Do you want a simple snapshot of the way your company positively contributes to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)?
A recently launched tool by Business in Development (NCDO) and Sustainalytics does just this. Thanks to the online MDG Scan, companies can simply create an account (free of charge) on the website and insert key performance data related to the company’s presence in developing countries. The MDG Scan then converts this data into numbers of beneficiaries in developing countries whose lives have been positively affected by the company’s activities. Completing the MDG Scan enables participating companies to download a final report in which specific company results are reflected.
Although the MDG Scan uses company performance data to estimate the contribution to the MDGs, results are not exact measurements. The MDG Scan is developed as a simple model, dealing with a very complex economic reality. Important simplifications of reality are therefore inherent to the MDG Scan.
What does the MDG Scan measure?
The MDG Scan measures the positive contribution to the MDGs through: value added; employment creation; products & services; and community investments.
1. Value added
By processing raw materials and part-finished items towards final products, value is added. Even after the product is finished, value is added by packaging, distributing and retailing. Value added is a direct contributor to a country's GDP. The MDG Scan estimates a company's value added through its operations in developing countries. Next, the MDG Scan estimates the effects of this value added on poverty reduction (MDG 1) and on the reduction of child mortality (MDG 4).
2. Employment
Besides money, employment is a significant driver of economic growth. Companies employ people and, in turn, contribute to household incomes. In addition to the directly employed workforce, companies further create indirect jobs in the value chain. The MDG Scan estimates how many jobs are created by a company, including indirect jobs, and gives an estimation of the amount of poor people (below $1 poverty line) that benefit from these jobs.
3. Products and Services
The commercial products and services marketed by a company can also contribute to poverty reduction. Regular products or services that fulfill the needs of poor consumers, when offered at a good quality and fair price, can improve the living standards of the poor (e.g. affordable bus transportation). Other specific products or services (medicine, drinking water facilities etc.) directly affect the MDGs. The MDG Scan investigates whether companies offer such specific MDG-related products and/or services and provides an estimation of the number of people in developing countries that benefit from these products or services for every MDG.
4. Community Investments
Companies can also contribute to poverty reduction and the achievement of the MDGs through community investment: philanthropic projects & donations or initiatives for employees. The MDG Scan investigates whether companies offer such specific MDG-related community investments, providing an estimation of the number of people in developing countries that benefit from these activities for each MDG.
More information on the topic of impact assessment:
- What gets measured gets done - Measuring Impact Framework produced by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
- Beyond the bottom line: measuring business impacts on society
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