Many wonder why the global community hasn’t solved world poverty yet.
Simply put, poverty is a complex problem.
It’s why we can’t work in isolation to help those in need around the world. We need governments, other civil-society organizations and the private sector, too. So, I was eager to talk about this with members of the corporate world on a recent trip to see our work in India.
Co-creating solutions with businesses will equip us with resources and added capabilities to bridge that last-mile connection with the world’s most vulnerable children. Together, we can help fill gender and development gaps, addressing complex issues such as child marriage, child labour and violence against children. In the end, more children will be free to go to school, find full-time work as adults and build a brighter future.
There are many partnership possibilities, and we explored some in India. It was inspiring to meet leaders engaged in their communities, eager to help. Below are just three examples of conversations, which inspired me.
- Charles C. Li, director general, Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in Chennai, was excited about the idea to expand our existing work beyond supporting sponsorship projects. We talked about collaborating with Taiwanese entities, including, non-governmental organizations and companies to leverage technology to address multi-pronged development challenges, such as gender and development gaps in India.
- Nicole Girard, consul general, Canadian Consulate in Bengaluru (Bangalore), was keen to encourage social responsibility in the business community as necessary in creating sustainable change. That includes initiatives already in play, such as our global youth program, campaigns to end child marriage and more.
- Seven Canadian companies operating in India, the Indo-Canadian Business Chamber, and the consul general, shared ideas about how to collaborate to give women and children better access to food, quality education and commerce.