Dear BCtA Community

Only one month remains of 2018, but we are feeling invigorated after an eventful three months since our last News Bite and looking forward to the year ahead!

Important themes for us over the past few months have been human rights, women's economic empowerment and digitalisation. Read more below about activities in these areas - and thank you to all of you who participated in and supported them. Looking forward, we're also really excited to share the findings of our State of Inclusive Business Survey - more on this below.

We were also on the move: both our team and our members have been busy participating in key inclusive and sustainable business events, such as the Dow Jones Sustainability International Conference in Seoul, the World Data Forum in Dubai, Responsible Business Forum in Singapore, the 3BL Brands Taking Stands Forum in Washington DC and more.

As we approach the end of the year, we are full of energy to continue our efforts to wave the inclusive business flag into 2019. Here, we share with you the highlights of the activities and news over the past three months, as well as exciting upcoming events:

New Additions to the BCtA Family

We have welcomed 11 new members to BCtA since August: Coconut Merchant, Aquamatch, Gap Inc., Ethical Apparel Africa, PAVI, Thrive Microfinance, Saahas Zero Waste, Bancalimentos, Unilever Bangladesh, Climate Edge, and iKure. Their member pages outlining their inclusive business commitments will be up on our website soon.

This brings our community to 226 members in 70 countries!

What's on the Horizon?

What is the state of Inclusive Business?
We partnered with GlobeScan to analyse the current state of inclusive business, and here’s a taste of what we found: SDGs have influenced companies’ decisions to engage in inclusive business initiatives; ICT and agriculture, food and beverage sectors are leading the way. We’re holding a webinar to share the results on December 13. Inclusive business expert Stuart Hart will lead the discussion and analysis of the survey findings.

Lead the pack by becoming an Impact Champion
Want to lead the way when it comes to measuring SDG impact? Sign up as an Impact Champion. Participating BCtA companies will complete a full cycle of impact measurement and management using our flagship online Impact Lab with hands-on, technical support from BCtA’s impact team. For more information, get in touch with rabayl.mirza@undp.org

Upcoming Events
29 Nov: What is the role of business in education and training for sustainable development? Business Fights Poverty, online
11 Dec: 10th Sankalp Global Summit, Mumbai, India
12 Dec: Is technology innovation the key to achieving Sustainable Development?, SDG Leadership Series Goal 9 Forum, GlobeScan and VmWare, online
13 Dec: State of Inclusive Business Webinar, GlobeScan and BCtA, online
22-25 Jan 2019: World Economic Forum, Davos-Klosters, Switzerland
18-19 Feb 2019: Metrics from the Ground Up, ANDE, Mérida, Mexico

The Voice of our Community

BCtA member leads 2019 Access to Seeds Index
East-West Seed, a Thailand-based seed breeding and distribution company with subsidiaries in Indonesia, Cambodia, India and more, has topped the 2019 Access to Seeds Index for South and Southeast Asia, surpassing industry giants. This is a huge win for inclusive business, as 98 percent of its clientele smallholder farmers. Read the full story here.

In pictures: Mountain Hazelnuts

BCtA member Mountain Hazelnuts is Bhutan’s first 100 percent foreign-owned company, and is and bringing new sources of income to mountain communities while tapping into global demand for hazelnuts. This photo essay tells their inclusive business story in a series of striking images. Read the supporting story here.

7 areas of action and 7 case studies from BCtA members to accelerate progress on gender equality  
While women’s empowerment may not be the only driver of all inclusive businesses, it should always be an integral one. By improving the lives of low income communities – including women – inclusive businesses are making great strides towards closing the gender gap and achieving the SDGs. This month we published Women’s Economic Empowerment and Inclusive Business: Opportunities for Growth and Impact. The report intends to provide companies with critical insights and practical guidance on how inclusive business can play a more significant role in making women’s economic empowerment a reality.

News from the Guardian Lab – Have you visited our Guardian Lab recently? You can find all the latest articles here: Improving Lives through Business Innovations.  

Our most recent stories include an analysis on how three of our members – Sevamob, aWhere and Envirofit – are using disruptive technology to help achieve the SDGs; an examination of how companies can use data to maximise impact featuring examples of BCtA members Drishtee, Akash Ganga and Mahindra Home Finance; and a spotlight on how inclusive businesses can integrate human rights into their operations and value chains.

If you’re a BCtA member and you have exciting news to share about your inclusive business initiative, please get in touch with our Comms Lead Aimee on aimee.brown@undp.org so we can help share your good news!

Insights from the Field

How do human rights fare in your inclusive business model?
In partnership with BSR, we hosted a seven-session Masterclass on human rights and inclusive business in October - but don’t worry if you missed it – all the sessions recordings are online, and we also launched a supporting toolkit, which gives practical guidance on how integrate human rights into your inclusive business model. 

Digitalisation: is it the inclusive business game changer we think it is? 
Continuing the theme of our Annual Forum, Technological Disruption in the World of Inclusive Business, the latest issue iBAN’s online magazine examines the role that digitalisation is playing in inclusive business: Digitalisation: How social entrepreneurs can cut through the hype and utilise the best fit emerging technologies.The magazine features eight perspectives from inclusive business actors on the issue, including World Toilet Organisation’s Jack Sim, The Hatchery’s Yao Huang, and Envirofit’s Nate Harper and Ron Bills.

Fintech: revolutionising access to finance for the BoP, or exposing them to new risks?
Also on the theme of technology, a new report published by the Center for Financial Inclusion, Finance for All: Wedded to Fintech, for Better or Worse, examines how fintech has the potential to revolutionize the way financial services are provided to those living at the bottom of the economic pyramid by expanding outreach, improving efficiency, and better understanding client needs. Read this blog on the report by Deborah Drake, Vice President, Investing in Inclusive Finance Program, and Philip Brown, Managing Director of Risk, Citi Inclusive Finance. 

Other read-worthy reports 
UNDP examines the multidimensional nature of poverty in Beyond income: A broader picture of poverty; learn about the role private sector can play in a crisis, particularly in support to refugees in Business Models for Building Refugee Resilience in the Stanford Social Innovation Review; WBCSD helps risk management and sustainability practitioners in Applying Enterprise Risk Management to Environmental, Social and Governance-related Risks; and the Center for Global Development examines the gig economy in Let’s Be Real: The Informal Sector and the Gig Economy are the Future, and the Present, of Work in Africa.