With its clear, precise goals and objectives, the United Nations managed a steady line of operations for Social, Economical and Security worldwide. So the real question here is, why do we need Social Enterprise or initiatives like ‘The Arc’ if we can simply get funding from the UN?

The answer is simple; Social Entrepreneurship is society’s means for an innovative and revolutionary world, whereas the Arc initiative is a form of collaboration between Sauder, South Africa, Rwanda and several others as a means of gaining experiences and developing the economy. For example, in the case of Salem Kassahun who needed to expand her production to meet the growing demands for her baskets known for their designs, funding from the UN could’ve been sufficient to rent out a factory, but does not consider the long-term costs and effect, thus leaves out the possibility for them to innovate and explore different scenarios. Having said that, joining the Arc initiative then allowed her to dwell into the world of management, marketing and finance, which resulted in finding the best alternate course of action.

In other words, The Arc initiative and social entrepreneurship create pathways to different possibilities for small businesses to grow and develop. Not only are they beneficial to the businesses they work with, they benefit the economy significantly. On the other hand, UN funding will only be assistance in the short term and will not be a lasting solution.