Join us as we bring together female entrepreneurs from rural India with experts from Accenture, DOEN Foundation and Good Energies Foundation to discuss findings from a randomized controlled trial test that points a way to apply results-based financing to promote the adoption of renewable energy products. We introduce the concept of “pump priming” markets through marketing activities that educate consumers about problems created by current behaviours, and the advantages of new consumption behaviours. Moreover, we will discuss ways to offset the significant costs of such interventions through results-based financing instruments.

The global drive to replace traditional energy sources with renewable energy will require significant investments in addressing market failures. These investments would need to promote substantially higher use of renewable energy products among consumers households and among businesses. Could results-based financing help achieve these outcomes?

Emerging from a 10-year strategic partnership between Accenture Switzerland and elea Foundation for Ethics in Globalization, Marco Huwiler (Managing Director, Accenture Switzerland) will unveil Dharmalife Labs, a collaboration between Accenture, elea, Dharma Life, and London Business School supported by Good Energies Foundation to improve infrastructure and business structures in rural India and hence, to help communities thrive.

Dharmalife Labs is a rural innovation lab focused on driving inclusive progress. It identifies big problems in rural India, designs and develops new solutions, tests these solutions rapidly and rigorously, implements them at scale, and shares insights and experiences for other organizations that are interested in driving similar initiatives.

During our event, we will be able to showcase some exemplary execution scenarios that Accenture is involved in along with Dharmalife Labs – including the use of advanced tools and processes such as Blockchain, AI, circular economy, among others.

If you want to understand how you can leverage Dharmalife Labs for your own ideas and projects or simply want to learn more about a good practice for corporate philanthropy, then register for the event and join us for a discussion.

The fourth Voice of the Village roundtable looked at how learnings through digital means can improve the livelihoods of individuals at scale, with a current focus on rural India. As Professor Chandy pointed out, we are transitioning from digital for access to digital for enablement. This process of transformation has been accelerated by the pandemic and the associated lockdown.

To address the challenge of low workforce participation among women, particularly in rural India, Dharma Life launched the Jaya program. Utilizing digital means, the program aims to inspire women in rural India to realise their potential and then provide the tools for them to reach that potential. Through advice via the digital platform, women can learn essential skills, such as mushroom farming, and access job opportunities, to enable them to set up their own businesses.

In the last few years, India has gone through remarkable transformation. The shifts in the telecoms landscape, including increasing penetration of smartphones, internet users, mobile commerce, and reduction in the price of mobile data – called the “Geo Effect” – has enabled dramatic and miraculous change in people’s lives in rural India.

Join rural women entrepreneurs, the Wheeler Institute, Dharma Life, Pathfinder International, and a network of global partners to identify and discuss challenges faced by rural communities. Some questions we will discuss during this 70-minute virtual discussion include:

• How do we deal with the threat of community transmission where livelihoods take priority?
• How can we enable community owned and community driven approaches in battling the pandemic?
• How can we ensure access to essential non-COVID-19 related health services such as family planning and reproductive health?
• What role does technology play in these efforts?

Hear directly from these changemakers of the We-for-Village Alliance, which connects rural communities and international stakeholders digitally. The Alliance helps vulnerable groups such as women, migrant workers, the elderly, and children with critical information, essential goods, services, and life-altering skills. Over a million people have already benefited from the efforts of the Alliance as it moves from a successful pilot to scale up.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, policy makers have invested heavily in driving behaviour change to reduce transmission of the virus and save lives amongst the population. Rural communities are caught in-between the dual pressures of saving lives while sustaining their livelihoods. Often rural communities and their leaders have devised innovative solutions to solve this dilemma.

Women’s workforce participation in India is one of the lowest in the world. Three in four women in the country do not get an opportunity towards sustained livelihood and economic empowerment. The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to make this already dire situation worse – not only in India, but beyond.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the head of U.N. Women predicts that : “The coronavirus pandemic will widen the poverty gap between women and men, pushing 47 million more women and girls into impoverished lives by next year undoing progress made in recent decades.“ Join us for the second in the Voice-of-the-Village roundtable series, in which we will launch the Jaya Alliance for livelihood opportunities among rural women. Some of the urgent questions we will discuss in this 60-70 minute virtual roundtable are:

• What are the barriers for women joining the workforce, and remaining in it?
• What lessons can we learn from successful women leaders?
• How does Covid-19 impact this situation?
• How can technology be used to improve education, remote work, safety, and livelihoods opportunities more generally?
• How can external entities help?

The Jaya Alliance helps rural women realise their potential by engaging in fulfilling livelihood opportunities. It connects stakeholders such as skilling institutions, the government, employers and the rural community through a digital platform to provide counselling, training, and support for employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. Because when a woman realises her potential, she lifts everyone around her.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, India initially went into a country-wide lockdown. Even as the lockdown eases, the situation remains dire for many among the less privileged, who are struggling with an uncertain new reality.

Be part of the conversations that create solutions and join Dharma Life’s rural women entrepreneurs and a network of global partners to identify and discuss the challenges faced by rural communities. Some of the urgent questions we will discuss in this 60-70 minute virtual roundtable are:

• What are the crucial needs of these communities?
• How are they evolving?
• What lessons can we learn from those who are confronting and responding to this new reality?
• How can external entities help?
• How can technology help?

Hear directly from the changemakers of the We-for-Village Alliance, which connects rural communities and international stakeholders digitally. The Alliance helps vulnerable groups - such as women, migrant workers, the elderly, and children - with critical information, essential goods and services, and life-altering skills. Over a million people have already benefited from the efforts of the Alliance as it moves from a successful pilot to scale up.