Grammeen Danone Shoktidoi

*SHAKTI DOI *

BSEP – SOCIAL ENTERPRISES

GRAMEEN DANONE FOOD

THE GRAMEEN FOUNDATION

PHULKI CARE EDUCATION

* Shoktidoi means energy in Bengali. One cup of yogurt provides 30 per cent of the recommended daily intake of nutrition. Mothers are keen to buy the yogurt for their children.- Bogra, Bangladesh. June 20, 2007.

Grameen Foundation, founded as Grameen Foundation USA, is a global 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington DC that works to replicate the Grameen Bank microfinance model around the world through a global network of partner microfinance institutions. Its CEO is Alex Counts. It is separate from organizations called Grameen Foundation in different countries, such as Grameen Foundation Australia. The Foundation was founded in 1997 as a vehicle to replicate the model of Grameen Bank beyond the borders of Bangladesh and increase the access of poor people to microfinance by millions worldwide. Muhammad Yunus, the founder and managing director of Grameen Bank, sits on the Board of Directors. Current chair of the board is Paul Maritz, CEO of VMWare and formerly a senior executive at Microsoft. Read More > HERE <.

Muhammad Yunus (Bangla: মুহাম্মদ ইউনুস, pronounced Muhammôd Iunus) (born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi banker and economist. He previously was a professor of economics where he developed the concept of microcredit. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. Yunus is also the founder of Grameen Bank. In 2006, Yunus and the bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, „for their efforts to create economic and social development from below.“

Yunus himself has received several other national and international honors. He is the author of Banker to the Poor and a founding board member of Grameen America and Grameen Foundation. In early 2007 Yunus showed interest in launching a political party in Bangladesh named Nagorik Shakti (Citizen Power), but later discarded the plan. He is one of the founding members of Global Elders. Yunus also serves on the board of directors of the United Nations Foundation, a public charity created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support United Nations causes. The UN Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the UN. Read More: > HERE <

The Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI), an independent non-profit research centre, in association with The Foundation for Development Cooperation (FDC) based in Australia and Libra Advisory Group based in UK has initiated the Bangladesh Social Enterprise Project (BSEP), supported by the British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID).

This project aims to utilize key strengths of the private sector to address some of the poverty related issues of our country.

The project purpose is ‘to identify and build innovative partnerships within the private sector to undertake projects and programmes which are commercially viable and directly benefit the poor in alleviating poverty and at the same time, meet the development objectives of Bangladesh.’

Grameen Danone Foods, popularly known as „Grameen Danone“ is a social business initiative, launched in 2006. Grameen Danone Foods Ltd is a joint venture between four Grameen companies; Grameen Byabosa Bikash, Grameen Kalyan, Grameen Shakti and Grameen Telecom — and Groupe Danone, a Francebased global leader for nutritional food products.

The main objective of Grameen Danone is to bring daily health nutrition to the nutritionally deprived population of the country, especially children and as a result alleviate poverty through the implementation of a unique proximity based business model.

Grameen Danone Foods Ltd. produces a special yogurt called Shakti Doi from pure full cream milk that contains protein, vitamins, iron, calcium, zinc and other micronutrients needed to fulfill the nutritional requirements of children of Bangladesh, thus contributing to improving their health.

While ‘Shakti Doi’ (which means ‚power yogurt‘) is primarily intended for children, it is also appropriate for adults. The price of each 80 gram cup of yogurt is kept at an affordable.

Phulki endeavors to spark the development of the socioeconomic conditions of disadvantaged people particularly by promoting the rights of women and children.

“Phulki” meaning “spark” in Bengali is a non-profit organization that brings a flicker of light to the lives of disadvantaged communities. We spread the light of hope into the lives of working women who, due to their circumstances, are forced to leave their children at home, often in hazardous conditions, to earn a living. From its beginnings in 1991, Phulki recognized the link between children’s rights and women’s empowerment and the need to ensure a secure future for children while their mothers are working to earn a living. These goals are the pillars for all of Phulki’s activities. It strives for the rights of women and children to be universally recognized and achieved. Through devoting all its resources and energy into working with disadvantaged women and children, Phulki is helping them to see that they both deserve and can achieve a secure, healthy and happy life.

Initially, Phulki focused on the plight of female workers who have migrated to Dhaka city from rural areas, in search of a livelihood. The city does not have the requisite infrastructure and support systems to sustain this large influx of migrant workers. In Bangladesh export oriented garment industry has grown rapidly over the last 20 years to become the primary source of foreign exchange for the country. Over 1.5 million workers are employed in garment factories, out of which, approximately 80% are women. Phulki’s early activities ensured the well-being of the migrant workers and their children who suffered due to poverty and lack of care.