I believe that the Social Enterprise are completely different. Even if the UN were fully funded, social enterprise and projects such as ARC would still be needed to ensure long-term development.
My theory on the development of countries is that they all have to undergo a period of industrialization. This allows the community in question to expand, export products, and generally produce income. As a company does well, the workers do well, and by extension families do well. Parents that do well generally spend their money on their children, especially for education.
This increased education then sets up the future generations to transition out of the industrialization into a more developed economy. Obviously this process takes a considerable amount of time and energy, but I believe that the ARC Initiative has the potential to help a lot of people for a long time.
The ARC Initiative’s tagline is that it is not a “let’s save Africa” project. While this may be a deterrent to the ordinary person who wants to participate in a charity, it, by the same token, attracts a much different audience that just wants to participate just as eagerly.
As the ARC Initiative helps set up businesses and educates people in its areas of work, it helps ensure long term self sustainability. This is because it is the constituents of these areas that are promoting change, fending for themselves, and providing a future for generations to come instead of an outside agency providing temporary change.
Further reading on the ARC Initiative: http://www.chnook.org/partner/the-arc-initiative/
Testimony on the ARC Initiative: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/going-global/in-a-crowded-market-ethiopian-entrepreneur-finds-a-sweet-way-to-stand-out/article17912688/