In 2005, the late South African president Nelson Mandela made this remark as part of an address on ending global poverty to a crowd of 22,000 gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square.
This week, the Rockefeller Foundation together with South African and multinational companies have stepped up to help end global poverty by launching the Global Impact Sourcing Coalition (GISC).
Economic inequality is one of the most threatening global challenges of our time, jeopardising stability and social progress worldwide. The World Bank estimates that 2.1 billion people in the developing world are surviving on less than US $3.10 a day and more than half of the world’s poorest people are in sub-Saharan Africa. For these individuals and their families, income inequality creates a cycle of poverty that can persist for generations.
One of the most sustainable means to reduce such inequality is to ensure that poor and vulnerable populations have access to formal employment and training, giving them the opportunity to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.
Impact sourcing is an inclusive employment practice through which companies in global supply chains intentionally hire and provide career development opportunities to people who otherwise would have limited prospects for formal employment. The practice has the potential to transform the lives of young men and women, while also benefiting the companies that employ them and the communities where they live.