2002 – In 1999, a group of nine UK-based organisations came together, with support from the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID), to establish the Resource Centre for the Social Dimensions of Business Practice. Through the Resource Centre, the organisations sought to investigate the links between business and poverty, to marshal the arguments for business to play a greater role in poverty elimination, to identify barriers and the actions and tools needed to overcome these obstacles, and to highlight examples of ‘good practice’ and strategies for success. This report draws together the work of the Resource Centre over three and a half years with the individual work of the founding partner organisations and other working towards the shared aim of understanding and improving the impact of business on the poor. The report reflects the experience of not only multinational companies but also small and medium-sized enterprises, cooperatives and social enterprises.
