cool global BIZ

CNN Honors Nepalese Activist Pushpa Basnet as "Hero of the Year"

 

 

Pushpa Basnet, a woman in Nepal who houses and raises more than 40 children whose parents are in prison, was awarded the 2012 CNN "Hero of the Year" and $250,000 by Anderson Cooper. Video clip courtesy of CNN.

 

IN A WORLD of gloomy news, CNN's annual "Hero of the Year" special gives people hope and inspiration. Last night, CNN recognized common people engaging in uncommon and extraordinary deeds: heroes from around the world who organize projects and programs for those in need. Those honored range from a woman in Afghanistan who provides educational opportunities for girls to a Montana father who has convinced thousands of youths to pledge not to drink after a drunk driver killed his 14-year-old daughter.

Committee to Protect Journalists: International Journalists Honored for Risking Their Lives

 

LUCKY US. AS you watch the presidential debates between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, imagine getting imprisoned, sent into exile, or killed for expressing your rights to free speech and freedom of the press. The Committee to Protect Journalists just announced that it will honor four journalists "who risked their lives and liberty to reveal abuses of power and human rights violations in China, Liberia, Kyrgyzstan, and Brazil." Receiving the annual International Press Freedom Award at a banquet in late November in New York are Mauri König, a Brazilian investigative reporter; Mae Azango, a Liberian journalist; jailed Tibetan journalist Dhondup Wangchen; and Azimjon Askarov, a reporter serving a life term in Kyrgyzstan. According to CPJ, 70 journalists have been killed worldwide so far in 2012.

 

Bill Clinton, Clinton Global Initiative: "For Better or Ill, We Live in an Interdependent World . . . We Can't Escape Each Other"

 

The Clinton Global Initiative in New York this week. Video of earlier talk by Clinton, courtesy of CGI.

 

IN A WELCOME respite from the real world, the Clinton Global Initiative convened this week in New York, bringing together global dignitaries and U.S. President Obama and presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Regardless of your politics, you've gotta admit that Clinton aims to bring together folks. During his recent DNC speech, who else made it a point to praise presidents of both parties? 

BOOKS: Fusion Entrepreneurs: Cross-Cultural Execs & Companies Revolutionizing the Global Economy by Edward Iwata

 

Updated Sept. 2012:  Fusion Entrepreneurs: Cross-Cultural Execs & Companies Revolutionizing the Global Economy, a new e-book by award-winning American journalist Edward Iwata, can be found at Amazon's Kindle Store, Apple's iTunes and iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Diesel eBookStore, Kobo, Mark Coker's Smashwords, the Sony Reader Store, and other e-book retail and library channels.*  Fusion Entrepreneurs is distributed by Smashwords, an independent e-book distributor in Silicon Valley.  Thank you for reading and supporting all digital and traditional authors, bookstores, and publishers.  Readers keep our craft alive.  

 

(Cover art by Edel Rodriguez, an acclaimed Cuban American artist/illustrator whose work can be found in the Smithsonian Institution, private galleries, the New Yorker, Time magazine and the New York Times.)

 

* Note:  If you're new to e-books, ideally you'll need an e-reader device or tablet (an Amazon Kindle, a Barnes & Noble Nook, an Apple iPad, etc.) from your favorite e-book retailer. Or you can download free reading "apps" (small software applications) from the stores right into most laptops, desktop computers, and mobile devices.  This will let you read e-books bought from those stores.  Like anything else, this is only confusing the first time for non-techies.  After you get hooked, it's smooth as butter.

 

Eritrea, North Korea, Syria Top List of Most Censored Countries, According to Committee to Protect Journalists

 

The Committee to Protect Journalists and deputy director Robert Mahoney look at the world's 10 most censored countries, led by Eritrea, North Korea, and Syria. Video courtesy of the CPJ, on Vimeo.

 

TOPPING THE MOST censored nations in the world this year is the African nation of Eritrea, where no foreign reporters are allowed and where all domestic media are controlled by the dictatorship. Next are North Korea, Syria, and Iran -- "three nations where vast restrictions on information have enormous implications for geopolitical and nuclear stability," according to a recently released report by the Committee to Protect Journalists:

 

"The 10 most restricted countries employ a wide range of censorship techniques, from the sophisticated blocking of websites and satellite broadcasts by Iran to the oppressive regulatory systems of Saudi Arabia and Belarus; from the dominance of state media in North Korea and Cuba to the crude tactics of imprisonment and violence in Eritrea, Uzbekistan, and Syria . . . .

"One trait they have in common is some form of authoritarian rule," according to the CPJ. "Their leaders are in power by dint of monarchy, family dynasty, coup d'état, rigged election, or some combination thereof . . . .

"Lagging economic development is another notable trend among heavily censored nations. Of the 10 most censored countries, all but two have per capita income around half, or well below half, of global per capita income, according to World Bank figures for 2010, the most recent available."

 

As global businesses and investors charge into emerging markets, they know that Western-style freedoms, rule of law, and strong corporate governance and oversight are the long-run pillars of stable economies and countries. And more developing countries know that investors won't pour money and capital into markets plagued by corruption, political chaos, and weak regulation and enforcement.

Also critical to economic growth: financial disclosure and the free flow of business information, provided by the free and uncensored media. More than 900 journalists worldwide have been killed since 1992, according to the CPJ, with Iraq, the Philippines and Algeria as the top three most dangerous countries for journalists.

 

CNN 2011 Hero: "Mother Robin" Lim Offers Prenatal, Medical Care to Poor Indonesians

 

 

 

ROBIN LIM, AN American woman whose health clinics offer free prenatal, birthing and medical care to thousands of poor Indonesian women, was named CNN's 2011 "Hero of the Year" last night after public online voting. Lim and nine other global non-profit leaders and social entrepreneurs were honored for their community and charitable work over the years. Lim, known as "Mother Robin" in Indonesia, told CNN: "Every baby's first breath on Earth could be one of peace and love. Every mother should be healthy and strong. Every birth could be safe and loving. But our world is not there yet."

• CNN.com, " 'Mother Robin' Wins CNN Hero of Year" by Kyle Almond. 

 

Link TV's ViewChange: A Multimedia Project on Global Social and Political Change

 

Entrepreneurs from rural Zambia embark on months of leadership and business training. Among those featured in the video are Florence, Esnart, Ng'andwe and Precious. Video courtesy of Link TV's ViewChange.

 

THE MEDIA BOMBARDS audiences 24/7 with negative news from emerging nations, where heart-wrenching problems take on an epic scale. Link TV's ViewChange.org, a new multimedia project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, hopes to sway the public and spur people to action. ViewChange highlights 450 videos and documentaries on global social change by the media and nonprofits, from Bread for the World to Oxfam America.

Holiday Spirit: Mitch Albom, Henry Covington, Morrie Schwartz Say Give, Don't Take

 

Editor's note: This post ran originally in October 2010. A few weeks later, Pastor Henry Covington passed away. I'm re-publishing the post now in the spirit of the holidays. (If you missed ABC's recent broadcast of Have a Little Faith, it's one of the rare, uplifting TV movies made each season.)  

 

ON SOME DAYS, you tire of: Greedy executives who screw employees and shareholders. Power-hungry politicians who divide and conquer. Rich people who never give. Poor people who never strive. Manipulative people who use others. Free citizens who never vote. Dictators who make people starve or vanish. Other than that, I guess, life is good, most people are good. And we keep plugging away, borne ceaselessly into the future, someone wrote.

"Mitch Albom - May 8, 2010" by Brian Negin, under a Creative Commons license via flickr.com.

On those days, you need a morale boost, some real spiritual uplift. So last night, I skipped the World Series baseball game and drove through a light rain to hear author Mitch Albom speak at a big church in Silicon Valley called the Cathedral of Faith.

Sustainable Economy: We Can Make Money and Save the World, CalPERS & Ceres Say

 

 

"Global Changes" by ennor (Barry), under a Creative Commons license on flickr. Barry is a photographer and blogger in the United Kingdom.

 

THE MOST URGENT business issue of all is a green global economy. If the race and planet perish in a Malthusian nightmare, nothing else matters much, eh?

So heed pension-fund giant CalPERS, one of the world's most closely-watched large investors, and Ceres, a non-profit group that works with Fortune 500 companies and institutional investors with trillions of dollars in assets. (That's trillions with a "t.") Investing in companies based on their environmental, social and governance performance is good for business and the world, they contend, citing a Mercer study of many studies.

World Bank: Creating Global Opportunities for Women is Smart Economics

 

 

A World Bank video on economic inequality among women in the global economy. Video courtesy of WorldBank's channel on YouTube.

 

IT'S SMART ECONOMICS to create more business opportunities for women globally, says a recent World Bank report. In agriculture alone, equal access to resources for women farmers would boost output in developing countries by up to 4 percent, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. World Bank chief economist Justin Yifu Lin said in a news release: ""Blocking women and girls from getting the skills and earnings to succeed in a globalized world is not only wrong, but also economically harmful." World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick added that the World Bank -- which has spent $65 billion over the past five years on women's business, health and education initiatives -- must "mainstream our gender work and find other ways to move the agenda forward to capture the full potential of half the world’s population."

 

• World Bank, "World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development."

 

CoolGlobalBiz, October 3, 2011