Category: Thought Leadership

Do One Scary Thing…

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Change Management, Digital Marketing, Leadership, Life Coaching, Online Strategy, Thought Leadership

…every day. Doors may open, or shut. 

Originally quoted by Eleanor Roosevelt, former human rights activist, diplomat, and First Lady of the United States, who relentlessly continued her societal work and represented the United Nations as the chairwoman of the human rights council, even after becoming a widow. She was a woman of purpose, who definitely believed in the beauty of her dreams. 

We cannot all be First Ladies of the United States or alike, but we can all decide to be the First Ladies (or Gentlemen) of our own, personal lives. Endurance is individual, but it can be trained. It is possible to improve, and to push your personal limits, little by little, every day. 

It is a question of will, and energy. Your body is capable of anything, just as long as you let your mind grow strong and allow your spirit to take charge of your life. 

Write a list of your 10 biggest fears. You don´t have to show it to anyone, unless you want to. What is on the list? Is there a chance of you facing at least one of these fears? With facing a fear I definitely do not mean to take any vagabond risks, or being stupid. I am just stating that by facing some of our biggest fears we can actually remove boundaries and start enjoying life a little more. 

This is at least how it has worked for me personally. 

As a child I was afraid of the dark (as many of us are). I had to fall asleep with a night lamp, and I always checked beneath my bed, and only after realizing there were no ghosts or anything alike, was I able to fall asleep. 

Thereafter, I have faced my irrational fear of the dark in many ways, one of which has been to dive in the night, in tropical waters. It was a very exciting experience, but of course I would never have done it without guidance from, and being accompanied by, my dive master. Diving is a technical sport, requiring more than will and energy. 

Another time, snorkeling with a friend at the islands of Phi-Phi in Thailand, I swam a bit further from the shore. I was photographing the most amazing fishes with my cheap underwater camera, and enjoyed the crystal clear water, as I suddenly saw a shark a few meters ahead of me. My heart beat rate suddenly probably at least tripled; it was such an exciting moment. I was not capable of doing anything but looking at the shark gliding through the water, and then disappearing. 

In only a few seconds of time, which at the moment felt longer, many kinds of thoughts ran through my mind. My first thought was to swim after the shark to find out if I could see more of them. I knew I had been lucky to see the shark, since a dive master at the local PADI center later on told me that sharks usually avoid people for several reasons. My second thought was to swim back to my friend and tell him so that we could swim back together. I decided to swim back, but when I told my friend he was not at all enthusiastic about going on a shark-exploration-journey, and at that point I felt a bit awkward deciding not to swim out again on my own. 

Still not 100 % certain of the type of the shark, but I guess it was a black tip reef shark. It was about two meters long, although everything looks bigger in water. I am not going to start explaining every single detail about sharks, because the truth is that I do not know everything about sharks. I just know that sharks actually usually avoid people. I think I would too if I were a shark. In fact, sharks can get infected by people touching them. According to the Shark Project 

(http://www.sharkproject.org/haiothek/index_e.php?site=gefahr_10), at least 73 million sharks get killed by human beings every year, only because of their fins. And how many sharks kill people annually? Not many. 

I have had other natural encounters with exotic animals on my trips and in my home country as well. Never have the animals harmed me. 

Once in Siem Reap, Cambodia, after hours of walking around temples, I sat down on a stone beneath some trees to rest for a while, and to protect myself from the blazing sun. Suddenly, I heard a rustle from the tree above me, and a large green snake fell down on the ground. Taken by surprise, as it happened so fast, I just looked at the snake slithering in the opposite direction. You might guess that I did not sit there for much longer. In fact, I stood up and walked into the temple as soon as the snake had disappeared. A local man, selling souvenirs, tried to assure me about the snake´s innocence as soon as I had explained to him what it looked like. “It is not poisonous”, he said to me, and told me the snake´s name in the local language Khmer. Unfortunately I did not note the name and have forgotten it. But I will definitely remember the appearance of this particular snake, for the rest of my life. 

Having faced my (irrational) fears in many ways, sometimes by accident (like in the previously mentioned examples), but also through careful planning. 

If you are ready to face some of your fears, please remember to keep in mind at least the following things: 

1) Please do not do anything stupid. Be responsible in, and for, your actions. 

2) Only face your fears when you feel you are ready for it. 

3) Don´t let you get forced into anything (by yourself or by anyone else). 

4) Listen to your mind and to your body. How does it make you feel? Your intuition will tell you, so be careful in listening to your inner guidance. 

5) Remember that fear is energy. If you manage to turn your fear into positive energy, you may be richly rewarded. If not in monetary terms, at least in terms of growing as an individual.

“With hope you gain courage. With courage you gain confidence, and with confidence there are no limits to what you can do” (Unknown).

 

 

 

 

 

Child Labor, Corruption, and (Ethical) Consumption – How Can You Make a Difference?

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Business Ethics, Change Management, CSR, Digital Marketing, Global Economics, Online Strategy, Responsible Investing, Thought Leadership

Since repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action, and so the architect of accomplishment like Zig Ziglar once wisely quoted, let me repeat some of the cruel facts about the state of ethics and moral on planet Earth: 

CHILD LABOR

-The total global number of child labor has decreased in the past decade, but still, an estimation of 168 million children worldwide are forced to work, more than half of whom are involved in hazardous work. 

– The geographical regions where child labor is at its highest: 

  • APAC (Asia and the Pacific) with almost 78 million 
  • Sub-Saharan Africa with 59 million
  • Latin America and the Caribbean with 13 million
  • Middle East and North Africa with around 9 million

The major part of these children work within agriculture (almost 100 million), followed by services (54 million) and industry (12 million). (ILO-IPEC. Making progress against child labor. Global estimates and trends 2000-2012. 2013. Quoted 30.6.2014). 

Read the detailed definitions of child labor in ILO Conventions: 

http://bit.ly/1iS3bq9

Children participating in work not affecting their health, personal development, or interfering with their education is different, but being trapped in other kinds of activities, including the cruelest forms such as slavery in armed conflicts, forced labor, or commercial sexual exploitation, drug trafficking, and organized begging, are ruthless violations of children´s freedom and human rights. (UN. Child Labor. Quoted 30.6.2014).

CORRUPTION

Corruption, literally “utterly broken”, was already used by Aristotle and Cicero, adding the terms bribe and abandonment of good habits. In political terminology, corruption is the illegitimate use of public power to benefit a private interest. Corruption is also an action to secretly provide goods or services to someone in order to influence certain actions benefiting the corrupt, a third-party, or both. The moral dimension of corruption can either refer to a mentality problem, or to external circumstances such as poverty, inadequate remuneration, inappropriate work conditions, weak or very complex procedures demoralizing people thus letting them look for alternative solutions. (Wikipedia. Quoted 30.6.2014). 

Worldwide, there are a number of organizations and national institutions dealing with, and providing information about, corruption, including OECD with its slogan “Better Policies for Better Lives” (OECD. Bribery in International Business. Quoted 30.6.2014), and UNCAC (The United Nations Convention against Corruption), a multilateral convention negotiated by members of the UN. (UNODC. United Nations Convention against Corruption. Quoted 30.6.2014).

Read the complete report of the UN Convention against Corruption:

http://bit.ly/1sQpWyX

Transparency International, a global movement working to end corruption worldwide, publishes a Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) each year, ranking countries and territories based on their level of corruption in the public sector. To see the current results, and to test your knowledge, please visit Transparency International: http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2013/. (Transparency International. Quoted 30.6.2014). 

These are only two major global problems, among many others.

The question is, how can YOU, and your organization, make a difference?

As a private household consumer, it is not always easy to know all the work included in a certain product, unless you have produced it yourself of course. This is why it is so important that organizations operate with a high level of transparency and inform their customers about their level of standards in all of the organization´s business practices. Most progressive organizations, these days, are concerned with how they produce, or at least organizations and corporations should be socially responsible, and so make it easier for consumers to know what they are buying. 

As a consumer it is possible to invest some time in finding out more about the product, its origins, and the kind of work included in the process. If you, as a consumer, are unsure about whether a company is bringing “ethically clean” products to the market, you can always choose to ask the company, and demand supplementary information about a specific product. If it is not available, or given to you, another possibility is to change your consumer behavior and choose products that you know are ethically produced. 

Ethical consumption, first popularized by the UK magazine the Ethical Consumer, favors ethical products, empowering consumers to make ethically informed consumption choices and providing reliable information on corporate behavior. These criteria-based ethical and environmental ratings have become commonplace both in providing consumer information and in B2B, CSR and sustainability ratings. (Wikipedia. Quoted 30.6.2014). 

It may all sound somewhat complex to start with, but don´t we all want to spend our money wisely and ethically?

The next time you go shopping, start by asking yourself, why a certain product is so cheap? The price is not always an indicator of unethical production, but it could be.

 

Paradoxes of Planet Earth

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Change Management, CSR, Digital Marketing, Global Economics, Online Strategy, Thought Leadership

World population is growing exponentially:

1980: 4,4 billion

1990: 5,3 billion

2000: 6,1 billion

2010: 6,9 billion

Today, on the 27th of June 2014, the world population is 7,2 billion. According to estimates/calculations made by the UN, the world population will continue growing as follows:

2020: 7,6 billion

2030: 8,3 billion

2040: 8,8 billion

2050: 9,3 billion

Currently, the top 20 largest countries by population (Worldometers. Quoted 27.6.2014) are:

1. China – 1,3 billion

2. India – 1,2 billion

3. U.S.A. – 322 million

4. Indonesia – 252 million

5. Brazil – 202 million

6. Pakistan – 185 million

7. Nigeria – 178 million

8. Bangladesh – 158 million

9. Russia – 142 million

10. Japan – 127 million

11. Mexico – 123 million

12. Philippines – 100 million

13. Ethiopia – 96 million

14. Vietnam – 92 million

15. Egypt – 83 million

16. Germany – 82 million

17. Iran – 78 million

18. Turkey – 75 million

19. Democratic Republic of the Congo – 69 million

20. Thailand – 67 million

Other hard facts:

– Currently, an estimated amount of 168 million children are forced to work. A child is anyone under the age of 18. Child labor is unacceptable.

– According to estimations of the U.N., two-thirds of total world population will live in water scarcity in 2025. In only 11 years from now. 2/3 of total world population in 2025 means that around  5,3 billion people will live in water scarcity.

To check your personal water footprint, visit the following page and calculator:

http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/YourWaterFootprint

According to the UN Environmental Program, by 2025, agriculture is expected to increase its water requirements by 1,3 times, industry by 1,5 times, and domestic consumption by 1,8 times. (UNEP. Freshwater use by sector at the beginning of the 2000s. Quoted 27.5.2014).

Learn how to decrease water consumption at home:

http://www.savewater.com.au/how-to-save-water/in-the-home

To borrow Dalai Lama:

THE PARADOX OF OUR TIMES

“We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers

Wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints

We spend more, but we have less.

We have bigger houses, but smaller families

More conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees, but less sense

More knowledge, but less judgement

More experts, but more problems

More medicines, but less wellness.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often

We have learnt how to make a living, but not a life.

We have added years to life, but not life to years.

We’ve been all the way to the moon and back

But have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour.

We have conquered outer space, but not inner space.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted our soul.

We’ve split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We’ve higher incomes, but lower morals.

We’ve become long on quantity but short on quality.

These are the times of tall men, and short character;

Steep profits, and shallow relationships.

These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare,

More leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are the days of two incomes, but more divorces;

Of fancier houses, but broken homes.

It is a time when there is much in the show window, and nothing in the stockroom.

A time when technology can bring this letter to you,

And a time when you can choose,

Either to make a difference …. or just hit, delete”.

UN Millennium Development Goal 8: Global Partnership for Development

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Business Ethics, Change Management, CSR, Thought Leadership, UN Millenium Development Goals

What does global partnership signify to you and to your country?

In terms of improving conditions in less developed countries, the UN has set a goal and defines global partnership through following:

– Existence and development of non-discriminatory trading and financial systems with openness, clear rules and predictability

– Focusing on improving conditions in least developed countries while taking into consideration their special needs (also landlocked and small island state developing States)

– Provide access to affordable essential drugs in co-operation with pharmaceutical companies

– Availability to new technologies (information and communications) in co-op with the private sector

(UN MDG´s. Quoted 19.5.2014).

In 2011, the official amount of development aid was 0,31 % of total GDP in developed countries. The percentage is decreasing, despite of the 0,7 % target set by the UN. Debt burden ratios in developing countries, however, have decreased, and products from developing countries now more easily find their way to the Western markets. The usage of mobile phones in developing countries is rapidly increasing, e.g. beneficial in the usage as payment methods with lacking, or danger of, banking systems in certain regions. (UNA of Finland. Printed Material. 2014; Business Insider. Quoted 19.5.2014).

Exactly how useful is it for a state to have increased access to mobile payments if, at the same time, there is lack of sufficient infrastructure to provide all its citizens with nutritious food? Food for thought, certainly. At least to me it seems somewhat contradictory.

In terms of natural resources, and alternative sources of energy, Africa as a continent alone has the potential to provide all of the world´s energy – through solar power. Currently, however, the continent produces only under one per cent of total world energy. (African Union. Quoted 19.5.2014; The Alternative Energy eMagazine. “Africa, the Untapped Potential for Clean Energy”. Quoted 19.5.2014).

Us humans are deeply curious by nature, through evolution, which made us the ultimate “learning machines”. As proof  for this we only need to look back into the history of humanity, our ancestors.

“Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision”.

(Ayn Rand)

As an example of human curiosity, courage and learning through mistakes, serves the Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus, who in the 15th century accidentally discovered America in his urge to find a seaway to India. His voyages of discovery were a countdown to the European conquest of America, and he is said to be the father of imperialism, a term that today mostly awakens negative thoughts about the nature of humanity.

 
A couple of centuries later, in the 18th to be exact, the Scottish philosopher and economist Adam Smith, presented his ideas in the Wealth of Nations, a classical political economic theory, which still today serves as a foundation for economy. According to Adam Smith´s idea, a state has to secure people´s assets, solve disputes and make sure that rules/laws are being obeyed. In other words: the state needs to take care of things an individual is incapable of alone, or what the individual does without efficiency. In his description of market economy Smith argued that the willingness of an entrepreneur to make progress in his/her private privileges leads to economic advantages and benefits for the whole society. Furthermore, the foundation of the theory is based upon basic economic freedoms for everyone: freedom to choose a line of business, freedom to make decisions, free competition and freedom of trade. (Adam Smith Institute. Quoted 19.5.2014

Further on, international trade, including the terms absolute and comparative advantage, is said to be essential in sustaining friendly relations between different states. The term comparative advantage refers to the ability of producing a specific good or service at a lower cost over another leading to gains in trading between two countries, as long as relative efficiency remains different. In spoken language this means that a country has comparative advantage of another as long as it is able to produce a certain product/service with less total cost than another (cheapest possible production).

But how well does the theory take quality into consideration? Or labor law? There is no discussion at all about these important issues in the theory of comparative advantage. Luckily, many companies in developed countries have today developed business processes which take these important facts into consideration at all stages. Still, many companies necessarily do not.

According to ILO, the International Labor Organization, the amount of child labor worldwide is still as high as 168 million children worldwide. Imagine that! Who is employing all those children? Can we sleep tight at night without certainty about the fact that products/services we consume may actually involve the brutal usage of child labor?

Once again: everyone under the age of 18 is a child, and according to the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, every child has the right to be a child, to attend primary school, and no child should have to work.

Why not turn quality and transparency throughout all business procedures into competitive advantages in any business? With a world-changing rapidly only companies with sustainable business practices are those that will survive in the long run. Consumers´ are increasingly aware and critical when choosing goods/products/services to consume, and no one wants to take the responsibility of consuming products/services that have not taken quality or children´s/human rights into consideration.

“The price of greatness is responsibility”.

(Winston Churchill)

Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision.

Ayn Rand

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/aynrand147955.html#rvImJ05Omv2MPifq.99

UN Millennium Development Goal 5: Improvement of Maternal Health

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Business Ethics, Change Management, CSR, Global Economics, Thought Leadership, UN Millenium Development Goals

Mother´s usually do a lot for their families, which is a very good reason to take care well of all mothers. 

“The goal of the UN is to decrease maternal mortality by 75 % by year 2015”. 

Facts about mothers worldwide: 

– Improvements in accessibility to maternal healthcare all over the world. 

– Healthcare and sufficient nutrition of significant value in preventing birth-related deaths. 

– Compared to mothers in Nordic countries, the risk of mothers dying during pregnancies and during childbirth is 500 times larger in development countries. 

– Every year almost 300.000 women die due to complications during pregnancies or when giving birth. 

– 99 % of all maternal deaths occur in development countries. 

– Despite of major improvements all over the world in the reduction of maternal mortality, there is still a lot to do before the goal has been reached. 

– In East Asia, North Africa and South Asia maternal mortality has decreased up to 2/3 in comparison to the situation in 1990. 

– In 2011, midwives/educated labor personnel was at hand only in 53 % of all child births in development countries. The percentage was 84 in urban areas. 

– Only half of all pregnant women in development countries have access to proper healthcare

(UNA of Finland. Printed Material. 2014).   

According to Save the Children´s “Surviving the first day – State of the World´s Mothers 2013” report, Finland is the best country in the world for mothers. Nice news for all mothers in Finland, especially with the upcoming Mother´s Day, celebrated on the second Sunday in May every year. Every child has the right to a mother, and every child needs a mother, is not that correct?

The same report indicates that the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa is the roughest state to be a mother. Save the Children´s report classifies 176 countries in terms of how these have succeeded and failed in supporting mothers. The index estimates mother´s welfare using measures such as a girl´s or woman´s risk of dying during pregnancy or during labor, children under the age of five mortality rates, the educational levels of children, national income levels, and the political status of women. Link to Save the Children´s “Surviving the first day – State of the World´s Mothers 2013” report: 

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.9126825/k.3E86/Download_the_2014_SOWM_Report.htm

According to Save the Children, the high number of maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa can be explained through the fact that mothers are often very young, and their bodies are not yet ready to give birth to children. Other reasons include the low amount of contraception, insufficient healthcare during childbirth and a huge lack of healthcare employees. (Save the Children Finland. Quoted 9.5.2014). 

With these words I want to wish my mother, and all other mothers, a happy Mother´s Day on Sunday, May 11th 2014. You rock.
 

UN Millennium Development Goal 4: Reduction of Child Mortality

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Business Ethics, Change Management, CSR, Global Economics, Responsible Investing, Thought Leadership, UN Millenium Development Goals

UN Millennium Declaration:

“By the year 2015, we will have reduced under-five child mortality by two-thirds”.

Facts:

– Child mortality is decreasing

– Still, more than 20.000 children under the age of five die every day 

– Common causes for death: pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria

– Child mortality is high in 67 countries, of which only 10 can, with the current pace of change, achieve the goal set for 2015. 

– Child mortality is at its highest in sub-Saharan Africa. 

What affects child mortality: 

– Sufficient and healthy nutrition

– Access to clean water

– Hygiene

– Vaccinations and access to healthcare

– Lack of education for girls and women

(UNA of Finland. Printed material. 2014). 

In Finland, child mortality today is one of the lowest in the world, thanks to national vaccination (campaigns). In the beginning of the 20th century, every second child born in Helsinki died before the age of five. In the late 1930´s almost every 10th born child in Finland died under the age of one. 40 % of these children died of birth-related injuries, development misplacements or innate weakness. Today, in Finland, only a few per mille children under the age of one die, most commonly due to inborn deformities. (UNA of Finland. 2014; Statistics Finland. Quoted 8.5.2014).

UNICEF, United Nations Children´s Fund, is the world´s most influential organization supporting children (under the age of 18) in need. Founded in 1946, after the 2nd world war, UNICEF focuses on helping children. A year after its foundation, the organization launched its first vaccination campaign. At that time, Finland was among the countries receiving aid from the UNICEF. In the year of the Helsinki Olympics, 1952, UNICEF began its battle against malaria, and in 1965 UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Peace Price. In 1988, UNICEF is working on launching a worldwide society working on abolishing polio. Once again, in 1998, UNICEF rises up to continue the battle against malaria. In 2006, UNICEF is one of the most important emergency aid givers, despite of the fact that still 80 % of the fund´s budget can be used to long-term development work.

(UNICEF Finland. Quoted 8.5.2014).

To fully understand the universal rights of children (everyone under the age of 18), please visit:

UNITED NATIONS Human Rights => Convention on the Rights of the Child

Since we cannot assume that children under the age of 18 are (fully) aware of their rights as children, especially if living in conditions where they may not even have access to education, it is necessary for adults to protect the rights of children.

The world has long ago made a promise to do everything to protect and to promote the rights of children, their survival, learning and growth, and listening to children. Despite of much progress made, there are still problems all over the world concerning the rights of children, and in some regions the situation may even have gotten worse. 2014 has been declared as a year of innovation at UNICEF, whereby the fund activates change-makers everywhere to rethink and drive improved results. (UNICEF. Quoted 8.5.2014).

In addition to the many local offices of UNICEF around the world, there are other independent organizations working to improve the life of children worldwide. These include Plan, World Vision, Save the Children and many others.

 

UN Millennium Development Goals: III. Promoting Gender Equality and Empowering Women

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Business Ethics, Change Management, Female Leadership, Thought Leadership, UN Millenium Development Goals

The third UN MDG (Millennium Development Goal) is concerned with promoting gender equality and empowering women. As sad as it sounds, on both global and national levels, we are far from having reached this goal. On the current agenda, however, the empowerment of women around the world is in a key position.

The goal, in general, means:

-Improving girl ́s participation in education around the world

-Increasing the amount of women in work life

-Increasing the amount of women in parliaments

Currently, two-thirds of all illiterates globally are girls or women. Child mortality numbers are highest in countries where girl ́s educational levels are at their lowest.

  • The human rights declaration guarantees equal rights for both women and men.
  • Gender differences in primary schooling have narrowed down, however, gender equality at all educational levels worldwide has still not been reached.
  • Women account, on a global level, for about 40 % of all workforce involved in other than agricultural work.
  • The major part of unpaid household work, worldwide (even in developed countries), is taken care of by women.
  • 70 % of all poor worldwide are women.
  • Only 1 % of all wealth worldwide is currently in the hands of women.
  • Under 20 % of all leading positions worldwide are held by women.
  • The number of women in parliament is about 20 % worldwide => large regional differences.
  • At whole, the situation is at its worst in Southern and Western Asia and in Africa.

(Source: UNA of Finland. Printed material. 2014).

In order to accelerate the promotion of gender equality worldwide and the empowerment of women everywhere, the UN General Assembly created UN Women in 2010. UN Women comprises:

– Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)

– International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)

– Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)

– United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

and its main roles are:

– Supporting inter-governmental bodies

– Helping member states in the implementation of these standards

– Holding the UN system accountable for its own commitments

Despite of the hard work and the progress in improving the lives of women worldwide, there is still a huge amount of work ahead in helping women all over the world e.g. in getting access to decent work and in abolishing violence and discrimination.

(UN Women. Quoted 7.5.2014).

According to Helsingin Sanomat (25.10.2013) and the World Economic Forum (Quoted 7.5.2014), the world’s most equal countries (top 10) are currently:

  1. Iceland
  2. Finland
  3. Norway
  4. Sweden
  5. Philippines
  6. Ireland
  7. New Zealand
  8. Denmark
  9. Switzerland
  10. Nicaragua

(World Economic Forum. The Global Gender Gap Report 2013. Quoted 7.5.2014).

According to the WEF Global Gender Gap Report 2013, progress in gender equality has been made in 80 % of the 136 countries researched. The top most equal countries are, however, still 20 % behind from full gender equality. Indicators include: participation in politics, economic equality, rights to participate in education and access to healthcare. Progress in equality was not made in the Middle-East and North Africa: especially in Yemen the situation for women, according to the WEF, is bad. (Helsingin Sanomat 25.10.2013. Quoted 7.5.2014).

Global Finland, the platform for development communication of the Foreign Ministry of Finland, indicates that development does not take place without gender equality. Women are needed throughout societies in order to operate with full efficiency. Educating and employing women enhances the welfare of families and accelerate the growth of prosperous societies. Scary enough, more women between the ages 15-44 get killed and become disabled by violence than by cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and wars together. 80 % of all human trafficking victims are women, and they usually end up becoming sex slaves or prostitutes. (Global Finland. Quoted 7.5.2014).

There are enormous problems, sometimes deeply rooted in cultural behavior, that still need to be solved before the world is fully equal for both sexes. Luckily, the UN, many other organizations and people work hard to enhance gender equality.

  • Can you think of ways to improve conditions on a regional and national level?
  • What actions can you take to make sure that this basic human right of gender equality is fulfilled?

WHEN EACH ONE OF US (BOTH MEN AND WOMEN) COMMITS TO TAKING THE NECESSARY ACTIONS TOWARDS REACHING GENDER EQUALITY, WE WILL REACH THE GOAL. 

 

UN Millennium Development Goals 2000: I. Eradication of extreme hunger and poverty

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Authentic Leadership, Business Ethics, Change Management, CSR, Reducing Poverty, Responsible Investing, Thought Leadership, UN Millenium Development Goals

Previously I wrote general facts about the UN as the world ́s most important co-operational organization. Now, and in my upcoming posts, I will focus on the current main strategic goals of the UN.

The first UN Millennium Development Goal is the eradication of extreme hunger and poverty. The UN, in cooperation with nations worldwide, has already managed to reach this goal.

However, the work against hunger and poverty still continues:

– In the past decades, remarkable progress has been made in decreasing poverty, especially in East Asia.

– Still, about 1,4 billion people worldwide live in extreme poverty => with under 1 € (1,25 USD) per day. Some 1 billion people suffer from hunger. Every day.

– Most of the people living in hunger and poverty are children and youth.

– 70 % of people in extreme poverty live in rural areas.

– Global food prices doubled in 2006-2008. Although prices have gone down afterwards, they are still on a higher level than before the food crisis. High food prices exacerbates the situation of the poor.

– Decreasing/removing poverty obliges wealthy and growing/emerging economies to act more selflessly, e.g. through equalizing the rules of world trade. Developing countries, on the other hand, have to commit to good governance, the eradication of corruption, and respecting human rights.

(Source: UNA of Finland booklet. 2011).

Furthermore, the differences between different countries, regions, rural and urban areas vary largely. Still, every fifth person worldwide suffers from extreme poverty, and each 3,5 seconds one person dies from hunger. Imagine that. Sad numbers, despite the progress that has been made: worldwide, 700 million people less live in extreme poverty, in comparison with the situation in 1990. In numbers, the amount of people living in extreme poverty went down from 2 billion to 1,4 billion between 1990-2008. And the percentage of the poor decreased from 47 % to 24 % during the same period of time.

Still, every 8th person on our planet goes to bed hungry. The number of undernourished worldwide is about 842 million people. Every 6th child worldwide is undernourished, of whom every 4th suffer from severe health and mental developmental disorders. (UNA of Finland. Printed Material. 2014).

How can individuals and states be helpful in removing worldwide hunger and poverty? Very often us who do not face these problems directly in our daily lives forget about, or at least neglect, these severe problems that more than a billion people worldwide have to face in their daily lives. Many of whom are children. Do we have tunnel vision? Are we blind to face reality?

I remember a hot Summer evening, walking back to my accommodation in the town of Siem Reap in Cambodia. A small local boy ran after me, begging for money, claiming that he needed one dollar so that he could buy milk for his little sister. He continued following me, reaching out his hand so that I would give him the money he asked for.

Actually, most part of the journey was the same. Everywhere I went, people were begging for money. I didn’t count, but afterwards I thought I should have calculated how many beggars went by during my stay in Cambodia. Some I gave money, but had I given every beggar what they asked for, I would have run out of money in no time. Realizing that, and seeing the behavior of other tourists, I sometimes felt heartless. I was not able to help them all, at least not in the way they wanted me to.

Yet, in some way I helped. I traveled all the way to their country, supporting the growing tourism industry of Cambodia. And now I am sharing some of my experiences through writing, which I hope will influence at least some people.

The beggars and the poor in different countries and regions are not begging for fun. They need help, and support. If they had other means, and knew better ways of improving their lives, they would act differently. But like in Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation, and hierarchy of needs, we all need to be able to fulfill our very basic needs first: to get enough water and food to survive. As long as this need is neglected, an individual will use whatever possibilities he or she knows to satisfy the very basic needs of life, clean water and enough nourishing food, in order to survive.

Us who have never experienced the lack of clean water or food can not really understand those who suffer every day. If we claimed to really understand what it feels like to be hungry every day, and not having enough to eat, we’d be lying.

So, how can each one of us help in eradicating poverty?

According to macroeconomics, the best way to eradicate poverty is to create employment. Poverty alleviation through sustainable strategic business models, with an emphasis on the word sustainable, is certainly one way of helping the poor. Giving people the opportunity to work themselves out of poverty, with a fair pay. I ́m not going to get into depth with this issue in this post, but we all know that sustainable and ethical business takes care of labor rights, and does not employ children.

There are many other ways of helping the poor: supporting reliable organizations that employ professional staff involved in different kinds of projects aimed at removing poverty and improving the lives of the poor(est).

Micro-lending, direct support, and money sent home by family members working in other countries are also ways of helping. Adopting a child from a poor country (can be a long and difficult process).

There are many ways to help, and help is always possible. “Where there’s a will there’s a way”.

Can you come up with others than those already mentioned in this post?

“It’s impossible, said pride.

It’s risky, said experience.

It’s pointless, said reason.

Give it a try, whispered the heart”.

 

 

Virtues And Sins Part VII: Temperance vs. Gluttony

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Authentic Leadership, Business Ethics, Change Management, Life Coaching, Thought Leadership, Virtues and Sins

We live in a world affected by gluttony. To be precise, the world is not affected by gluttony, but many of the people living on this planet. This is a fact in many areas of people´s lives, but in this post I am going to focus on nutrition.

According to the WHO, worldwide obesity has doubled since 1980. Today, more than 1.4 billion adults out of 7,2 billion are overweight – nearly 20 % of all people. 35 % of adults aged 20+ were overweight (BMI >25) in 2008, and 11 % were obese (BMI >30). Out of these, 65 % of world population live in countries where overweight and obesity kill more people than underweight.

Furthermore, overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for deaths globally. Each year, almost 3 million adults die due to overweight or obesity in addition to the fact that many diseases, including diabetes, diverse heart diseases and certain cancer burdens are interlinked with obesity.

The cause of overweight and obesity is an energy imbalance between calory consumption and expansion. Worldwide, energy-dense foods high in fat, are increasingly being consumed. Moreover, physical inactivity is becoming more common due to diverse reasons such as increased urbanization. Who is responsible? The individual personally? Or society? WHO´s research indicates that changes in dietary and physical activity patterns are often results of environmental and societal changes associated with development and lack of supportive policies in sectors including health, agriculture, transport, urban planning, environment, food processing, distribution, marketing and education.

Individually people have the possibility to limit energy intake from total fats and sugars (and prefer healthy fats), consume more fruit and vegetables, whole grains and nuts, and exercise regularly.

People must have access to a healthy lifestyle. At a societal level, therefore, people should have the possibility to live in a supportive environment, enabled through sustained political commitment and the collaboration between public and private stakeholders. Physical activity and healthy diets should be available, affordable, and easily accessible to everyone, including the poorest people.

In general, the food industry plays a significant role in the promotion of healthy diets, e.g. by:

– Reducing fat, sugar, and salt contents in processed foods

– Ensuring healthy and nutritious food to be available and affordable to everyone

– Practicing responsible marketing

(Source: WHO. Quoted 17.3.2014).

“Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide”. (Marcus Tullius Cicero)

Simultaneously to the global overweight and obesity crisis, almost one billion people worldwide are undernourished. Developing countries account for 98 % of the world´s undernourished people. 2/3 of these live in just seven countries: Bangladesh, China, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Pakistan, out of which over 40 % live in China and India alone. Sub-Saharan Africa, with its 30 % share, remains highest on the list of undernourished people. Today, Sub-Saharan Africa produces less food per person than it did 30 years ago. The number of undernourished people in the region has more than doubled since 1970.

According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), these numbers indicate a deeper structural problem threatening the ability to achieve internationally agreed goals on worldwide hunger reduction. FAO suggests governments to increase investments in agriculture, expand safety nets, social assistance programmes, and enhance income-generating activities for the poor in rural and urban areas.

Furthermore, the World Food Summit and the FAO indicate that the rapid growth in agricultural production during the past decades has enabled the world to produce enough food to provide every individual with more than 2700 Kcal per day. This level is more than sufficient to feed the whole world population. (Source: FAO/The World Bank Institute. Quoted 17.3.2014).

It seems that the imbalance (number of overweight/obese people vs. undernourished people worldwide) is caused and affected by several different attributes, including not only inefficient and poor infrastructure in some countries, but also a general lack of will to improve nutrition-related issues in many countries. How should these problems be solved?

Virtues and Sins Part VI: Kindness vs. Envy

by Anne-Maria Yritys, posted in Authentic Leadership, Business, Change Management, Life Coaching, Thought Leadership, Virtues and Sins

“Don´t ever mistake my silence for ignorance, my calmness for acceptance and my kindness for weakness”. (Unknown)

“I´m not confident around compliments or being celebrated, and I am not comfortable with the thought of envy, which some people thrive on” (Rachel Weisz). 

Reflecting upon the word “envy” and its meaning brought up a few personal memories where someone had accused me of being jealous. I have never been a jealous person, but must admit that people sometimes behave in a way thinking they´d be entitled to being envied – which, of course, is not anything else but bragging. These people may also have a tendency to be fake and to let other people down, talking behind your back, two-faced, pretending to be your friend while the truth is far from that. Accusing other people of being something, in this context envious, is called projection in psychological terminology. Before judging other people, therefore, each one of us should take a look in the mirror.

Envy, often linked with the green color, can also be transformed into something positive:

ENVY – The Story of a Stray Dog and a Homeless Girl (http://igg.me/at/envy) is a short film where Nico, a homeless girl, is disappointed by humankind due to continuous lies and assaulting. She is found by Envy, a stray dog that leads her to her pack where she finds shelter, food and above all, love. Despite of being a dark and dramatic piece, the message of ENVY is hope and love. Sometimes, in our darkest hours, dogs can be our greatest companions. The film also points out the fact that sharing in the struggle of survival can lead to great results. (Source: ENVY – The Story of a Stray Dog and a Homeless Girl. Quoted 16.3.2014).

Kindness, on the other hand, is a value in many cultures and religions. Acts of kindness do not only benefit receivers, but also the giver whereas feelings of contentment and relaxation are released and physiological results of the process. Neither does a real act of kindness ask for anything in return. Think about a life-event or a personal experience where you selflessly helped someone, or where someone helped you. What kind of sensations did that memory bring to your mind?

There is always room for kindness around us. Perhaps you have heard about The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, which is an internationally recognized non-profit organization founded upon the belief in kindness, dedicated to providing resources, tools, and encouragement for various acts of kindness. The foundation aims at inspiring people to acts of kindness, to change the world through one-act of kindness at a time, to educate people, to involve and to let people share their personal stories about kindness. (Source: The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. Quoted 16.3.2014).

Personally I got acquainted with the foundation through no one else but a kind friend.

“Your greatness is measured by your kindness; your education and intellect by your modesty; your ignorance is betrayed by your suspicions and prejudices, and your real caliber is measured by the consideration and tolerance you have for others”. (William J.H. Boetcker).