New York, Manila, 26 June 2013 - Philippines-based Hapinoy has joined the Business Call to Action (BCtA) with a commitment to further expand its model Health Hub, a program that gives low-income neighborhoods access to a range of healthcare initiatives.

Hapinoy's vision is built on focusing on the important community role that these unique neighborhood stores (Sari-Sari stores) play in the local economy. By leveraging its strong network of these stores in over 100 communities in the Philippines, Hapinoy plans to educate and train more than 10,000 Sari-Sari store owners by 2015. The company also plans to reach an estimated 200,000 community residents and provide greater access to healthcare related goods and services, beginning with a range of affordable and quality over the counter medicines.

The new Health Hub is based on the existing company model in which basic goods and services are distributed through a network of women-owned and operated community stores. The stores play an important role in the community and are vital to information sharing and preventative health awareness.

Many of the women micro entrepreneurs, called Nanays (Nanay is the Filipino word for mother), receive training and access to micro financing, along with new business opportunities. The key components of the healthcare program are to use the retail operations as the starting point for the provision of healthcare and to educate and further empower store owners in rural communities.

We are pleased that Hapinoy will continue its work in the base of the pyramid to make an impact and improve the delivery of goods and healthcare services, the Acting Programme Manager of the BCtA, Sahba Sobhani, said.

The health hub responds to the major problem in low-income areas of the Philippines, the limited availability, affordability and acceptance of healthcare products and services.

The model was tested as a pilot in 2010 after Hapinoy won an innovations grant and was able to partner with Unilab, a pharmaceutical company in the Philippines and the Philippine Pharmacists Association. Since then, the company has continued to train store owners, many of whom are women, in business management, personal development and the care and provision of healthcare products. A strategic partnership with RiteMed is also under way in order to expand the portfolio of healthcare products and services going into advocacy, affordable medicine, and services.

Very often rural communities have limited alternatives and access to the products and services they need, the Hapinoy program will help us expand awareness of basic preventative healthcare at the community level, it will also allow individual owners to begin to attract new customers and expand their offerings and value proposition, Managing Director of Hapinoy, Erika Tatad, said.

The Health Hub is part of the Hapinoy's commitment to empowering micro-entrepreneurs who are vital to the local community and the running of sari-sari stores. With about 800,000 stores in the country, these small sari-sari stores make up 30-40% of total retail sales in the Philippines.

For more information, contact:

BCtA: Karen.Newman, karen.newman@undp.org, +1 2129065194

Hapinoy: Erika Tatad, erika@hapinoy.com, +63 29209580

Business Call to Action is a global initiative that challenges companies to develop inclusive business models that offer the potential for development impact along with commercial success. The initiative is the result of a partnership between the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, UK Department for International Development, US Agency for International Development, United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Global Compact, and the Clinton Global Initiative to meet the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Companies report on progress toward commitments on an annual basis. To learn more, please visit www.businesscalltoaction.org or join the conversation on Twitter at @BCtAInitiative.

Hapinoy is a social enterprise in the Philippines, focused on microenterprise development. Hapinoy works with high potential microentreprenuers or Mothers who run their own small village stores (sari-sari stores as they are called in the Philippines) by providing three main inputs: training, access to capital and new business. Hapinoy gives Mothers the tools she needs to build a more sustainable business, while creating a network of stores where high impact goods can flow through. Hapinoy is looking to expand nationwide in the next five years. For more information, please visit www.hapinoy.com or join the conversation on Twitter at @Hapinoy.