Ellen Johnson Sirleaf: A Role Model in Africa

CFI.co strongly supports this sentiment from the Nobel committee in their announcement that Sirleaf would share the Peace Prize for 2011 in recognition of her non-violent struggle for women’s safety and full participation in peace-building. We consider her an exemplary

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Gro Harlem Brudtland: Doctor, Politician and Our Hero

Born in 1939 to an Oslo family in which politics and medicine were part and parcel of daily life, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, has been Director General of the World Health Organisation for the past fourteen years. Prime minister of

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Financial Stability in the European Union: IMF Assessment

In its first ever European Union-wide assessment of the soundness and stability of the financial sector, the International Monetary Fund this month pointed to the need to step up regional efforts to manage financial crises and risks to keep the

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Michelle Bachelet and the Right of a Woman to Decide

When Chile’s government was ousted by Augusto Pinochet in 1973, Michelle Bachelet’s father (a supporter of the deposed Salvador Allende) was arrested, tortured in prison and died in custody at the age of 51. Security forces later arrested Bachelet herself,

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Our Hero Ariyaratne: Truly Empowering People

Dr. A.T. (Ari) Ariyaratne founded the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka in the 1960s and still serves as its President. It is the world’s largest spiritually-based people’s development movement and is at work in 15.000 villages throughout Sri Lanka.

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Vitali Klitschko: Punching Above His Weight

One of the greatest heavyweight boxing champions of all time, Klitschko retained his WBC title in September this year. Known as Dr. Ironfist, he is the son of a Soviet general, speaks four languages, is passionate about chess and earned

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Our Hero Melinda Gates: No Little Woman

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world. Its global aims are to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty. Melinda Gates is one of the three trustees that control the Foundation. The

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Oxford University: Asset Stranding Risks in the High-Carbon Sector

The University of Oxford launch a new research programme to help businesses and policy-makers future proof against investments in assets that might become devalued or written off, otherwise known as ‘stranded’. Assets become stranded for a number of different reasons:

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Higher Growth When More Women Work

“Employers who don’t offer equal opportunities to women simply ignore a large part of the skilled workforce. In many countries, growth could be much higher if more women were in paid employment. In Japan, for example, raising the female labour

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IDB Hero Al-Madani: Resources, Creativity and Credibility

‘Today’s world is fragile and needs a new strategy for the post-crisis era. It is time to mainstream Islamic finance to address the myriad weaknesses inherent in the present global financial system. Islamic finance is ethical financing which is based

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