Background
The Global Growing Inclusive Markets initiative (GIM), led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is a platform to facilitate the engagement of all actors for more inclusive business models so that the pursuits of profit and human progress can work to mutual advantage. More inclusive business models include the poor on the demand side as clients and customers, and on the supply side as employees, producers and business owners at various points in the value chain. They recognize the poor as partners for growth and wealth creation. And when markets include more poor people, we all win. Doing business with the poor brings them into the marketplace- a critical step on the path out of poverty- and for entrepreneurs and firms it drives innovation, builds markets and creates new spaces for growth. Inclusive business models both produce and reap the benefits of human development.
The first and ground breaking report from the GIM initiative, Creating Value for All: Strategies for Doing Business with the Poor, launched in July 2008, highlighted portraits of successful simultaneous pursuits of revenues and social impact.
The report draws from 50 specifically commissioned case studies, from researchers and academics in predominantly developing countries from Peru to Kenya to the Philippines. It provided successful strategies that have been used by local and international small and medium-sized companies, as well as multinational corporations to overcome common constraints to doing business in a developing region.
Drawing from these studies, the five main constraints to creating inclusive markets, both for the businesses and for the poor themselves, were identified: limited market information; ineffective regulatory environments; inadequate physical infrastructure; missing knowledge and skills; and restricted access to financial products and services. To overcome these constraints takes creativity and cooperation between many actors.
In the report, five of the most consistent and effective strategies were noted: adapt products and processes; invest in training or infrastructure to remove constraints; leverage the strengths of the poor to increase labour and management pools and to expand local knowledge; work with similarly-minded businesses, non-profit organizations or public service providers; and engage in policy dialogues with governments. By using a more inclusive business model, businesses can drive innovation, develop new markets, enlarge the labour pool and strengthen supply chains, while empowering the poor and helping meet basic needs.
The Growing Inclusive Markets (GIM) Initiative for Eastern Europe and CIS aims to promote more inclusive markets in the region by localizing the global GIM initiative at regional and country level.
This regional multi-stakeholder initiative, conceived in partnership with a broad range of institutions, (including business organizations, academic institutions, civil society organizations, and development agencies), will produce a landmark publication that will seek to occupy a unique niche within the current regional landscape by capturing leading edge examples and business models of how businesses can include the poor and contribute to the MDGs through their core competencies.
The objective of such a report is to serve as a strategic regional advocacy tool on the important role of the private sector in achieving the MDGs, to spur local action by inspiring small and big businesses in the region to develop more pro-poor business models, and to create space for dialogue with other local stakeholders to improve the enabling environment for inclusive markets development.
The analytical backbone to the Report will be the authoring of case studies sourced across geographies and sectors. To achieve this objective, a network of case writers from the following sub-regions will be set up: New EU member States and Candidates, Western Balkans, Western CIS, Caucasus and Central Asia . The network will be led by UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre (BRC). BRC in collaboration with reviewers will coordinate the network of case study writers, and will also be responsible for case study quality assurance, which includes consistency across all case studies, incorporating comments from third parties, etc.
For more information about this opportunity, please follow this link.
Application deadline: June 6, 2009.
