I'd Like to Teach

I’d like to teach the world to fish... Percy Barnevik made his name heading up one of the largest family-controlled businesses in Europe, but in his retirement it is microenterprises where he has focused his attention. Jessica Tasman-Jones caught up with the former executive to find out how his foundation, Hand in Hand International, is addressing poverty one job at a time he solution to a great deal of the and idleness were their principal reasons for world’s problems is jobs, argues fighting, a global survey conducted by the World Percy Barnevik. “In Egypt 75% of Bank in 2011 found. The development bank the students don’t get a job. The ranked unemployment as one of the top crises young men sit in the cafés in Cairo, for humanity after conflict, climate change, and unhappy, angry, they can’t support themselves, water. let alone a small family.” This breeds anger and Hand in Hand International, founded in 2003, Tthey become prey for the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to address this joblessness and hopelessness and all types of violent organisations, says the through enterprise. Not the type of enterprise former business executive. “The problem is not Barnevik was accustomed to as the former CEO Islam, not the Bible, the problem is not religion. of Swiss engineering firm ABB – in which the The problem is poverty and hopelessness.” His Wallenberg family hold a 10% stake. (He helped rhetoric is backed up by research. Forty per cent create the industrial giant through a merger of of rebel group members claimed unemployment Asea and Brown, Boveri & Cie in 1988 earning 48 CampdenFO Winter 2016 CampdenFB.com PHILANTHROPY The problem “is not Islam, not the Bible, the world to fish... the problem is not religion. The problem is poverty and hopelessness him comparisons to General Electric’s former Though Hand in Hand is just over a decade old, CEO Jack Welch.) Instead, Hand in Hand assists Barnevik first encountered poverty when he was those in poor communities improve their incomes a young professional many decades ago. “When through microenterprise – think a bicycle repair I was 28 years of age, I went on a business trip to shop or a woman weaving rugs to sell at markets in Mumbai, and saw the ghetto there. It was built Afghanistan. While these may seem comparatively for one million people, but 12 million people humble to a European multinational, the lived there, most of them out in the marshland, foundation has created 2.42 million jobs to date – without clean water. There I saw dead people a figure that rivals Walmart for employee size. in the night, on the streets. Trucks came, they Barnevik wants to address poverty on a large loaded up the bodies in the back and then threw scale. “Muhammad Yunus received the Nobel them into the garbage pits. People didn’t even Prize for microfinancing. I thought ‘if that type of look at what was going on, it was part of daily life. loan arrangement can help hundreds of people, So when I saw that misery early on in my career, Top from left to right: Hand in Hand why can’t it be done for millions of people?’ I like I felt touched by it.” International’s founder big numbers, I don’t want to have one school for Barnevik had initially paid to untie individual Percy Barnevik with a student in India; with a 100 women, I want to go for millions. If I can’t children from their labour so they could go to few simple skills learnt impact many, many people, I’m not interested. school – which cost $150 each. “It always affects in a Hand in Hand Village Savings and A lot of charity work today involves one school you when you see children abused – not going to Loans Group, Rahabu, for a hundred children, whereas we have moved school, but instead working, and getting sick too.” of Kenya, was able to His retirement – he received a multi-million dollar open her own shop, 260,000 children out of labour to start attending allowing her to send school. We must strive for bigger scale.” golden handshake from ABB – afforded him the her four youngest For the year ending 2015, the foundation had opportunity to establish a more sustainable way children to secondary school; Afghan created 295,315 businesses leading to 357,623 to help. “When I was 60, I decided that instead weaver Habiba credits jobs. It is called Hand in Hand because it seeks to of continuing my memberships on big company Hand in Hand with teaching her about give people a hand up, not a hand out. People are boards for the next 10, 15 years, I should use saving and carpet given training and access to microloans to create my money – $60 million – my time, my contact design, helping her to increase her monthly employment for themselves. “They’re only allowed network, and make an all-out effort to mobilise income six-fold; to use that money for income generation, like poor people into entrepreneurship.” Barnevik had Mageswari, a member of Hand in Hand buying a sewing machine and other equipment,” served as chairman of Swedish construction giant India, has created Barnevik says. “You’re not allowed to use the Skanska and UK-based pharmaceutical company a small enterprise AstraZeneca, and on many other multinational manufacturing money for consumption, as that will lead to Photography: Hand in International www.hihinternational.org Terracotta dolls nothing.” company boards. 49 CampdenFB.com Winter 2016 CampdenFO Andhra Pradesh reportedly committing suicide in 2010 after being unable to repay their debts. According to the Global Family Office Report 2015 36% of family offices list poverty as a cause they The problem support through their philanthropy. in South Philanthropic strategies to address poverty have “ Hand in Hand may at a glance seem like a evolved throughout the years, says Angela Kail, Africa is not microfinance operation, but its work is much more head of the funders team at charity think tank holistic than that, Barnevik points out. “It doesn’t and consultancy New Philanthropy Capital. She the lack of help to receive a microloan if you can’t read, or says it’s moved from giving physical items, like schools, or write, or do simple maths. So, we start by teaching food or wells, to a more “teach-a-person-to-fish people those elementary skills in order to become type of approach”. “Poverty is a symptom and teachers, entrepreneurs. Then we coach them to work in quite often philanthropists would prefer to go groups, to support each other. We train them to for the root cause, which might be education, for it is the save money, even small amounts, so that when example, depending on the country. Sometimes lack of they start an enterprise, we can help them to get it’s such a big issue they can’t get a handle on it. a small microloan. This is followed by coaching in One of our big clients puts a lot of money in water jobs which marketing, how to package, how to price, and how and sanitation, tackling one particular aspect of to avoid bad middle men. We often link up our poverty, rather than trying to tackle the whole provide an groups to garment factories, who buy the produced thing at once.” income goods to export to Europe, or Japan, or America, Barnevik says: “To give people money, clothes, something which our members are unable to do and food is not sustainable. We must stop giving themselves.” before the poor people are back where they were.” Poverty alleviation is a complex area for “If you have an emergency like an earthquake, philanthropists to tackle – indeed microfinance tsunami, volcanic eruptions, sure you have to bring has had its own controversies with reports of water etc, you have to help them. But we are not several dozen farmers in the Indian state of dealing with emergency help, that’s where the Red THE CHALLENGE IN INDIA THE CHALLENGE IN THE CHALLENGE IN KENYA THE CHALLENGE IN RWANDA 71% of Indian women are AFGHANISTAN 60% of Kenyans are totally 45% of Rwandans live below not in paid employment 85% of women don’t work excluded from the credit market the poverty line 73% of farmer households 36% of Afghans live below Despite managing 40% of 43% of young children are smallholder farms, women lack access to formal credit the poverty line chronically malnourished (World Bank/India Ministry receive only 1% of credit (World Bank) (World Bank/World Food Programme) of Statistics and Programme directed to agriculture Implementation) (Central Bank of Kenya, World Bank) HAND IN HAND AFGHANISTAN’S HAND IN HAND EASTERN AFRICA’S RESULTS HAND IN HAND INDIA’S RESULTS RESULTS HAND IN HAND EASTERN AFRICA’S Every women who receives a 50% female participation RESULTS 113,662 jobs created in microloan facilitated by Hand rate in its Afghan self-help $5.49 million in loans in Kenya Rwanda, far exceeding a in Hand supports 1.65 jobs groups (and targeting 70% to date with a 99% repayment target of 80,000 97% of jobs created by Hand in its next programme) rate 17% of the 78,780 in Hand India’s members exist 18,394 jobs created to 91% of the foundation’s members businesses created employ three years later date in Kenya are actively saving six or more people 50 CampdenFO Winter 2016 CampdenFB.com PHILANTHROPY doctor,” said one woman from the country’s Nahri Shahi district.

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