Little children are always lovely. They are adorable. They tell the truth, sometimes painfully and can get away with things we adults will never be forgiven. Our hearts bled for them. The concept of child rights is not new. Yet the exploitation of children has continued to this day. Why is this so? What can we do about it? Just because there had been shortcomings, we should not be weary in continuing to work for children.
ASEAN CSR Network (ACN) and its project partner, AVPN, shared the findings of a recent piece of research about MSMEs in ASEAN, covering the level of support available to them with regards to access to finance, technical support and an enabling environment. The findings were presented to participants at the breakout session on Financing the Missing Middle in Southeast Asia of the AVPN Conference 2018 on 6 June 2018, making up mainly of impact investors and social entrepreneurs. A key finding of the research was the 'missing middle' phenomenon, where MSMEs in early- to growth-stage remain underserved by financiers. They typically exceed upper thresholds for smaller loans such as microfinance, and yet are perceived by financial institutions to be risky and costly customers.
With support from the ASEAN CSR Network (ACN), more than 100 participants from the region gathered at the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Interregional Dialogue on 4- 6 June 2018 in Bangkok to share best practices on business and human rights, covering issues ranging from progress made on National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights in ASEAN, to the role of financial institutions in human rights.
Carbon pricing can only be effective if it is economically meaningful--That is the main message of ACN's webinar on carbon pricing and its role in tackling climate change.
