Society is clearly in an era of renewed commitment to explore new ways of tackling the scourge of poverty with the aim of banishing it to the history books. This is a moment to be seized upon.
Already there is much creative and bold experimentation going on within the IDC, by developing country governments, by leading politicians and actors in the industrialised countries, and by big business.
So the propositions put forward in this conclusion that encourage focus and experimentation around the issue of enterprise and poverty reduction do not necessarily break new ground. This is very positive because it means there is already much to talk about and much to learn from each other.
Some of the right kind of talking and learning is taking place but not enough – especially since the ‘sales pitches’ are already being made and plans are already being laid to deploy the new pro-poor political and resource commitments that appear to be on the horizon in 2005.
Given the scale of the problem to be tackled and the encouraging signs that results can be delivered, the IDC, developing country governments and the big business community need to explore the enterprise–poverty territory together, robustly and urgently.
This includes not just more talking but action as well to invest in piloting new ways of working together to tackle business environment obstacles to enterprise development and growth. The Shell Foundation over the coming months will be doing what it can to catalyse such initiatives. We invite others to join us.
To learn more about this author, visit Shell Foundation's Website.
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between economic growth, care for the
environment and equitable social
development - the goal of sustainable
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The Foundation's focus on sustainable
development is based upon the Shell
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and prosperity of societies of which it is
part, and its own future, depends on the
ability of all stakeholders, worldwide, to
attain such balance.
However, as one of the most significant
international oil and energy groups, Shell
recognises the global dimension of many
sustainability issues related to its
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responsibility and an opportunity to play
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