child labour, damage the environment or perhaps create products they do not support such as cigarettes or weapons.
-In Canada, socially responsible investments increased from $65B in 2004 to over $506B in
2007.
Microfinance Lending (MFL) or Microcredit
-Is the giving of small loans (often from many investors) to people in an attempt to break them out of poverty.
-the pioneering of modern microfinance is often credited to Dr. Mohammad Yunus, who began experimenting with lending to poor women in the village of Jobra, Bangladesh during his tenure as a professor of economics at Chittagong University in the 1970s. He would go on to found
Grameen Bank in 1983 and win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.
-Banks do not lend to the poor because they lack equity and are considered a serious risk to full repayment. Banks also make very little money by lending out small amounts of cash.
-MFLs offer opportunity and female empowerment and have proven to be highly successful.
-Example organizations include Kiva (2004) and Microplace (2007).
Fair Trade
-Is a trading partnership which aims to improve equity in global trade. Fair trade allows poor producers of various products in developing countries to benefit from the labour and production of their work.
-Fair trade most commonly exists for agricultural products such as tea, coffee, cocoa, honey, sugar, juice, dried fruits, nuts, spices, flowers and cotton.
-How it works – Members of a community decide what product they can grow for the cheapest costs of production. As a community based initiative, they agree to what work needs to be done and who is going to be a member of the cooperative. Often time’s entire communities make commitments to the cooperative. Payment is structured so that everyone that works will essentially get paid the same.
-Often through the aid of an NGO, the cooperative gets approval as a “fair trade” producer so that they can market their product as Fair Trade friendly. Through further assistance of the NGO or community leaders, buyers are found.
-The fair trade movement has been growing since the late 1990’s.
-In 2001, there were 224 certified organizations that produced fair trade products, in 2006 - 569!
-Fair trade products are usually more expensive than free market brands because the workers are actually getting paid FAIRLY for their work (can you imagine?).
-No money is given to presidents, vice presidents or other middle men/women.
-Fair Trade products are usually sold in specialty food stores or over the internet though they are slowly starting to find their way into grocery stores and other major chains (Starbucks-10% of fair trade certified coffee imports).