Partnership for Change, a Norwegian CSO, is hosting a seminar to discuss the importance and potential of ”care policies” and to boost productivity and inclusivity in emerging economies. ILO’s Care@Work project in Ethiopia will feature as a case study. 

Half of a country’s talent is female. This huge resource is systematically underutilised as women generally carry the burden of childcare. According to the World Bank, 94% of persons missing out on paid work due to care responsibilities are women. Not only do many mothers stop working post-birth due to a lack of paid leave and adequate childcare, but women are also discriminated against in expectation of them becoming mothers. 

This is bad for business. The cost of initiatives such as maternity protection, parental leave, and professional childcare for ages 0-4 can for many companies of a certain size be cheaper than the cost of losing good workers and paying for continuous recruitment and training. It also results in the loss of future female leaders.

The Care@Work project in Ethiopia, implemented in partnership with PfC, highlights practical and realistic solutions, emphasising the need for collaboration across business, government, and civil society actors to ensure more inclusive growth. 

The seminar will feature speakers from ILO, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NORFUND, Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), Institutt for Samfunnsforskning and Equality Check. It is held in a combination of Norwegian and English.

For more information and to sign up for the event, follow this link:
https://pfchange.org/event/realising-rights-in-practice/

Our members Export Finance Norway and Innovation Norway are hosting their annual conference the Export Conference on the 12th of March. Please follow the link for more details: https://www.eksfin.no/no/arrangementer/eksportkonferansen/eksportkonferansen-2024/

Oxford Economics Africa and Control Risks will launch the 8th edition of the Africa Risk-Reward Index in September. The index illustrates the evolution of the investment landscape in major African markets and provides a grounded, longer-term outlook of key trends shaping investment in these economies.

Join experts from Oxford Economics Africa and Control Risks where they will discuss the report's key themes, risks and opportunities for investors and examine what these mean for Africa in the year ahead. 
 

In this session, you will get access to insights and expert advice on:    

• The profits and pitfalls in polarisation: How African countries are resisting pressure to align, even as the fault lines between global geopolitical powers deepen. 

• African-led security interventions: Global attention is split and conflicts and security crises on the continent are not gaining sustained attention from external actors. This is having serious impacts on the continent. 

• Financing for the future: How African financial services institutions are stepping in to plug the funding gap and helping to bridge access and inclusion divides. 

The webinar will take place on September 26, 11 am-12 pm CEST.

Webinar speakers

Energiseksjonen i Norad planlegger en reise til Nigeria i oktober sammen med NVE, Miljødirektoratet og Oljedirektoratet, for å kartlegge behov og muligheter for et Energi for Utviklingprogram - et institusjonssamarbeidsprogram besluttet av UD, og under etablering.

Efu- programmet skal i all hovedsak være et samarbeid mellom landenes energimyndigheter med formål om å bedre det regulatoriske regelverket og utøvelsen av dette for fornybar energi. I denne forbindelse ønsker Norad å få kontakt med bedrifter (både norske, lokale og internasjonale) som jobber med fornybar energi i Nigeria for å forstå konteksten bedre, og hva selskapene opplever som de største utfordringene ved å investere i landet - særlig knyttet til det regulatoriske rammeverket og myndighetenes utøvelse av dette.

Selskaper som jobber med å «grønne» olje- og gassektoren spesifikt knyttet til redusert fakling og metanuslipp er også relevante. Vi er også takknemlige for innspill til viktige lokale samarbeidspartnere vi bør snakke med på delegasjonsreisen.

NABA Medlemmer er velkomne til å komme med sine innspill på møtet.

Ta kontakt med Ms. Solveig Tangen dersom du har spørsmål om dette arrangementet.

Partnership for Change, a Norwegian CSO, is hosting a seminar to discuss the potential of Early Childhood Care and Education (professional childcare for ages 0-4) to ensure inclusive growth.

Common challenges across the African continent are health and nutrition, inclusive economic growth, and the advancement of women, the lack of which perpetuate poverty and conflict.

Today, more than 60% of Africa’s population is under the age of 25. By 2030, young Africans are expected to constitute 42% of global youth. This is often pitched as a massive potential for growth but relies on adequate vocational training, job creation, and a more equal distribution of opportunities and resources. 51% of these youths are women, most of whom will at some point become mothers. Without access to quality and affordable childcare, mothers always end up taking the responsibility and subsequently drop out of school and pause their careers, often indefinitely. Childcare is thus a prerequisite for women’s equal participation in education, work and business.

Additionally, quality childcare leads to better results in school and careers later in life for children, and it helps businesses by increasing, and retaining, the pool of female talent – boosting productivity and innovation. Childcare has, despite Norway’s world-leading competence and experience, been overlooked as a strategic measure in international cooperation and development. We believe it is time to acknowledge its potential for poverty alleviation, gender equality and inclusive economic growth.

This seminar is held in Norwegian. For registration or questions please contact Ms. Heidi Skansen at heidi.skansen@pfchange.

Photo by Mikkel Becker-Aakervik.

On September 6th our member company Cambi will host a site visit to HiAS IKS, an inter-municipal company responsible for water supply and wastewater for Hamar, Loten, Ringsaker, and Stange in the central-eastern part of Norway. For details and to register your interest in this opportunity, please contact Gary Brown at Cambi.