19 partners from the CSR360 network travelled to London for a special gathering this week. The partners were invited from all across the globe to feed into the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health inequalities. It seemed the perfect opportunity to celebrate the new joint CSR360 Global Partner Network and ENGAGE websites which went live on Monday 22nd September 2008 and the partners were also able to participate in Business in the Community's Community Investment Conference which followed the next day.
CSR360 Global Partner Network and ENGAGE meeting on global business engagement in tackling the social determinants of health inequalities
The final report of the World Health Organisation’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health – ‘Closing the gap in a generation’- was published in August. An event to launch this report to global partners took place on Monday 22nd September 2008 at the Citigroup Centre in Canary Wharf, London. Partners represented 19 countries as diverse as Estonia, Ecuador, China, Hong Kong, Poland, Portugal and Vietnam and provided substantial, positive feedback on the holistic approach taken by the Commission to tackling global health inequalities.
This meeting signified the first step in Business in the Community’s three-year work programme with the UK’s Department of Health on engaging business to act on the report’s findings. Next steps include Business in the Community’s planned business consultations in the UK and the Department of Health’s international conference in November.
Speakers at Monday’s event were Dr Fiona Adshead, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health, who played a pivotal role in the report’s formation, Dr Ruth Bell, Senior Research Fellow at the Commission Secretariat at UCL, and Malcolm Lane, Director of Corporate Affairs at Tata Consultancy Services, who provided a valuable insight into corporate social responsibility strategy.
The event was hugely successful in introducing the Commission’s broad agenda to CSR360 Global Partner Network.
Website Celebration
Partners joined business representatives evening at the launch of the joint CSR360 Global Partner Network and ENGAGE Websites. The evening of celebration was hosted by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP at their Fleet Street Offices. The Websites were intoduced by Erskine Design, the web developers of the project and Stephen Howard, CEO Business in the Community addressed the audience about the need for companies to think global in today’s environment.
Posted by
Jennifer Fox
Secretariat
- Categories
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Associated Partner:
Business in the Community (BITC) -
Related Partners
- Business and Community Foundation,
- CAF Russia,
- CCCD – Centrum fuer Corporate Citizenship Deutschland,
- Cemefi,
- Centre for Responsible Business, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
- The Volunteer Centre, Poland,
- Community Business,
- Deres,
- East Europe Foundation,
- Forum Empresa,
- Fundacion Compromiso,
- Fuping Development Institute,
- GRACE,
- Population and Community Development Association (PDA),
- Responsible Business Forum in Estonia,
- Business Leaders Forum Serbia,
- S2M Foundation,
- Business Office for Sustainable Development,
- UPJ,
This article has 3 comments
Great gathering. The web page is wonderful!
Greetings from Quito, Ecuador,
Roberto Salazar
(S2M/Hexagon)
Was not at the launch. The websites are great! Peter from Germany
A very stimulating meeting as much about where we are as well as where we are heading. The mention of reputation as a driver echoed at several times. The issue of reputational risk was also very relevant given given recent developments in the banking sector.
I only wish there was more participation / presence from countries such as India and Pakistan which have recently joined the network or had activities.
A shame there was no mention made of Mosaic - BITC’s pioneering programme on mentoring Muslim youth as this is a pointer to where CSR is heading - a theme from one of the breakout sessions. See http://www.mosaicnetwork.co.uk
Food for thought for one area where Community Investment can go - (1) there are more people of South Asian origin in the UK than in the US not only in percentage but in absolute numbers (2) the two communities that suffer most across a range of economic and social indicators in the UK are Pakistanis and Bangladeshis ie. British Muslims with spillover impacts in terms of inclusion, alienation and anger especially from a more vocal, articulate and less patient youth (3) the markets of tomorrow will increasingly lie in Asia and possibly South Asia and by 2020 South Asia (ie. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) will be home to the world’s largest economically active population, not China. One way to ensure UK plc can be part of this global power shift which the financial meltdown will accelerate is to encourage and enable economic and social opportunities for UK citizens of South Asian (ie. especially Pakistani and Bangladeshi) origin who can act as a bridge and connect to these markets.
CSR and community investment - if resilient and resourceful communities matter to us - increasingly needs to join the dots across these three trends. For me that is one reason why Mosaic is so important and BITC’s role in it so welcome.
The last session on ‘think global, act local’ should have included ‘remember regional.’
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