Canadian business and the Millennium Development Goals : Canadian business and the MDGs

The role of business in helping to meet the MDGs is clear: the goals cannot be met without the involvement of the private sector. [...] The importance of human development to Canada and the world in the world cannot be underestimated – the sustainability of the society that we cherish depends on it. [...] The challenge, and the opportunity, is to take these stories Even if you are from the community interest pages of the local newspaper and entrench them in the a very small heart of the business section. [...] Marketing to the BOP is not just a case of selling goods to the poor – it must involve the 14 Canadian Business and the MDGs Canadian Business for Social Responsibility local communities in the supply and distribution chains if it is to create a new economic reality for the very poor. [...] Empowering the Base of the Pyramid The year 2005 was the International Year of Microcredit, in recognition of the signifi cant role that microcredit and microfi nance will play in the future economic growth of the developing world.19 Microfi nance has been an extremely successful fi rst step toward integrating the vast number of people operating in the informal economy.