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UNDP Administrator signs new GSB Microcredit project in Turkey

June 2007 - GSB successfully facilitated a new partnership between the Young Businessmen Association of Turkey (GYİAD), Turkish Economy Bank (TEB) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) providing microcredit for young entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 35. The project, called Altın Bilezik' (Golden Bracelet) aims to provide US$10Mln credit for 500 young entrepreneurs within the next three years. Women entrepreneurs, vocational high school and college graduates will have a priority in the project. TEB will provide the funding and the supervision of the project, while UNDP will provide technical staff and GYİAD educational support. Kemal Dervis, UNDP administrator, said "UNDP will offer its international experience in microcredit for the project. It will also help provide collaboration with local administrations. Banks will receive many important demands related to micro economy finance via the project. The project will also help create a rapid increase in employment opportunities."

 

GSB highlighted in the Africa Day Symposium

May 2007 – The GSB initiative was prominently highlighted in the keynote speech given by Ambassador Bouna Sémou Diouf, the Director of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD)/UNDP Africa Bureau at the 2007 Africa Day Symposium on: “Financial Instruments for the Promotion of Infrastructure, Trade and Investment between Japan and Africa” that was organized by the United Nations University and the African Diplomatic Corps in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

Expansion of GSB activities

September/October 2006 - Malawi, Angola and Mozambique will start to implement the initiative in the coming weeks. There will be more countries to follow.

GSB selects graduates for internships in UNDP country offices

July 2006 - In a cooperation with leading US-business schools, among them Harvard, Wharton and Stanford, the GSB initiative has selected 45 highly qualified graduate students to undertake internships in various UNDP Country Offices. During their assignments, the MBAs will identify new opportunities for pro-poor and commercially viable investments.

GSB expands to new countries in Europe/CIS region

May / June 2006 - The GSB-initiative expanded to further countries. GSB-brokers are now recruited and have started their work in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Meliha Kozaric-Fanning), Moldova (Malgorzata Walczak), Macedonia (Irena Jakimova) and Turkey (Gozde Avci)

GSB in the international press

Financial Times: GSB for young entrepreneurs

January 2006 - Innovative products and education are being used to address the health needs of young people worldwide – and can generate profits for suppliers, writes Sarah Murray. Download pdf

Alliance Magazine: From policies to action

September 2005 - Widespread poverty reduction can be achieved only by improving access for the world’s most impoverished people to the goods and services they need, as well as by creating employment opportunities. Download pdf

Financial Times: Partnerships that profit the poor

April 2005 - Partnerships that profit the poor - A UN initiative where companies invest in commercially viable enterprises in developing countries is reaping benefits, writes Sarah Murray on 31 March 2005. Based on investment project examples and interviews with companies such as Unilever, ABB and Tetra Pak, this article describes the GSB initiative, its rationale, value-add, and contributions towards achieving the MDGs. Download pdf