The UN’s mandate is to carry out four main purposes but the one I am interested in is it’s mission “To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms”. Although the UN is fully funded, the burning questions is why do they need the Arc or other social enterprises?
The UN comprises of 193 Member State representatives with the similar vision of ensuring world peace and aiding the growth of developing nations. Although they have the same views, they all have different backgrounds, traditions, and procedures in accomplishing their goals, which may be difficult to reach a consensus as one entity. This is where social enterprises step in.
Social enterprises are also the channels connecting social entrepreneurs with the right resources and support from government and UN to make an impact in the world. As Uwonkunda says to her comm101 instructor, “I told him about non-profits that have donated money to Rwanda following the war but didn’t make a lasting impact,”. He then directed her to the Arc Initiative, which provides Uwonkunda the tools necessary to accomplish her goals of reaching out to those in Rwanda, providing fundamental business skills. Social enterprises can also have their own individual ideas and purposes which can in turn, provide aid to different segments of world issues including education, clean water, providing clothing, etc. This allows an even distribution of aid throughout the globe and accomplishing multiple things. How I see it is the UN provide the funds or support, but the social enterprises are the “go-getters”.
