LANGKAWI: Social Business has the power to change the world and make it a better place for everyone by teaching disadvantaged people entrepreneurship skills, making differences in people`s lives, uniting all the people and creating one world, one country, eradicating unemployment and poverty, saving the planet and human beings from diseases and catastrophes such as war, COVID-19, and climate change, and narrowing the bubble space of diversity and racism.
This year, the 13th Social Business Forum was hosted in Malaysia at Pelangi Beach Resort & Spa, Langkawi, Kedah on July 27–28 under the theme “War, Peace, and Economics: The Future of Human Beings.”
The two-day forum brought together over 700 delegates from all over the world, including Japan, the USA, China, the Philippines, Nepal, Colombia, Italy, Brazil, and more.
In his opening remarks at the 13th Social Business Conference, the Founder of Social Business, who is also a Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr. Mohammad Yunus, said nobody should be starving or begging for food to survive nowadays. There should be zero unemployment, zero poverty, and zero war, as we have all the technology and resources to do that, provided all the people of the world are united and collaborate with each other.
He said business can unite the people, solve all problems, and push for prosperity, adding that the world today talks only about war and who possesses the most powerful weapons.
“Nations invest billions of dollars in producing weapons. They have a big budget for weapons and war, but no budget for peace,” he said.
As mentioned in his book “A World of Three Zeros”, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize offers a vision of an emerging new economic system that can save humankind and the planet.
Attended and participated in the 13 Social Business forum were over 120 inspiring speakers from all around the world, such as Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus; former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad; Nobel Peace Laureate, Leymah Gbowee; Columnist and Activist, Marina Mahathir; Trustee of the Albukhary Foundation, Sharifah Sofia Albukhary; Minister of Environment, Federative Republic of Brazil, The Honourable Marina Silva; Trustee and Managing Director of Yayasan Hasanah, Dato’ Shahira Ahmed Bazari; UN Habitat Chief Maimunah Mohd Sharif; and many others leaders of the social business movement.
Speakers at the forum suggested countries should have a Minister of Peace instead of a Minister of Defence. The Ministry of Peace would promote unity, advocate for peace, and help create an economy that is dedicated to peace, not war.
The speakers also highlighted that the world needs a new civilization, as the old civilizations have taken us the wrong way. They have also warned of emerging new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), which seems to be replacing humans with chatbots and machines and causing millions of people to lose their jobs.
The Social Business forum participants and community aim to find business solutions that would provide jobs and income for the poor, medicine for the sick, and help for the needy.
Commenting on the event, the Italian delegate, Simona Sinesi, who is also the Author of “Social Impact In Your Hands” (a book that tends to change the narrative on social entrepreneurship), said she is inspired by the Founder of Social Business and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Mohammad Yunus.
“I’m so excited to be part of this inspiring Social Business community that aspires to create a new civilization.
“As Yunus says, if you want to do something, you have to imagine it. If you don’t imagine it, it will never happen.
“This is a strong message that I usually share with my university students since they have the power to unleash the creativity to leave a sign,” Simona told Malaysia World News at the 13th Social Business event.
She also pointed out that the social entrepreneur is the new leader in today`s world “because he is the one who works to remove the root causes of problems, not just to alleviate the symptoms. He must be a concrete person, but remains a dreamer.”
Simona Sinesi’s book, Social Impact in Your Hands, is a complete guide for social impact start-ups (Hoepli) and is divided into nine very practical modules ranging from explaining who the social entrepreneur is and the path that needs to be taken to implement the project to providing guidance on how to create alliances as well as how to measure, finance, and communicate the impact. In addition, stories of extraordinary social entrepreneurs are proposed, along with a small “test” to see if you have the right characteristics to try to emulate them.
Why is Yunus becoming a role model?
Muhammad Yunus, who created microcredit, invented social business, and earned a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in alleviating poverty, is one of today’s most trenchant social critics. Now he declares it’s time to admit that the capitalist engine is broken–that in its current form it inevitably leads to rampant inequality, massive unemployment, and environmental destruction. We need a new economic system that unleashes altruism as a creative force just as powerful as self-interest.
Banker to the Poor
Professor Muhammad Yunus established the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983, fueled by the belief that credit is a fundamental human right. His objective was to help poor people escape from poverty by providing loans on terms suitable to them and by teaching them a few sound financial principles so they could help themselves.
