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Davos will be a celebration of social enterprise
The 40th World Economic Forum
Annual Meeting has kicked off in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
Over four days top business leaders,
political leaders from around the world, journalists, economists,
academics, development experts and campaigners discuss the most
pressing issues facing the world today. This year's theme is:
'Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign and
Rebuild'.
The event also marks the 10-year
anniversary of the Schwab Foundation for
Social Entrepreneurship - which is a
terrific achievement for this sector and a testament to the fact
that innovation to achieve positive social change driven by
collaborative partnerships can really work. A celebration reception
event will also recognise
Thilo Bode, the founder of Foodwatch,
as
Social Entrepreneur of the Year competition in Germany.
"Over the last decade, we have seen
how the role of social entrepreneurs has become increasingly more
relevant and important. Their projects are helping to build a more
equitable and sustainable world," said Hilde
Schwab, Chairperson, Schwab Foundation for Social
Entrepreneurship.
"We are proud to have provided a
unique community, network and platform to accelerate and support
proven solutions to improve society," added Professor Klaus
Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic
Forum and Co-Founder, Schwab Foundation for Social
Entrepreneurship.
In addition to the reception
celebration, 200 social entrepreneurs will also be invited to
participate in two plenary discussions on 'Business
Solutions to Rural Poverty' and a
'Social Entrepreneurs IdeasLab'.
Common Purpose graduate pitches his thoughts on social
enterprise to the world
Graduate of Common Purpose's
Frontrunner course, Tariq Al Olaimy, was one of five finalists
(amongst hundreds of entrants) in the 2010 YouTube Davos Debates
Contest. The YouTube competition required future leaders to
submit a video demonstrating their knowledge and commitment to a
recognised public cause or concern. The competition judges include
Nobel Peace Prize winner and Founder of Grameen Bank, Muhammad
Yunus; writer Paulo Coelho;
and Arianna
Huffington, Editor-in-Chief of The Huffington Post.
Tariq is a Bahraini national and a
recent graduate of City University, CASS Business School in
London. He believes that social enterprise is a key solution to
creating positive social change. Tariq's pitch to the judges
highlighted how social enterprise could play a role in tackling
diabetes which, according to Tariq, kills around 3.8 million people
a year and rivals HIV/AIDS as a global killer.
Tariq is a co-founder of Al Tamasuk, a
not-for-profit social enterprise that aims to raise awareness and
promote education on diabetes and its link to blindness in the
Middle East. Tariq also works in business development with Jumpstart-up - an
organisation providing seed-level support and funding for high
impact, financially sustainable, scalable, replicable
entrepreneurial ventures.
says Tariq. "Historically there have been many individuals
around the world who have provided solutions to difficult social
problems, like Florence Nightingale in the UK, and a recent example
is Muhammad Yunus who began offering microloans to impoverished
people in Bangladesh in 1976 and empowered them to become
economically self-sufficient. His microcredit model has now been
replicated around the world."
"Every 10 seconds a person dies from diabetes-related causes, yet
up to 80 per cent of type two diabetes could be prevented by
lifestyle choices and increased awareness,"
Social enterprise can help address
the Middle East's challenges, but it is certainly not a unique
solution to the region," says Tariq. "Social
entrepreneurship can address some of the toughest challenges facing
humanity, often to do with basic human needs such as food, health,
education and energy. Social enterprise is emerging as an
alternative to traditional market based and purely philanthropic
approaches to these problems."
According to Tariq, total philanthropic
spending by the United States alone is larger than the gross
domestic product of all but the 14 largest nations in the world.
Despite this, he points out:
- Almost half the world lives on less
than $2.50 a day
- Almost a billion people have no access to clean water
- A quarter of the population cannot read and write
- Millions die of preventable disease
Tariq was interviewed by our
media and communications manager, Lyndal Stuart - read Tariq's Q&A
here.
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ideas.
Leadership in unexpected
places: What's the value of finding learning in
unexpected places. Read this story from the Washington Post about
famous classical violinist Joshua Bell, who spent a morning busking
on the Washington D.C. Metro, and see what you think.
Joshua Bell on the Washington DC
Metro
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