Latest news with #vulnerablecommunities
Arab News
24-07-2025
- General
- Arab News
KSrelief distributes 970 shelter kits in Pakistan and Somalia
RIYADH: The Kingdom's aid agency KSrelief recently distributed 970 shelter kits to vulnerable communities in Pakistan and Somalia, benefiting 6,672 individuals, according to the Saudi Press Agency. In Pakistan, KSrelief provided 840 kits to displaced and affected families in the Haveli and Muzaffarabad districts of Jammu and Kashmir province, benefitting 5,232 individuals. In Somalia, KSrelief distributed 130 shelter kits, along with 100 clothing bags and 10 tents, to families in Baki Camp in the Awdal region, benefitting 1,440 people.
Bloomberg
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
How Entire Countries Have Become The Target of Climate Change Lawsuits
International negotiations have delivered mixed results in tackling climate change, so some people are turning to another tool in search of faster progress: litigation. Around the world, many of the most vulnerable citizens, communities and nations are suing countries and corporations over what they see as a lack of climate action. They want to force polluters and governments to pay for past harms and to avert future threats, and they're using the law to assign blame for damage. Opponents say climate policy is not a matter for the courts, but for agreements between nations, such as those on emissions reduction, methane and deforestation.
CNA
23-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
CNA938 Rewind - From waste to worth: Are more Singaporeans going for ugly food?
As part of its ongoing efforts to support vulnerable communities with better access to nutritious food, FairPrice Group will expand its Neighbourhood Food Share initiative to over 60 distribution points by the end of this year. Lance Alexander and Daniel Martin speak with David Goh, CEO of FairPrice Supermarket, Cheers, and Unity.
Fast Company
17-07-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
Philanthropy cannot be the global aid plan B
Bill Gates recently sounded the alarm: with massive cuts to foreign aid, global child mortality is set to rise—for the first time in decades. Since the Trump era, more than 80% of USAID contracts have been slashed, and the shortfall is being felt across the world's most vulnerable communities. As a result, there is an urgent need to address how global issues are tackled, making the private philanthropic sector more important than ever. It's tempting to assume that philanthropy should simply step in and focus on filling the gap. But that in my view would be a mistake, and a missed opportunity. Philanthropy, at its best, isn't built to replace government-scale aid. Its real potential lies in its agency to take a longer term view and absorb risk needed to tackle the seemingly intractable issues we face. And in this moment of global disruption, that's needed more than ever. There is a real danger that the primary focus of philanthropic funding pivots towards being a backstop for foreign aid. My fear is that this new role detracts from the real power of philanthropy, which lies in its ability to tackle systemic issues by funding the radical innovation needed to deliver more equitable futures. A moment for philanthropy to embrace breakthroughs Philanthropy is at a crossroads. Traditional models of giving are no longer sufficient to address the complex global challenges we face and the uncertain times we live in. At the same time, too few philanthropists understand their potential in helping tackle them. Let me be clear: I am not criticizing philanthropy's storied history. Philanthropists should be proud to be part of a tradition that has had many successes since the Industrial Revolution. Private donors have helped to fund important social advances—from the near-eradication of polio to women's liberation and equal marriage. Now, as we face rising uncertainty, is the moment for philanthropy to step up and embrace its true superpower: the ability to embrace risk to make breakthroughs. The ability to commit beyond just signing checks. A commitment that also requires time, perseverance, and expertise. A time for a new mindset In 1962, President John F. Kennedy called upon his fellow countrymen to put a man on the moon by the end of that decade. As I look at the challenges we face globally, the solutions look just as far away from our reach as the moon did to Kennedy. Today, I do not believe that voters and taxpayers would be as accepting of such a bold and audacious goal. At the same time many global corporations, some with more capital than nation states, recognize their potential to contribute to tackling the world's greatest challenges. They are stepping up, making huge risky investments in potentially profitable, transformative ideas. But their obligation to deliver shareholder returns leaves little room to deliver the high-risk, transformative work where it's desperately needed. We need to change our thinking about who delivers that change and how it's done. Systems change philanthropy can play that role, but only if philanthropists with the passion, resilience, and risk appetite are encouraged to use their capital for transformative impact. It is this superpower that will enable philanthropy to privatize and absorb the cost of failures, but also socialize its success for the good of all. A partnership, not a substitution Philanthropy has the power to change the tide and create the conditions for larger institutions to act. They don't replace those institutions; they inspire, enable, and de-risk their intervention; it is philanthropists' strategic collaboration with partners, experts, and convening institutions that can ensure targeted and effective action. My work has focused on tackling the issue of uncorrected poor vision, which affects 2.2 billion people globally—a mission that has been at the heart of my philanthropy for the last two decades. For the first decade, my focus was on delivering universal vision correction to the nation of Rwanda. While we achieved our goal, after a long-term effort by a team that included a funder, many partners, and all kinds of experts, correcting poor vision remained a low-priority health issue on the global agenda. This resulted in transforming one country's healthcare system. But change can't happen one country at a time. Without institutional support, I quickly realized that philanthropy would not make enough of a dent in solving the global poor vision challenge. It misses the point of what each does best. It's about the legitimacy, scale, and convening power that governments possess. When a government or international organization commits to a cause, it signals to the world that this issue matters at the highest levels of policy and diplomacy. Our global vision campaign, Clearly, was born out of this realization. And it was the inflection point achieved by lobbying the UN to shift its thinking, from vision correction being a low priority health silo issue to being recognized as a high-priority development issue, that led to a resolution committing every country to 'eyecare for all' by 2030. By taking the risk to reframe vision correction, it created the evidence base and political momentum that governments needed to act. This is the model for philanthropy's future: creating breakthroughs that make government intervention more effective. Philanthropy cannot be a stopgap—but it can kick-start a revolution to address the world's biggest challenges.
South China Morning Post
29-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong social enterprise restaurant races to relocate as closure looms
Hong Kong's social enterprises empowering vulnerable communities are struggling to survive amid a dire economy. In the second part of this two-part series, the Post looks at how a profitable social enterprise was driven out of business by the government despite its earlier recognition and contributions to the community. You can read the first instalment here In one of Hong Kong's most underprivileged neighbourhoods, residents were recently bidding a reluctant farewell to Agape Garden. Over the past six years, this social enterprise restaurant in Shek Kip Mei Estate provided jobs for those with mentally disabilities, single mothers and the elderly, while offering free hot meals to about 100 seniors in need daily. More recently, they have even started helping stray cats find a new home. The closure follows an abrupt government decision to reclaim the space, effectively dismantling this community hub. The landlord, the Housing Authority, said it was 'planning other uses for the premises with detailed arrangements being worked out', without specifying the new purpose. Their website showed at least two dozen vacant shops pending tender in the neighbourhood.
