Report on CARE’s First Regional Conference on
“PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS IN LATIN AMERICA
AND THE CARIBBEAN”
Quito, 22 to 26 May 2006
I.
PRESENTATION
This document presents the moderator’s report of CARE’s First Regional Conference
on Private Sector Partnerships (PSPs) in Latin America and the Caribbean that
gathered 36 CARE executives from 10 countries and 6 special guests, 2 from
international cooperation agencies and 4 from the private sector, in Quito, Ecuador
from 22 to 26 May, 2006. The complete list of participants can be found in Appendix
1.
In addition to this Introduction, the report contains the following Sections and
Appendices:
II.
III.
IV.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
MAIN TOPICS AND JOINT REFLECTIONS
CONCLUSIONS
Appendix 1:
Appendix 2:
Appendix 3:
Appendix 4:
Appendix 5:
Appendix 6:
Appendix 7:
List of Participants
Sequence of presentations
Summaries of presentations on access to markets for
producers
Summaries of presentations on access to markets for
consumers
Summaries of presentations on other CSR experiences
Summaries of presentations on CSR from the standpoint of
the private sector
Results of self-evaluation exercise with regard to
Knowledge Management
The complete contents of all the presentations were delivered to each participant on a
CD before the end of the Conference.
II.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Conference theme was CARE’s relatively new strategy, that is being put into
practice in several countries around the world, of establishing partnerships with the
private sector in order to accomplish CARE’s strategic objectives by means of: (i)
resource mobilization for projects, (ii) reduce the negative impact of corporate
activities, (iii) provide market access to poor producers or service providers for their
products or services, and obtain access to goods and services markets for poor people
as consumers or service users (iv) advocacy for more just international rules and (v)
changing attitudes in the world of development and private sector, by obtaining, for
instance, private sector support to achieve other goals like fight to HIV&AIDS.
The Conference’s activities centered around a total of XX presentations that are
summarized below and joint reflection regarding their content in either break-out
groups or plenary sessions:
(i)
6 conceptual presentations, 4 made at the start of the Conference by CIUK, 1
made by CARE Ecuador and 1 by CARE Central America, that framed the
rest of the proceedings;
(ii)
2 presentations by CARE USA related to the critical topic of selection of
private sector partners with which it is appropriate to associate and with
(iii)
19 presentations, made by CARE executives from all 10 countries
represented in the Conference, and 2 presentations made by representatives of
international organizations, on specific projects in which private sector
alliances were established in order to: (i) provide market access for products
and services being offered by poor communities;
(ii) provide access for
the poor to purchase goods and services they need; and (iii) support the
attainment of other social goals (eradication of child labor, the fight against
HIV/AIDS and transparency in the private sector).
(iv)
3 presentations on various aspects of PSP made from the private sector’s
perspective.
(v)
2 presentations and 1 self-evaluation exercise related to learning and to
knowledge and information management.
The joint reflections that these presentations elicited allowed for identification of
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that CARE faces in the realm of PSP
and were the basis for establishing short-term action plans.
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III. MAIN TOPICS AND JOINT REFLECTIONS
The topics that were addressed and the reflections thereon are not presented here in
strict chronological order but have instead been grouped by subject areas. Appendix
2 presents a summary table of all presentations in chronological order, as they are
recorded on the CD that was delivered to each participant that indicates the thematic
group to which each has been assigned, as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Conceptual framework, general visions and PSP strategies
Selection of potential private sector partners
Experiences with market access for producers
Experiences with market access for consumers
Experiences with other kinds of PSP projects
CSR and PSP from the private sector’s perspective
Knowledge and information management
1. Conceptual framework and general visions:
6 presentations:
Monday 22 May, in the morning:
1.1. Conceptual Framework, CIUK
1.2. Kenya Conference Conclusions, CIUK
1.3. Toolbox, CIUK
1.4. PSP in LAC and PPA-ALC Project, CIUK & DFID
Monday 22 May, in the afternoon:
1.5. PSP Strategies, CARE Ecuador
Thursday 25 May, in the afternoon:
1.6. Use of Revenue-Generating Enterprises by NGOs,
CARE Central America
1.1. Conceptual Framework (CIUK)
Monday 22 May, in the morning
Hugo Sintes
The Conference began with Hugo Sintes of CIUK’s presentation of a
“Conceptual Framework for Private Sector Partnerships”. The presentation
started off with an analysis that describes the so-called “magnitude of the
tragedy” as evidenced by the worldwide ‘decent work deficit’ for the poor, the
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fact that capital tends not to gravitate towards the poorer nations and the
enormous complexities of accomplishing effective social connections among
various actors. Studies were then presented that suggest high levels of
confidence in NGOs that contrast with low levels of confidence in the private
sector, clear potential complementation between the two sectors, and an analysis
of relations between the two that shows low current cooperation (12%) but high
potential cooperation in the future (61%). The entire analysis, it was suggested,
leads to the almost inevitable conclusion that joint work and collaboration with
the private sector is almost inevitable in order to move forward in the fight
against poverty.
Several possible manners of engagement were then identified including
receiving donations, relational marketing, receiving volunteers from a company,
receiving free assistance and consulting, selling the community’s products to the
company and vice versa, performing social and environmental studies, alliances,
joint initiatives or ventures, dialogues, etc. Several possible engagement models
were then presented including: (i) the 3-ring model (in the public policy sphere,
CARE as a policy proponent; in the corporate sphere, CARE as a partner or as a
challenger; in the capital sphere, CARE as investor); the 5 Cs model
(Compliance, Control, Community Investment, Creation of New Value and
Collaboration); the possible strategies model (Collaboration or Confrontation in
the business world or in the field of civil society); the so-called “Sustainability
Classifications” that identify four possible strategies: killer whale, shark,
Dolphin or Sea Lion; a model that identifies corporations’ and NGOs’ main
activities (with regard to corporate philanthropy, the NGOs perform funds
gathering activities; with regard to the corporations’ core activities that generate
their profits, the NGOs can perform programmatic activities): WWF’s 4 Cs,
pyramid model (Conservation, Challenge, Communication, Cash) that
contemplates relationships based on 1, 2, 3 or all 4 Cs.
Joint Reflection regarding the proposed conceptual framework
Reflection first centered on the “Sustainability” model and on the question
“Where do we see CARE?” Answers were proposed on two levels – the
descriptive, related to where CARE is, and the normative, related to where
CARE should be. On the descriptive level, there appeared to be wide consensus
that CARE is on the side of the sea lion or the dolphin, i.e. on the collaborative,
more than on the confrontational side, given that CARE typically does not take
on an activist, polarizing role and some COs act like sea lions, requesting and
receiving funds. On the normative level, the question arose whether we should
assume only one role, recognizing that circumstances can indicate which is the
appropriate one and that it is difficult to remain constantly in only one quadrant,
although the ideal might be to try to be intelligent dolphin.
With regard to the model that relates the NGOs’ activities to a company’s main
activities, it was recognized that: (i) to a high degree, we relatee to companies on
the higher level of the pyramid where they act as philanthropists; (ii) the main
potential for mobilizing companies’ actions on behalf of CARE’s strategic
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objectives lies rather on the level of their core activities where their profits are
generated; (iii) on that level, companies are moved by business criteria, not
philanthropic considerations; and (iv) contradictions can arise between relating
to companies on one or the other level of the pyramid (the ever more tense
relationship between programs and funds-gathering) that pose the interesting
challenge of helping companies to reduce those contradictions.
1.2. Kenya Conference Conclusions, CIUK
Monday 22 May, in the morning
Hugo Sintes
In sum, bearing in mind our objective of reducing poverty, there are many ways
on which we can relate to the private sector, each of which can be legitimate in
given circumstances. Besides, there can be a dynamic between one and another
(for example, moving from funds-gathering to alliances), after going through
due diligence procedures that are not always performed, or are not performed
worldwide. For this, as a leading PSP institution, it is important that CARE
remain proactive in selecting sectors with which it is willing to work, assign full
value to its intervention capabilities and improve its information and human
development systems. To these conclusions was added a long list of concrete
priorities that were neither debated nor validated.
Joint reflection on conclusions of the Kenya Conference
With respect to due diligence and worldwide relationships, tom Caffrey of
CIUSA pointed out the existence of two data bases - Donor Direct and
CorporateEngagement@care.org - and of the “Corporate Alliances” option on
CARE USA’s web portal, which anyone present can access to request
information on existing alliances. Gianluca Nardi emphasized the importance of
these sources as tools for establishing a community of practice and expressed the
hope that a virtual library of alliances can be established.
Several participants underlined the conclusion that establishing new
relationships with the private sector means changing the traditional point of view
and recognizing that many companies work on social problems not just for
reasons of need but also out of conviction.
1.3 Toolbox
Monday 22 May, in the morning
Hugo Sintes
“The purpose of this toolbox is to make a series of general suggestions on what
can be done and how to do it available to CARE’s offices that are interested in
private sector matters. The toolbox is currently being developed. A first draft of
each chapter has already been written. Publication and translations are expected
in June-July. The toolbox will be a “live” document to which new experience
5
and advice can be added.”
The Toolbox includes and exploration of the concept of Corporate Social
responsibility (CSR) – definition, standards, critiques, lessons; the private sector
and reduction of poverty; types of private sector engagements; influence on the
private sector through international codes of conduct, dialogue and political
influence; and ways of getting markets to function on behalf of the poor through
partnerships, social enterprises and programs, access to markets and marketing.
Joint reflection on the Toolbox
Questions were raised regarding testing and validation of the document. The
answers were that it will be internally tested and will be open to continued
updating, even with inputs from this Conference. As for validation, the
document will be shared with outside experts and could go to one or two
countries for more formal validation.
The issue was raised regarding whether the toolbox will have the force of a
guideline. The answer was that it is intended to provide detailed advice.
1.4. ASP in LAC and the PPA-ALC Project (CIUK & DFID)
Monday 22 May, in the morning
Gianluca Nardi
Starting form the fact that Latin America has gone through radical
transformations in the last 20 years that have not taken place without profound
internal contradictions, a unique LAC (Latin America and Caribbean) PSP
model has emerged under the stimulus of several specific regional realities
including the relative weakness of governments, socially responsible practices in
several sectors with high environmental impact, a new generation of
entrepreneurs and businesspeople with a CSR vision along the entire production
chain and high commitment to CSR on the part of small and medium-sized
companies that make up 95% of all companies and employ between 40% and
60% of the entire regional labor force.
The model is not uniform across the region. On the contrary, there are different
levels of progress in CSR in the various countries in the region: for example,
there is low commitment to civil society in Ecuador as against the regional
leader, Panama with a 70% rating; in several other counties, low corporate
governance can be observed, as against a 60% rating in the regional leader,
Chile.
The challenge for CARE is seen in terms of taking PSP beyond philanthropy, to
interventions related to companies’ core businesses under the hypothesis that
market mechanisms can be used to benefit poorer communities, not only in
economic terms.
6
The focus is primarily cooperative: it consists in providing services and
structuring alliances, without discounting the possibility of exerting influence,
although not through aggressive campaigns.
There are currently some 14 projects in progress of which 8 are PSP for
providing access to markets for producers and for consumers or users. Many of
these will be presented in this Conference.
In May 2005, PPA LAC, a programmatic agreement between DFID and CIUK
was started, with a specific appendix for Latin America and the Caribbean
(LAC) for US$ 2.7 million per annum for 3 years to contribute to poverty
reduction through PSP, influence on the IFIs, working with civil society and
fighting against HIV/AIDS.
In the specific context of PSP, the intention of PPA LAC is to generate greater
understanding of the impact of pro-poor business plans and of innovative
practices, to engage in networks with civil society, CSR networks and local
governments and to develop internal training. In the field of innovative
practices, to which US$ 270 thousand p.a. have been assigned, the main focus is
on access to markets, with 4 projects (that were presented in this Conference –
please see below, Section 3) related to cocoa in Brazil, organic fruit in Ecuador,
artichokes in Peru and milk in El Salvador. Internal training will be developed
by way of forming a community of practice for systematizing experiences and
for learning (please also see below, Section 7), association with British
companies and the WSUP global initiative (please also see below, Section 4).
The challenge for the future is to progress from (i) the current diverse but
isolated experiences towards (ii) integration of Country Offices in the region and
(iii) integration with other local and international actors.
Joint reflection on PSP in LAC
It was pointed out that the LAC experience that was presented reflects a
movement from COs towards a greater integration, as opposed to the traditional
experience of going from broader and even global levels towards the country
level, although it was commented, on the contrary, that the so-called ‘global’
experiences are in any case one-country (USA, UK, Brazil). In any case, it was
generally agreed that integration on both directions should be more systematic.
It was clarified that support intended for training could be internal, within CARE
or external, for example for private companies.
Reflection also centered on the concept of ‘innovation’ with recognition that it is
a tremendous challenge that consists of at least two things: (i) product and
program innovation and (ii) taking experience from one country to another.
The question was asked whether the analyses of CSR in the LAC region that
were presented are based on criteria also used for ISO 26000. The answer was
7
that, given the fact that several indicator systems exist, the indicators that were
presented are country level indicators, not individual company indicators, and
that CARE has not taken a position regarding appropriate indicators because it is
not our role to do so.
1.5. PSP Strategies, CARE Ecuador
Monday 22 May, in the afternoon
Fernando Martínez and Karina Morales
This presentation began with the reflection that CARE Ecuador had engaged in
several unconnected initiatives in several program areas that led to the thought
that a strategy was needed that was coherent with CARE’s mission and with our
worldwide organization.
Development of that strategy included internal reflection with all of the areas of
the CARE Ecuador CO and with other COs, an aperture towards CIUSA (for
example on the subject of Due Diligence) and towards CIUK, and the
systematization of cases in which CARE Ecuador had engaged with private
companies. The results were (i) the definition of several types of companies, (ii)
the definition of several types of relationships, (iii) a set of decision rules for
engagement (or not) with companies, (iv) the definition of 5 fields of CSR action
and (v) the definition of CARE’s roles with regard to CSR.
The types of companies identified are: those that extract or use natural resources
in a non-sustainable manner; those that make use of natural resources and have
undertaken sustainable processes; public services; industries or services with
negative socio-environmental impacts; CARE’s donors and partners; and
CARE’s suppliers.
The types of relationships identified are: no relation by CARE’s decision;
confrontation; direct influence; indirect influence; provision of services as a
remunerated activity (training, Technical Assistance); provision of services
without remuneration; social investment for which CARE channels resources;
alliance with the private sector for a common objective but with no flow of
resources; and interaction as a team or as partners.
Partnership decisions must have en incidence on CSR practices of partners,
allies and or suppliers, establish rules for working with monopolies or
oligopolies and establish joint participation in project design and execution. Said
decisions should in addition be based on analysis and knowledge gained in field
visits, conversations with shareholders and other local and regional actors,
participatory decision-making, the concept of ‘solidarity in consumption’,
respect for cultural diversity, the quest for mutual benefits, work with local
governments to reinforce institutions, shared values, and interest at the higher
levels of corporate management. In addition, pressure must be brought to bear
on the State that sometimes stimulates improper practices, for it to exercise its
control functions.
8
The 5 fields of action for CARE that were identified, that are not indicators, are:
quality of workers’ lives, responsible marketing, environmental responsibility,
commitment to the community (for example, compliance with ILO 169), and
corporate ethics and transparency.
The roles identified for CARE include political influence, education in the law
and in rights, participation in CSR networks, promotion of partnerships,
increasing CARE’s internal capabilities, advising private companies and
promoting responsible consumption.
Joint reflection on Care Ecuador’s PSP strategy
The connection between CARE Ecuador’s analysis and CARE USA’s Due
Diligence forms (please see Presentation 2.1, below) was explored. It is not clear
whether or not its use is mandatory. The conclusion was reached that it is
worthwhile for each CO to go through an analytic process similar to that carried
out by CARE Ecuador, in order to contextualize the subject of Due Diligence
and to insure appropriate internalization by all members of CARE personnel of
the importance of careful selection of corporate partners.
The question was explored of whether CARE’s and corporations’ missions and
visions need to coincide or need only be complementary: the general conclusion
was that they should be complementary.
The case of a company with which CARE Ecuador considered the possibility of
rejecting a partnership was analyzed. The company is related to the extractive
industries and the proposed project represented considerable potential income
for CARE. The project was undertaken, and it left important lessons learned
regarding the need for careful selection because it generated considerable social
resistance, the company opted for “buying” social support and there were strong
local political repercussions. The case underscores the difficulty of conciliating
possible rejection of a corporate partnership with the potential benefit to
communities that can result from engagement, even if confrontational, with
companies the practices of which could be improved. In this regard, reflection
centered on the potentials of dialogue with private companies, international
organizations and national and local governments considered in CARE
Ecuador’s approach.
1.6. Use of Revenue-Generating Enterprises (RGEs) by NGOs
Thursday 25 May, in the afternoon
Marcos Neto, CARE Centro América
9
The results of work being done jointly by CARE Central America and the
William Davidson Institute, at the University of Michigan’s Business School
were presented.
The proposal put forth starts out from C.K. Pralahad’s idea that at the base of
the socio-economic pyramid there are 4 billion people whose income is less that
US$ 1,500 per annum. Beyond Pralahad’s original idea that this segment of the
pyramid represents a huge potential market opportunity that private companies
should not ignore, the idea has arisen that persons in that segment are also
potential participants in market economies as producers and as suppliers of
multiple services including sales.
Building on these ideas, on experience already developed by CARE with SPS
and on recognition of the fact that there are three types of companies (those
focused only on social issues, those focused only on profits, and those focused
on both), this presentation proposed taking CARE beyond merely cooperation
with private companies into becoming a promoter and shareholder of its own
Revenue-Generating Enterprises (RGEs).
Some of the fundamental questions to which this idea leads include: What would
the implications be for CARE of entering into the promotion and ownership of
these kinds of enterprises? What are the potential benefits and the potential
risks? What are the potential perceptions of the public and of donor companies?
How would CARE be affected internally? How would the persons and
communities that are beneficiaries of our programs be affected?
The potential benefits of RGEs include the creation of sustainable opportunities
for income generation for the poor; empowerment of poor communities; creation
of a model for the private sector through evidencing of the fact that the profit
motive and a social focus are not mutually exclusive; and greater financial
independence for CARE.
Potential disadvantages include a possible loss of ‘mission focus’ on CARE’s
part, possible drop in corporate donations, potential internal tensions for
philosophic reasons or because CARE’s current personnel does not have the
necessary skills for assuming a business-oriented role and possible
endangerment of CARE’s status as an NGO.
Next steps foreseen with regard to this new idea include the creation of a pilot
project in CARE Central America through the incorporation of a holding
company, the generation of an initial set of RGEs and the formulation of their
business plans.
Joint reflection on the RGE idea
Many people considered the idea extremely interesting and saw that it holds
enormous potential.
10
On the other hand, there were expressions of concern regarding the possible loss
of CARE’s social spirit and the potential for inner conflict was recognized,
especially with field personnel who work most closely with the poorer human
groups and communities that we seek to support.
2. Selection of potential PSP partners
2 presentations:
Monday 22 May in the afternoon:
2.1. Due Diligence, CIUSA
Thursday 25 May in the afternoon:
2.2. Sector review: Oil and Gas Industry, CIUSA
2.1. Due Diligence, CIUSA
Lunes 22 de mayo por la tarde
Thomas Caffrey
The Due Diligence Guidelines are a set of criteria that reflect CARE’s ethical
values and of processes for approving the selection of companies with which
CARE can or cannot work in partnership or from which it can or cannot receive
donations. These guidelines are necessary because they help CARE to stimulate
companies to act in a socially responsible manner and protect CARE from the
image risks that can result from associating with companies that do not behave
in that manner.
There are three categories in which a company or a given practice can be placed
at the end of a Due Diligence process: Green for companies that are widely
recognized for their social and environmental responsibility (for example, the
renewable energies industry); Yellow for companies or practices that are
questionable and that require further analysis to determine CARE’s level of
engagement, in which 8 industry sectors (for example the pharmaceutical
industry) and two practices are located; and Red for products, services or
practices that do harm to the communities that CARE serves, in which 6
industrial sectors (including tobacco and weapons) and 2 types of practices
(including child labor) are located.
The responsibility for insuring that Due Diligence procedures are followed
corresponds to the unit that will derive principal benefits from the relationship or
the pre-existing Manager of a relationship with CARE. For example, for a water
project in Tajikistan with support from Procter & Gamble, CARE Chicago
and/or CARE Tajikistán.
There is an extensive set of procedures for carrying out a Due Diligence
investigation that center around 5 main questions: (1) Could the company fall in
the red category? (2) Is there an existing relationship with CARE US or CI? (3)
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Is the company already on conditional red status? (4) Does the company intend
to use CARE for its own image benefit or for that of others? Has something
negative come up in any one of the 5 different research sites, including:
www.corpwatch.org
www.globalexchange.org
www.multinationalmonitor.org
Certain other important criteria include the idea that in the case of large
multinational corporations with many subsidiaries, the worst practices in any
one of them defines the categorization for all of them.
Joint reflection on Due Diligence
The tension between seeking donations from companies and, on the other hand,
seeking for them to act in a socially responsible manner was recognized.
Nonetheless, there was general agreement that these two objectives are not
necessarily mutually exclusive.
Emphasis was also placed on the fact that the guidelines for categorizing and
selecting possible partners do not exclude the possibility of exerting influence on
one or more companies through dialogue.
The subject was explored of what happens if a company with a pre-existing
relationship acquires a subsidiary that is or would be in the yellow or the red
category (for example, for abuse of child labor). In general, the recommendation
would be to enter into dialogue with that company to attempt to obtain
abandonment of the practice and, failing that objective, to establish an orderly
exit strategy in order to get out of the relationship without unnecessary
confrontation.
2.2. Sector review: Oil and Gas Industry, CIUSA
Thursday 25 May, in the afternoon
Thomas Caffrey
A confidential presentation was made regarding this review that is not yet
complete. Without revelation here of any of the review’s substantive elements or
of its conclusions, because they are confidential, it is worth mentioning the fact
that the review is being carried out with respect to an industry that has enormous
social and environmental impacts all around the world, with a very considerable
investment on CARE’s part in terms both of consultants’ fees and of the
dedication of a number of senior executives’ time and effort.
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3. Experiences with market access for producers:
12 presentations:
Monday 22 May in the afternoon:
3.1. Proyecto SINERGIA, IADB in El Salvador
Tuesday 23 May in the morning:
3.2. VEGCARE, CARE Kenya, CIUK
3.3. Making Markets Work for the Poor, DFID in Bolivia
Tuesday 23 May in the afternoon:
3.4. FORESTRADE – Coffee, CARE Guatemala
3.5. PROEXPORT – Coffee CARE Honduras
3.6. PROMESA – Amazonian fruit CARE Ecuador
3.7. Amazonian cocoa project, CARE Brasil
3.8. Alliance among artichoke producers, CARE Perú
3.9. Milk producers, CARE Bolivia
3.10. Milk producers, CARE El Salvador
3.11 Fish and natural dyes, CARE Perú
Wednesday 24 May in the morning:
3.12. Several PSP with CARE Brasil
Summaries of the contents of all 12 presentations are to be found in Appendix 3,
and their complete contents are in the CD that was distributed at the end of the
Conference. There follows a comparative analysis of the presentations, the joint
reflections that they elicited and the SWOT analysis done with regard to access
to markets for producers.
Comparative analysis of the 12 projects
A comparison of these 12 projects allows for the detection of interesting
differences with regard to at least four key variables: (i) the number and types of
participating institutions other than the producers that the projects aimed to
assist; (ii) the location of the initiative for the project; (iii) the role of the support
institution (CARE or other); (iv) the role of the private companies involved.
Nº of institutions: The variety of possibilities is illustrated by the following
comparative cases, among others:
The simplest case, according to this variable, is VEGCARE (3.2) in which
only care and VEGPRO participated.
In the FORESTRADE project (3.4), a producers’ association, a private
company and CARE Guatemala participated.
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In the PROEXPORT project (3.5), a government institute, a municipal
government, a private company in Honduras, 2 private companies in
Canada, CARE Honduras and CARE Canada were involved.
In the milk producers project in El Salvador (3.10) the IADB, an association
of producers and another of industrial processors, 2 private companies, one
Ministry CARE and another NGO intervened.
In the milk producers project in Bolivia (3.9), one State entity, a University
Institute and a municipal government intervened in addition to CARE
Bolivia. This is the only case that was presented in which there was no
involvement of a private company to assist small producers.
In the SINERGIA project (3.1), 8 private companies and the IADB
participated.
Where the initiative lay: In most cases, the initiative was CARE’s or the
IADB’s Nevertheless, there are exceptions: in the Amazonian cocoa case in
Brazil (3.7) it was the Cargill Foundation’s and CARE participated in a bidding
contest to determine which NGO would carry out the project. This shows that
the initiative does not necessarily have to be CARE’s.
The role of the supporting institution (CARE or other): Here, again, a variety
of possibilities was presented. Some of these include:
In the SINERGIA project (3.1), the IADB’s role was financing 50% of the
project. In addition, in the absence of an institution that was willing to
assume the umbrella role of overseeing the project, the IADB took it on.
In the VEGCARE project (3.2), CARE’s role was that of facilitator and
honest broker. Besides, it has made a capital investment in VEGCARE and
assumes credit risks with VEGCARE.
In several of the projects that were presented, CARE conceived and
structured the respective alliances.
In the Alliance among artichoke producers (3.8) and the Fish and natural
dyes (3.11) projects that CARE Peru carried out, CARE took on a far more
entrepreneurial role than in other cases, starting with an analysis of national
and international markets and the identification of unsatisfied demand and
market opportunities, going on to the formulation of business plans,
generating interest in export companies, structuring pilot validations and
demonstrations with non-poor producers, etc.
The role of the private companies: Differences can also be observed as
among a more strictly commercial role in some projects, as in the artichoke
producers (3.8) and the fish and natural dyes (3.11) projects carried out by
CARE Peru versus a greater degree of support to the smaller producers that
14
can be seen in the SINERGIA project (3.1) or in the milk producers project
in El Salvador (3.10). The promotion of another type of role for another
type of private enterprise that can be sees in the promotion of new Technical
Assistance companies in the Peruvian artichoke project (3.8) is also worth
underscoring.
Joint reflections on these projects
The most common reflection was on the importance of sharing this sort of
experience and learning about various different approaches that open
participants’ eyes to other possible ways of carrying out each CO’s and
organization’s activities.
Given that much of the work in this kind of project is with producers in the
informal sector, the dilemma arose as to whether to help them become members
of the formal sectors because, as members of the informal sector, they are seen
by formal, duly registered producers as unfair competition; or whether, on the
contrary, CARE should help make markets more flexible in this regard.
The importance was underscored of complementation among different kinds of
institutions including NGOs, private companies, international cooperation
agencies, national and local government agencies, producers’ organizations, etc.
The issue of what happens when CARE leaves was explored. The most
generally accepted answer is that the focus must be on promoting enterprises
with a social vision that can provide sustainability to projects like those
presented.
The subject of financing for small producers and funds for prompt payment was
explored, and several options were identified. Including CARE’s extension of
credit or of guarantees, action by companies in the private financial sector
(frequently not banks but institutions that are closer to the poorer populations
like rural savings and loan associations), like that seen in some of the case
presented, or action by the IFIs like that seen in others. The importance of
promoting further opening towards pro-poor programs in the private financial
sectors and in the IFIs was also recognized.
Attention also focused on the topic, brought out by several presentations, of the
identification by CARE of gaps in production chains that constitute long-term,
sustainable market opportunities that can be seized by poor small producers
and/or by young professional entrepreneurs.
The need to measure impacts on small producers by means of determining
whether or not poverty has been reduced was also identified: It was recognized
that such measurement was done in some of the cases presented, but not in all.
The subject was also explored of whether the companies or the small producers
15
engaged in the various projects always act in a socially responsible manner or
whether, on the contrary, they hire child labor, contaminate the environment, etc.
The difference between a business and a social approach to management was
brought up, that poses difficulties when hiring personnel for projects and in the
relations between CARE and other NGOs, on the one hand, and partner
companies on the other. For some participants, management capacity is the most
critical concept in the context of PSP and we should therefore think of exerting
influence on educational systems in order to develop the proper mix between the
two approaches.
SWOT analysis on access to markets for producers
The following is a summary of the SWOT analysis carried out in the 3 working
groups that met on Tuesday 23 May.
STRENGTHS
 CARE’s ability to mobilize social resources
 CARE is open to working with private companies
 CARE has technical competencies
 CARE’s strong reputation
 Competitive advantage on CARE’s part for working with end users,
replacing intermediaries
 Confidence in CARE on the part of small producers
 Confidence in CARE on the part of the private sector and others
WEAKNESSES
 Access to productive resources is low
 Approach to projects is limited to seizing opportunities
 Balance is weak between impact on private companies and social impact
 Basic infrastructure is scant
 Business culture is not well understood inside CARE
 CARE personnel has scant knowledge of markets and their logic
 CARE is global but does not take advantage of that fact
 Intercultural approach is absent form project presentation
 Knowledge Management is weak
 Organizational levels are low
 Private sector interest in investing in rural areas is low
 Resources not available for working on PSP and access to markets
 Responsible business culture is low
OPPORTUNITIES
 CARE is worldwide organization with market-access contacts
 CSR is growing in importance
 CSR practices as a means of connecting with market access topics
 Markets are opening up, creating opportunities for producers
16






Developing a better understanding of Free Trade Agreements
Emigré markets in the U.S. – creation of national-identity brands
Integrating CARE’s work with other organizations
Interest in engaging CARE is growing in private companies
Regional integration within CARE
Regional business connections
THREATS
 Diminishing funding for international cooperation
 Diverse cultures that do not operate under market dynamics
 Failure of small and medium-sized companies to adhere to CSR
 Global market trends
 Ideological conflicts between civil society and private enterprise
 Legal and social instability
 Loss of confidence in CARE because of unsatisfied expectations
 Micro-enterprise cannot compete under FTAs
 Private companies intend to use CARE
 Risk aversion on the part of small producers
Lessons learned with respect to large and medium-sized companies
The following is a summary of the lessons learned with respect to large and
medium-sized companies shared in the 3 working groups that gathered on
Tuesday 23 May.
Some general principles:








Approach companies to get to know them reduces intermediation and
create direct links
Association must be based on quality
CARE sometimes has to mediate in conflict situations
Weakness in communities and in CARE for negotiations
Competitiveness is necessary to insure sustainability
Companies are interested in business
Companies demand quality products
Importance of:
o Seizing all the advantages or engagement with companies
o Connecting small and medium producers with large companies
o Knowledge of NGOs in companies (not just of them in us)
o Consolidating producers
o Studying the sector and developing business plans beyond
project lifespan
o Identifying bottlenecks
o Identifying growth and development factors
o Negotiating with the decision makers in the companies
o Remember CARE’s focus on poverty reduction
17
o Medium-sized, not just big cos., to promote micro-enterprise
Next steps
The following are the next steps for work in CSR identified by the 3 working
groups on Tuesday 23 May.










Attend the Micro-Enterprise Forum organized by the IDB
Build and disseminate systematized information, experiences, contacts,
private companies
Clear strategy for gathering and generating funds
Events – more of them with more diverse participants
Political decision within the organization to assume new roles
Proactive identification of potential regional partners
Proposal of projects by businesses and producers
Provide business development services (not forgetting CARE’s mission)
Regional, not just local logic (example, AMANCO)
Strategies for diminishing risks from changing trends in global markets
4. Experiences with market access for consumers:
3 presentations:
Thursday 25 May in the morning:
4.1. Rural Sales Program, Bangladesh, CIUK
4.2. WSUP
Thursday 25 May in the morning:
4.3. Water and sewage, CARE Peru, El Salvador and USA
Summaries of the contents of the 3 presentations are to be found in Appendix 4,
and their complete contents are in the CD that was distributed at the end of the
Conference. There follows a comparative analysis of the presentations and the
joint reflections that they elicited.
Comparative analysis of the 3 projects
A comparison of these 3 projects pints up two things in particular, First, the
diversity of the scale in which the concept of access to markets for consumers is
applicable, from the relative small scale of the Bangladesh project to WSUP’s
worldwide scale. Second, the wide variety of possible needs that this type of
project can attempt to satisfy, beyond basic services like water and sewage
systems, including the need for consumer goods and the need for jobs.
18
Joint reflection on access to markets for consumers
Satisfaction was expressed for the fact that regional strategies for water and
sewage projects have begun to be developed, and it was suggested that it would
be interesting to develop similar strategies in other fields including HIV/AIDS.
In that last context, the suggestion was made that a methodology could be
developed for sensitizing industrial users of water to potential costs and risks of
possible water shortages and of environmental contamination in manners similar
to those used in Honduras (please see presentation 5.2 below) for sensitizing
companies to the risks and costs of HIV/AIDS.
The importance of exerting an influence not only on companies but also on
governments, especially on the local level, was emphasized given the fact that
they are instrumental in reaching potential users of basic services. Concern was
also expressed as to whether water and sewage projects based on PSP constitute
a substitution of the National Government’s role and whether that substitution is
appropriate. The answer proposed in the specific case of the water and sewage
project in Peru (4.3) is that responsibility for that type of project has devolved to
the municipal governments and, besides, that the National Government was left
out at the specific behest of the local communities.
Concern was expressed regarding potential sustainability of programs like the
rural sales program in Bangladesh given the fact that entry barriers – for
example for additional women interested in selling shoes – are very low and
given also that market saturation and even collapse could be generated. In reply,
several participants agreed that although sustainability is evidently important,
the impacts that program like that in Bangladesh accomplish are real and are
also important. It was also suggested, in relation to sustainability, that it is
important to share this kind of concern with the persons and the communities
involved in order to empower them in the search of solutions for their problems
and risks.
The question was raised as to whether the products sold under the Bangladesh
program are the same as those sold to non-poor market segments. The answer is
that they are the same products but in the case of Unilever, as in other cases of
consumer goods, the typical product adaptation consists of smaller packages that
allow purchases for smaller amounts of money.
Another aspect of access to markets for consuming poor that was emphasized is
the potential development of specific products that fit their needs: for example,
AMANCO in El Salvador has developed plastic latrines and is currently
developing a clothes-washing station that stores water. This idea opens up the
possibility that CARE field personnel, who are in a position to perceive the
needs of the poor, communicate these to companies that might develop
appropriate new products.
It was proposed that conflicts of interest could arise in situations in which CARE
19
intervenes along with one or more institutions with which CARE is closely
related – for example, EDYFICAR in Peru. Recognizing that that potential
exists, it was pointed out that in that specific project the possible problem was
avoided because roles were clarified and defined in complementary terms.
A failed experience in Guatemala was mentioned with a water and sewage
project for which credit was to be granted by the Instituto de Saneamiento
Municipal, and the importance was therefore suggested of carefully selecting the
institutions with which alliances will be formed.
Finally, the potential generation of conflicts implicit in CARE’s actions for
promoting access to markets for users and consumers were recognized as was
the fact that, as a result, CARE must be prepared to mediate and to help resolve
those conflicts.
5. Experience with other CSR projects
4 presentations:
Wednesday 24 May in the afternoon:
5.1. SOY, Eradication of child labor, CARE Ecuador
5.2. ALCOMBAT, Fight against HIV/AIDS, CARE Honduras
5.3. Community relations and the mining industry, CARE Perú
5.4. Publish What You Pay Campaign (PWYP), CIUK
Summaries of the contents of the 4 presentations are to be found in Appendix 5,
and their complete contents are in the CD that was distributed at the end of the
Conference. There follows a comparative analysis of the presentations and the
joint reflections that they elicited.
Analysis of the presentations and
Joint reflections on experience with other CSR projects
The 4 presentations reported on in this Section provide clear evidence of the fact
the PSPs hold a potential far broader than the essentially economic potential
related to market access.
It is also worth underscoring the lessons learned from CARE Peru’s community
relations and the mining industry project (5.3), the only one in which CARE’s
involvement can be considered inconvenient because of the risk (identified in
the SWOT analysis) that a company might try to use CARE to improve its image
without changing its socially irresponsible practices.
Conclusions of the working groups gathered on Wednesday 23 May
20
CARE’s role in CSR
-
Generate and capture more resources that can allow greater flexibility
and independence for our actions and decisions
Involve the Government so that it exercises controls and places
demands (CSR is not only a voluntary matter)
Promote work within local and international CSR networks
Promote and disseminate CSR across all CARE activities, clearly
defining rules, concepts and principles
Sensitize and promote incentives for CSR in communication media,
consumers and leading companies
Strengthen organizational capabilities regarding the scope of CSR
Support the creation of organizations like the Ethos Institute (not trying
to sell the concept but rather invest in it)
Strengthen other local actors and organizations so they can exert an
influence in favor of CSR
Interaction between CARE and Governments:
-
Avoid competition and confrontation
Empower local leadership
Facilitate as opposed to directly implementing
Interact with government entities and their key people
Recognize that it is a critical relationship
Support local development agendas (do not take the wheel, just be
another passenger)
Support the development of new norms and motivate compliance with
existing norms (for example child labor inspections)
Interaction between CARE and civil society:
-
Develop models jointly with the community and take care of them in
order to retain influence
Empower neighborhood councils, local and community leaders on
matters of political influence at different levels: national, regional,
local.
Generate confidence, which is a gradual process.
21
6. ASP from the perspective of the private sector
4 presentations:
Tuesday 23 May in the morning:
6.1. Grupo Terán and Fundación Terán, Nicaragua
Wednesday 24 May in the morning:
6.2. Ethos Institute, Brazil
6.3. Social & Environmental Responsibility,
AMANCO El Salvador
Thursday 25 May in the morning
6.4. Amazonia Gas, Ecuador
Summaries of the contents of the 4 presentations are to be found in Appendix 6,
and their complete contents are in the CD that was distributed at the end of the
Conference. There follows a comparative analysis of the presentations and the
joint reflections that they elicited.
Analysis of the presentations
The first 3 presentations reinforce the evidence that was already clear from the
experiences analyzed in Sections 3, 4 and 5 that there is a CSR consciousness in
many private companies in Latin America. In addition, they place in evidence
the existence of networks and alliances among private companies and of
(Fundación Terán, Ethos Institute) that with the support of private companies
promote CSR, disseminate its principles and support its implementation.
That said, it is also clear, as the presenters themselves pointed out, that there is
still along way to go before CSR becomes the dominant paradigm in Latin
America’s private sector, thus confirming the enormous challenge that lies ahead
for CARE and all organizations committed to the concept.
Joint reflections on CSR from the perspective of the private sector
Another key element in the entire matter of PSPs was recognized, namely the
bridge between CARE and private companies that private sector associations
represent.
22
The existing skepticism in many societies regarding private enterprise in general
and how sincere its intention of taking on social responsibilities might be were
analyzed; on the other hand, it was again emphasized that not every businessman
is interested only in profits.
It was also recognized that there is a great deal of individualism in business
circles that makes it difficult not only to introduce CSR but also makes difficult
the consolidation of business associations like UNIRSE in Nicaragua, for which
reason the road ahead is generally seen to be long and potentially difficult.
In view of the fact that there are relatively few companies that are fully engaged
in social action, of the already mentioned skepticism in many societies and of
the individualism among businessmen, the Ethos Institute recommends
identifying those individuals who wish to carry out a transformation and
working with them rather than with companies as such. Later, when their
companies take on a CSR role, they can begin to work within their productive
chains.
With regard to Ethos Institute’s CSR indicators, the relationship between selfevaluation processes and the generation of a Social Balance Sheet was explored
and it was established that there must be a very close association between both
objectives.
The question was raised whether CSR should be an obligatory norm. It appears
that the more general conclusion was that rather than a norm, it should be
understood as an effective practice and that the grater the levels of knowledge
acquired by society in general and by governments, the greater will be the
growth of social responsibility, in business and more broadly throughout society.
The doubt regarding whether CSR interferes with a company’s capacity to be
competitive or, put another way, the dilemma between profitability and social
responsibility was again raised. In this context, AMANCO requested assistance
in developing a system for measuring social value that can help demonstrate that
the two types of objectives are not mutually exclusive.
23
7. Knowledge Management and Learning
2 presentations:
Wednesday 24 May in the afternoon:
7.1 Alliances for knowledge management, El Salvador
Friday 26 May in the morning:
7.2 Strategy for knowledge and learning on PSPs in LAC
(CIUK presents materials produced by ODI)
7.1. Alliances for knowledge management, El Salvador
The project consists of organizing and promoting the First “Knowledge for
Fighting Poverty” Fair that will take place during 3 days in October 2006 in El
Salvador in order to promote, disseminate and share knowledge of topics related
to development, overcoming poverty, strategies for the promotion and practice
of CSR, all of which contribute to accomplishing the Millennium Development
Goals.
Principal actors: The Organizing Committee includes UNDP, FUNDEMAS (an
NGO dedicated to promoting CSR), an El Salvador Government entity, MIT as
academic advisor and CARE El Salvador. ·0 private companies have responded
to the initial invitation to participate.
7.2 Strategy for knowledge and learning on PSPs in LAC
The proposal is born of the idea that “knowledge and learning” do not mean
creating an encyclopedia that contains everything known to man, but rather
means “keeping a register of those who know the recipes” and “nurturing the
processes and the culture that will make [them] speak.” The intention is that
every time we do something anew, we should do it better. The point of departure
is to think, before doing something, that someone has probably already done the
same thing, and to find out who it was. After acting, we should carry out a
review based on 4 simple questions: What should have happened? What really
happened? Why was there were a difference (if there was one)? And What can
we learn from the experience?
Different ways of acquiring knowledge are recognized: that which has been
articulated and is therefore explicit; that which has not been articulated but could
be, that is implicit; and that which cannot be articulated, that is described as
tacit.
24
Different processes related to the acquisition of knowledge are also recognized:
data is gathered and organized; information is summarized and analyzed; and
knowledge is systematized for purposes of decision-making, in the absence of
which the entire process of knowledge development lacks meaning.
Some simple principles of good knowledge management include: common
values and shared beliefs; a predisposition to ask for help; common technology
that connects people; effective cooperation and collegiality; rewards for and
recognition of learning; and identification and reinforcement of the appropriate
behavior on the part of leaders.
There are also limits to good learning that include: the fact that a great deal of
knowledge is so specialized an so lacking in interest across an entire
organization; the fact that not enough time is assigned to the acquisition of
knowledge because of diverse underlying priorities; the fact that internal
processes do not provide appropriate contexts for sharing knowledge; the
absence of a learning culture and related incentives; the fact that organizational
cultures are frequently individualistic and reflect the idea that knowledge is
power; the fact that changes in behavior patterns are gradual and incremental
processes; the fact that knowledge management is a relatively new working idea;
and the fact that many initiatives are overloaded with great expectations and too
many activities that are more properly shopping lists and not strategies.
Self-evaluation by each CO of its Knowledge Management
A self-evaluation exercise was performed in relation to 5 criteria on 5 levels,
from 1 that shows a low level of Knowledge Management to 5 that shows a very
high level. The 5 criteria are: Strategic Alignment, Management Behavior,
Collaboration Mechanisms, Learning and Knowledge-Sharing Processes and
Information Capture and Storage. After performing the self-evaluation, each
country group was asked to state the level in which they expect to be within a
year.
The self-evaluations were then compared among groups.
The results of this exercise are shown in Appendix 7.
Joint reflections, in working groups, on the Community of Practice with
regard to Knowledge Management and Learning
Factors that favor Knowledge Management
- Appropriate attitude present in CARE personnel
- Examples of best practices available from other organizations
- Formal structures (thematic networks) are available
- Human resources competent in KM are available
- Information of great value is available in CARE and in the communities
in large quantities
25
-
Information systems exist that can be used to this end
Institutional mandate is clear
Integration among different thematic areas is possible
Need is perceived and the right attitudes are there
Factors that act against Knowledge Management
-
Available information about other organizations and about communities
is not sufficiently used
Communication between “the field” and “management” is deficient
Conceptual clarity is lacking
Focus is on organizational learning, we are weak in social learning
Integration among different fields of knowledge is lacking
Knowledge is considered and “additional practice”, not an integrated
process (cultural problem)
Knowledge Management culture is scant “in the field”
Selfishness regarding knowledge
Systematization is insufficient
Time is insufficient for devoting oneself to learning
Tools and standardized methods for information gathering are lacking
Next steps, who is responsible, and dates
Strategic alignment
-
-
-
-
Define thematic subgroups (Communities of Practice or CoPs) - all
Conference participants.
Incidence of a knowledge strategy on the CI strategic plan - Marcos
Neto
Mapping of possible areas of cooperation with the private sector in each
CO all Conference participants. CIUK will design a format for this
mapping.
PSP in CO strategic plans - all Conference participants.
Strategy for knowledge and learning must be defined, adding new
discoveries in a strategic format. The strategy should contemplate
management, use and sharing of information: define tools (fairs?
other?) Gianluca – 30 June.
Support the decisions taken during Kenya conference regarding
information systems, identify key contacts within CI and establish clear
communication channels (CARE UK brings up the topic in order to
discuss it with other organization which participated into Kenya
Conference).
Strategy for collaborative work and the related tools (for example,
Group, forums, technological tools)
Technical decision on platforms, technological tools.
26
Management behavior
-
-
PSP toolbox – finish, validate and share – CIUK October 2006
Define appropriate behaviour, including tacit and implicit (work jointly
with Atlanta) on two levels: generic and specifically related to PSP
(Gianluca contacts R. Callejas in June). This activity should be
participatory.
Define functions and management plans for measurement and for
accountability on learning (LARMU will promote the subject in the
medium term)
Incorporate the results of this Conference in the CoP learning process Gianluca
Collaboration mechanisms
-
Organize networks
 Share information that already exists in each country and on a
regional level so that it can be used
 Organize a national PSP network
 Begin on the inside: contact country knowledge
coordinator and share information
 Collaborate with and join national PSP networks
 Contribute to making sure that PSP agenda is on the
networks
 Join and collaborate with partners’ networks
 Organize a regional PSP network
-
Technology
 Place this subject on each CO’s web page: imbue it with
visibility and importance
 Create a space on the web page for displaying documents, begin
discussions, etc. (a virtual forum)
Learning processes (culture)
-
Gain easy access to information
 Establish means for sharing information
Define how information is going to be systematized and divulged and
makes this explicit in the budget
Guarantee in Logical Frameworks, goals and indicators
Review existing knowledge
 Define where we are in the process
 Meet with beneficiaries and partners for feedback
 Meetings (forums) with the private sector to see how they see us
and what they need.
27
Information gathering (products)
-
Procedures for information capture
Strategies for systematizing information
Systematization of both good and bad (not just good) experiences
Encouragement fund (for example, contests)
Support infrastructure for forums
Support technicians in each country and between countries
Tools:
 Impact indicators: have a regional tool (list of good indicators
and practices)
 Standard format for defining management information needs
28
IV.
CONCLUSIONS
All participants present in the final Conference session and most of those who had
left before that expressed their enormous satisfaction with the Conference’s
evolution and results and with the fact that it had either satisfied or exceeded their
expectations, as much because of the excellent design of the agenda as for the quality
of the presentations and the work that went into them.
Special mention was accorded to (i) the fact that engagement with the private sector
has not remained a mere idea but, on the contrary, has become a successful reality in
several countries; (ii) the fact that many of the Conference participants have picked
up new challenges and, at the same time, new stimuli for addressing them; (iii) the
fact that despite diverse opinions regarding what CSR is and what it means and
regarding other related topics, the process of reflecting jointly has helped us all to
change; (iv) the idea that the requisite processes are difficult and lengthy, but not
impossible.
Several participants expressed a greater identification with CARE and a renewed
sense of responsibility and of commitment to socializing what was gained in the
Conference among their colleagues. Against this sentiment, a voice of caution was
also heard that urged care lest that spiritual renovation fall off easily when people
return to their day-to-day challenges.
The need was suggested of going into further depth in analyzing and internally
debating the strategic choice or dilemma between PSPs and the idea of CARE as
entrepreneur, as well as the concern that CARE not loose its spirit of solidarity with
the poor.
Finally, there were multiple expressions of gratitude, especially to CIUK for having
put together the Conference, to Gianluca Nardi for his leadership, both in general and
towards the future with regard to the Community of Practice, and to Karina Morales
and the entire CARE Ecuador team for their attention and their generous hospitality.
Quito, 13 June 2006
29
APPENDICES
30
APPENDIX 1 - LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
BY COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE AND BY LAST NAMES
SURNAME AND GIVEN
NAMES
Bernal García, Elda Gretel
Limachi, Isabel
Montes de Oca, Marianela
Caldas, Carmen Roseli
Martos, Emilio
Monteiro Pereira, Renata
Nardi, Gianluca
Neto, Marcos
Carofilis, Rebecca
Cordovéz, Belén
Haro, Alberto
Martínez, Fernando
Montenegro, Paulina
Morales, Karina
Ruiz, Ariel
Solis, Fernando
Trávez, José Luis
Unda, Fernando
Zalles, Jorje H.
Zambrano, Nubia
Zurita, Santiago
Alvarenga, Ligia
Alvarez Basso , Carmen
Claros, Isai Jonathan
Ponce, Hugo
Salcedo Moore, Diego
Gaitán Ruano, Luis David
Tecú Sarpec, Efraín
Iglesias, Raul
Pacheco H , Adolfo
Ramírez Martínez, Dacia
Dietrich Matthias
Jiménez Sánchez, Félix
Ponce Lanza, Alvaro
Alva Villacorta, Milton
Andrade Navarro, Ana María
Rojas Sarapura, Alejandro
Garratt, Charlotte
Sintes, Hugo
Caffrey, Thomas
EMAIL
gbernal@carebolivia.org
ilimachi@carebolivia.org
m-montesdeoca@dfid.gov.uk
rmenezes@br.care.org
emilio@ethos.org.bz
rpereira@br.care.org
nardi@careinternational.org
mneto@care.org.sv
rcarofilis@care.org.ec
bcordovez@care.org.ec
aharo@care.org.ec
fmartinez@care.org.ec
pmontenegro@care.org.ec
kmorales@care.org.ec
aruiz@macas.care.org.ec
fsolis@caer.org.ec
jltravez@care.org.ec
funda@care.org.ec
zallescim@hotmail.com
nzambrano@care.org.ec
szurita@macas.care.org.ec
ligia.alvarenga@ca.care.org
CARMENALVA@iadb.org
jonathan.claros@ca.care.org
hugo.ponce@amanco.com
dsalcedo@care.org.sv
lgaitan@care.org.gt
etecu@care.org.gt
iglesias@hon.care.org
pacheco@hon.care.org
ramirezd@hon.care.org
dr.dietrich@teran.com.ni
fjimenez@care.org.ni
aponce@care.org.ni
malva@care.org.pe
aandrade@care.org.pe
arojas@care.org.pe
garratt@careinternational.org
sintes@careinternational.org
caffrey@care.org
ORGANIZATION
COUNTRY
CARE BOLIVIA
Bolivia
CARE BOLIVIA
Bolivia
DFID
Bolivia
CARE BRASIL
Brasil
Instituto ETHOS
Brasil
CARE BRASIL
Brasil
CARE UK
Brasil
CARE USA
Centro Am.
CARE ECUADOR
Ecuador
CARE ECUADOR
Ecuador
CARE ECUADOR
Ecuador
CARE ECUADOR
Ecuador
CARE ECUADOR
Ecuador
CARE ECUADOR
Ecuador
CARE ECUADOR
Ecuador
CARE ECUADOR
Ecuador
CARE ECUADOR
Ecuador
CARE ECUADOR
Ecuador
Univ. San Francisco
Ecuador
CARE ECUADOR
Ecuador
CARE ECUADOR
Ecuador
CARE EL SALVADOR El Salvador
BID EL SALVADOR El Salvador
CARE EL SALVADOR El Salvador
AMANCO
El Salvador
CARE EL SALVADOR El Salvador
CARE GUATEMALA Guatemala
CARE GUATEMALA Guatemala
CARE HONDURAS
Honduras
CARE HONDURAS
Honduras
CARE HONDURAS
Honduras
Fundación Terán
Nicaragua
CARE NICARAGUA Nicaragua
CARE NICARAGUA Nicaragua
CARE PERU
Perú
CARE PERU
Perú
CARE PERU
Perú
CARE UK
UK
CARE UK
UK
CARE USA (Boston) USA
31
Maurissen, Stéphanie
smaurissen@care.org
CARE USA (Atlanta)
USA
32
APPENDIX 2
SEQUENCE OF PRESENTATIONS
Monday 22 May
In the morning:
1.1. Conceptual Framework, CIUK
1.2 Kenya Conference Conclusions, CIUK
1.3. Toolbox, CIUK
1.4. PSP in LAC y PPA-ALC Project, CIUK & DFID
In the afternoon:
1.5. PSP Strategies, CARE Ecuador
2.1. Due Diligence, CIUSA
3.1. SINERGIA Project, IADB in El Salvador
Tuesday 23 May
In the morning:
3.2. VEGCARE, CARE Kenya, CIUK
3.3. Making Markets Work for the Poor, DFID in Bolivia
6.1. Grupo Terán and Fundación Terán, Nicaragua
In the afternoon:
3.4. FORESTRADE – Coffee, CARE Guatemala
3.5. PROEXPORT – Coffee, CARE Honduras
3.6. PROMESA – Amazonian fruit, CARE Ecuador
3.7. Amazonian cocoa project, CARE Brazil
3.8. Alliance among artichoke producers, CARE Peru
3.9. Milk producers, CARE Bolivia
3.10. Milk producers, CARE El Salvador
3.11. Fish and natural dyes, CARE Peru
Wednesday 24 May
In the morning:
6.2. Ethos Institute, Brazil
6.3. Social & Environmental Responsibility, AMANCO El Salvador
3.12. Several PSPs with CARE Brazil
In the afternoon:
5.1. SOY, Eradication of child labor, CARE Ecuador
5.2. ALCOMBAT, Fight against HIV/AIDS, CARE Honduras
5.3. Community relations and the mining industry, CARE Peru
5.4. “Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Campaign”, CIUK
7.1. Alliances for knowledge management, El Salvador
33
Thursday 25 May
In the morning:
1.6. Revenue-Generating Enterprises (RGEs) for NGOs,
CARE Central America
4.1. Rural Sales Program (RSP), Bangladesh, CIUK
4.2. WSUP
6.4. Amazonia Gas, Ecuador
In the afternoon:
4.3. Water and Sewage, CARE Perú, El Salvador y USA
2.2. Sector review – Oil and Gas Industry, CIUSA
Friday 26 May
In the morning:
7.2 Strategy for knowledge and learning on PSP in LAC
34
APPENDIX 3
SUMMARIES OF SECTION 3 PRESENTATIONS EXPERIENCES WITH ACCESS TO MARKETS FOR PRODUCERS
3.1. SINERGIA Project. IADB in El Salvador
The SINERGIA project in El Salvador is aimed at encouraging CSR through
companies’ support for the development of small producers. It offers incentives
for Co-Financing Entities (CFEs) to participate on a 1:1 basis with IADB funds.
Benefits for these CFEs include publicity, new suppliers, making their CSR
more visible and opening new markets.
The lessons that the IADB has learned from the project include: (i) that it is
mistake to go to very large corporations and not support CSR in medium-sized
and smaller firms; (ii) that private partners do not necessarily have to be
companies: they can, more generally, be private entities of any sort including,
for example, groups of emigrés; (iii) that there is a high demand for this kind of
project; (iv) that corporate support for dissemination, infrastructure design and
other aspects, not just financing, is very important; (v) small producers require
permanent support.
3.2. VEGCARE, CARE Kenya and CIUK
The project promotes access to export markets in the United Kingdom for small
vegetable producers in Kenya. EGCARE is a joint venture owned 70% by
VEGPRO, a private company that exports vegetables to the UK from Kenya,
and 30% by CARE.
CARE’s role: Facilitator, honest broker assumes credit risks before VEGPRO.
Results: Access to markets has been gained, although VEGCARE has not shown
a profit yet. There have also been difficulties including shortfalls or rejection of
produce, commitments not honored by producers, too many producers and high
personnel rotation.
Principal lessons learned: The company’s and CARE’s interests need not be the
same: as in this case, they can be convergent or complementary.
3.3. Making Markets Work for the Poor, DFID in Bolivia
Through this project, DFID seeks to facilitate the insertion of poor producers in
markets. The project was developed among three main components: the Bolivian
System for Productivity and (Sistema Boliviano de Productividad y
35
Competitividad, SBPC), a Bolivian Government program for developing publicprivate alliances for establishment of public policies that, among other things,
can help reduce poverty; the Committee for Small Producer Coordination
(Comité de Enlace de Pequeños Productores, CE), an organization that
represents small-scale economic actors; and PRORURAL, an NGO. 7 small
producers’ businesses were financed, especially for participation in sales to the
Government. The main results have been making small producers more visible
and positioning better for exerting an influence on the formulation of political
programs. The main question now being faced is whether the project will be able
to continue without DFID acting as facilitator.
The presentation also put forth the Latin American Markets & International
Trade (LAMIT) strategy to which DFID has assigned US$ 12 million for 4 years
with the challenge of influencing the IFIs and improve the World Bank’s and the
IADB’s capacity to design projects that will allow greater market access for poor
producers.
3.4. FORESTRADE, CARE Guatemala
This project is aimed at eliminating so-called ‘coyote’ intermediaries and
improving the quality of coffee, in both cases in order to improve values
received by the producers.
Main actors: 310 producers of organic coffee in 7 peasant communities in
Guatemala, joined together in an association called APROCODE;
FORESTRADE, Inc., a private exporter of organic agricultural products; and
CARE Guatemala.
CARE’s role: Financed technical assistance and training for the producers aimed
at improving quality and increasing production volumes.
Role of the private company: Financed the cost of organic certification and of
technical assistance for certification and harvesting.
Main results: Better-quality product, higher volumes, producers now sell a
processed good, not coffee beans, no longer incur the losses that ‘coyote’
intermediaries caused and are receiving a premium of about 20% over local
market prices.
3.5. PROEXPORT, CARE Honduras with CARE Canada
The project aims to facilitate access to the Canadian market for coffee produced
by poor communities in Western Honduras, shrinking the intermediation chain
and strengthening the producers’ capacities in order to improve their income.
Main actors: peasant production companies, Santa Barbara Municipal
36
Government, private coffee exporting company, Honduras Coffee Institute,
Canadian coffee importers, Canadian coffee distributor, banks that financed
coffee purchases and sales, CARE Honduras and CARE Canada.
CARE’s role: Community organization, training peasants in business
procedures, technical assistance, arranging funding for acquisition of machinery
and equipment for coffee processing, facilitation of relationships between the
producers and the private companies, search for new markets.
Results: 50 containers (1.9 million pounds) of high quality coffee exported to the
Canadian market; price to producers improved by 32%; generation of 60 new
jobs in the communities; the peasant company manages the entire business; Café
San Luis registered as a trademark in Canada.
Principal lessons learned: It is important to understand the complexity of the
business, to design and implement business plans and administrative systems,
structure the community organization and socialize results of all business deals
at every level of the community.
3.6. PROMESA, CARE Ecuador
PROMESA means Promotion of Equitable and Associative Markets with
Solidarity. The project promotes access to markets for Amazonian native fruits
cultivated by 3 different indigenous ethnic groups in the Upano River Valley in
Ecuador’s Amazonia.
Main actors: the community, CARE, a private company called CAMARI that
operates a chain of so-called ‘peasant stores’ in several cities in Ecuador, the
Fair Trade Labeling Organization (FLO) and as a source of financing, the
Innocent Foundation with which contact was made through CIUK.
CARE’s role: Facilitation of relations among the project actors and training of
producers.
Main lessons learned: The dynamics and rhythms of the communities and of
private companies are fundamentally different: Appropriation of new ideas is
slow and difficult.
3.7. Amazonian cocoa project, CARE Brazil
Promotes access to permanent markets in Brazil for marginal cocoa producers
on the banks of the Amazon River. Project objectives in addition include
training the production chain, organizing production, marketing and sales,
defending the rights of poor producers, sensitizing corporate employees to
CARE’s causes and involving corporate experts.
37
Main actors: Producer families, community organizations, producer associations,
Cargill Foundation that donated US$ 250 thousand to develop the project over 3
years, Cargill do Brazil that will acquire the producers’ cocoa at better prices
than those offered by intermediaries and has offered to create a new brand of
river-bank coffee that is of better quality than other varieties.
CARE’s role: Project coordination, in response to an invitation from Cargill
Foundation to participate in it.
Main lessons learned: It is too soon to be able to derive these, as the project’s
potential is only now being assessed.
3.8. Alliance among artichoke producers, CARE Peru:
The project has promoted the introduction of a new crop, artichokes, into the
mountains of the Department of Ancash in Peru, that has reached very
substantial volumes of exportable production and the location in the region of a
processing plant by the private company with which the PSP was set up. The
project was born of CARE’s initiative originating from concern for food
security. CARE analyzed a number of options and chose artichokes on the basis
of a systematic analysis of unsatisfied demands on the world market, production
possibilities in Peru and seasonality of supply that generates a particularly
interesting market opportunity. It then worked with non-poor families to perform
initial validation and demonstrations.
Main actors: The producers, the local government, CARE, DANPER, a private
company that is a major Peruvian exporter of agricultural products, new
enterprises formed by young professionals to provide technical assistance and
are providing the project with sustainability in the longer term.
The incentives for DANPER include a good product that broadens its business
base. The processing plant it has established in Ancash reduces costs for
DANPER and has improved the price it is paying the producers.
Initial results: Important improvement in the producers’ economies, both in
terms of increased income and in terms of revaluation of their land, and
enormous increase in artichoke exports from Peru.
Main lesson s learned: The importance of local government for purposes of
convoking the community, of identifying the specific interests of the private
company, of working with the non-poor for validation and demonstrations, and
of training young professional entrepreneurs who can take on technical
assistance roles.
Main difficulties: Access to credit, for which reason the next step in the project
is to seek ways of providing risk capital.
38
3.9. Milk producers, CARE Bolivia:
Coherent with CARE Bolivia’s strategic objective of contributing to a 33%
reduction of poverty in the country by 2015, the project seeks to improve access
to markets for the production chain of milk and its derivatives, especially cheese
produced by artisans, by encouraging a vision of production oriented towards
markets and not just for purposes of subsistence.
Main actors: Bolivia’s National Agricultural Sanitation and Healthy Food
Service (SENASAG); San Francisco Xavier University’s Institute for Food
Technology (ITA), the Azurduy Municipal Government and CARE Bolivia. No
PSP is currently involved.
CARE’s role: Implement a systematic training and Technical Assistance process
for improving production processes, strengthen the business organizations in
administration, accounting, finance and marketing and support the establishment
of distribution systems.
3.10. Milk producers, CARE El Salvador:
This project aims to facilitate market access for sustainable dairy farming in El
Salvador.
Main actors: The IADB through its SINERGIA project (please see presentation
3.1 above); milk producers’ and milk processors’ associations (PROLECHEASILECHE); two private companies Sucesores Luís Torres & Co. (Petacones),
and AGROSANIA SA de CV (San Julian); el Salvador’s Ministry of
Agriculture, including its Centers for Agribusiness administered by CARE; the
NGO FUNDEMAS; and CARE El Salvador.
Main impacts: Access to formal markets for small dairy producers in the region;
technical training and strengthening of the managerial capabilities of those small
producers; strengthening of the sector’s social organizations; improvement of
family incomes and increased employment.
3.11. Fish and natural dyes, CARE Peru
The project seeks to contribute to reducing poverty through the generation of
new income and sustainable employment with an approach that starts from
identifying demand and then, with the support of private companies, develop an
entrepreneurial vision that generates value added along the production chain.
CARE’s role: Through its Centers for Economic Services or Business Promotion
Offices, CARE seeks to identify market demands within or outside the country,
inform the economic agents in the region about these, help generate mutual
confidence so they decide to do business with one another, channel Technical
Assistance to improve product quality, process and business competitiveness and
39
support the start-up of business for small producers and suppliers.
Two such projects presented in the Conference were (i) the articulation between
small trout producers and Piscifactoría Los Andes, an exporting company and
(ii) the articulation between 450 small producers and gatherers of natural dyes
and AICACOLOR, another exporting company.
Results: US$ 1.5 million in trout exports of trout to Europe and the US and US$
2.7 million in natural dyes exports to the US, Japan and Brazil.
Lessons learned: Think more in terms of market incentives that in resource
programming; the point of entry is business opportunities, not sectors or
products; large and small companies are potential allies, not rivals.
3.12. Several PSPs with CARE Brazil
CARE Brazil is a Brazilian since 2001 that seeks to play a catalytic role with a
territorial focus that sees that private companies are essential for the construction
of sustainable poverty-reduction practices because, in addition to material
resources, they have the necessary knowledge, experience and human resources.
CARE Brazil seeks to enter into partnerships with companies that are publicly
committed to CSR as promoted by the Ethos Institute, Gife and other similar
institutions, recognized as models, the business activities of which allow for
significant impacts and that are located in the areas in which CARE works.
Institutional partnerships have been established with companies that contribute
to developing work strategies (3 companies) marketing (4 companies), media
(73 companies), events (3 companies) operations (3 companies) and programs
that include support for market access for small producers (Carrefour, J.P.
Morgan Bank, O Dia newspaper, Cisco Systems).
In general, the experience demonstrates a wide variety of partnership
possibilities with a variety of specific purposes, all within the general framework
of supporting the fight against poverty in Brazil.
40
APPENDIX 4
SUMMARIES OF SECTION 4 PRESENTATIONS EXPERIENCES WITH ACCESS TO MARKETS FOR PRODUCERS
4.1. Rural Sales Programme (RSP), Bangladesh (CIUK)
Framed in Prahalad’s “base of the pyramid” concept, the Rural Sales Programme or RSP
seeks to act as a catalyst for partnerships between private companies and women in rural
sectors who are interested in participating, who become salespersons in their communities,
in order to improve the women’s incomes and expand the companies’ markets. The
companies give the women 30 days’ credit and they earn a 17% commission on sales
(which is the same as that earned by its other sales personnel) and have a 5% discount on
retail prices. In addition, CARE receives a 4.75% commission.
Main actors in the project besides the poor women involved: Bata Shoe, multinational shoe
manufacturer, Unilever, multinational manufacturer of hygiene and beauty products and
CARE Bangladesh.
4.2. WSUP, CIUK
Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor, WSUP was born as a new NGO that is a multisector pro-poor partnership committed to promoting and water and sewage services and to
making them available to poor urban areas in sustainable, equitable and inexpensive
advising governments and jointly implementing water and sewage projects.
Main actors: 4 NGOs, CARE International, Water Aid, World Wide Fund (WWF) and
Water for People; 3 companies, Halcrow (engineering firm), RWE Thames Water and
Unilever (hygiene y other products); Cranfield University and the UNPD as an official
observer.
The project provides the private sector with a learning opportunity that allows
complementing its capabilities with those of NGOs that know how to work with
communities on social and environmental problems. Besides, it can improve its reputation,
motivate its personnel and develop new business.
WSUP is particularly important in Latin America because 77.8% of the region’s
population (429 million people) live in urban areas, 58 cities in the region have over 750
thousand inhabitants and 50 have over 1 million.
4.3. Water and sewage, CARE Peru, El Salvador and USA
This joint project developed by CARE in 3 countries was born of the idea of formulating
strategies on the regional, not just the country level to improve the quality of the lives of
41
the poor by making water available on an equitable, sustainable and integral basis through
partnership with AMANCO, a private company, and expanding on experience already had
in Peru and El Salvador with trusts for administration of funding.
Main actors in 28 projects under REHASER, a rural waterworks rehabilitation project in
Peru: community civil associations that administer water ad sewage systems in rural areas;
EDYFICAR, a private financial institution that grants credit to micro- and small enterprise;
private contractors, independent builders, the municipal governments CARE Peru.
CARE’s role: Facilitation, technical advisory services, promotion, supervision, provision
of materials and training.
Accomplishments: Validation of an innovative model for provision of basic services in
rural areas; development of a credit-using culture for access to these services;
strengthening of communal capacity to organize and manage water services.
42
APPENDIX 5
SUMMARY OF SECTION 5 PRESENTATIONS EXPERIENCE WITH OTHER KINDS OF CSR PROJECTS
5.1. SOY, CARE Ecuador
The project aims to eradicate child labor through the generation of educational
propositions and models in strategic alliance with various private sector actors and local
governments.
Main project activities consist of (i) continuing to strengthen school improvement plans
through teacher training, equipping schools, education through the arts and school
governance that provides incentives for students to remain in school; (ii) a market study for
identification of professional opportunities within the local production chains; (iii)
establishment of technical training centers for adolescents in the communities.
Main actors: Catholic Relief Services (USA), Ecuador’s Catholic Episcopal Conference,
Save the Children (UK), the Wong Foundation (created by one of Ecuador’s main business
groups) y CARE Ecuador.
5.2 ALCOMBAT, Fight against HIV/AIDS, CARE Honduras
The project attempts to apply the ILO’s 2001 “Repertoire of Recommendations regarding
HIV/AIDS in the Workplace” in the specific context of assembly companies located in the
tax-exempt Industrial Processing Zones in Northern Honduras. Actions include (i) general
sensitizing campaigns regarding HIV/AIDS aimed at generating responsible behaviour that
can reduce risks and improve access to advisory services, and (ii) campaigns with the
companies’ managers to alert them to HIV/AIDs’s consequences for their production, costs
and productivity.
Main actors: 9 private companies in the Buena Vista Industrial Processing Zone and CARE
Honduras, in coordination with the Honduran Labor Ministry and Spain’s Médicos del
Mundo
Results: 7 day-long Sensitizing Seminars were carried out in each of the 9 companies
through different media; informational materials were developed; and training was done in
other companies.
Lessons learned: The subject of HIV/AIDS can easily be addressed within the general
framework of health and occupational safety; corporate management display the necessary
perception and commitment when they recognize the HIV/AIDS is a threat to their
production processes in the medium and longer terms.
43
5.3. Community relations and the mining industry, CARE Peru:
The project originates in recognition of the fact that although mining contributes 51% of
Peru’s exports and 6% of GDP, it has not been able to reduce poverty indices and instead
brings with it a series of social and environmental problems.
The project was the initiative of two mining companies, Empresa Minera Yanacocha and
Antamina that asked CARE to help them solve several problems that had been caused by a
poor strategy of engagement with local actors and the local population at the start of their
operations and by the funding of “development projects” for the population to be restful
and for them not to interfere with the mining operations.
Evaluation of the project experience shows (i) interference by the mining companies in
CARE’s interventions, (ii) that the companies were little more than ‘donating agencies’
while CARE Peru was in charge of program execution, (iii) the absence of an institutional
strategy that laid down guidelines for engagement and action with the private sector.
Lessons learned: The need to generate institutional policies for PSPs; that neutrality allows
for wider action margins; that mutual dependence should be avoided; the need to work
with transparency in contexts that are susceptible to conflicts between the community and
the companies.
5.4.
“Publish What You Pay (PWYP)” campaign, CARE UK
Publish What You Pay or PWYP is a coalition of more that 300 organizations worldwide
including CARE in US, UK, France and Angola. Its intermediate objective is to increase
transparency in the extractive industries that includes publication of all payments to
governments related to petroleum, gas and mining. Its ultimate objective is to improve the
management of those resources for poverty reduction.
Related to PWYP is the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) launched by
the Government of the United Kingdom that includes the PWYP NGOs, 15 national
Governments, several companies including BP, Shell, Chevron, Rio Tinto and the IFIs that
gather together in each country in which there is the wish to implement the initiative to set
up a calendar for publications.
PWYP’s successes include the mobilization of 300 development NGOs, commitments
contained in the World Bank’s Extractive Industries report, the fact that many companies
are already publishing their payments in each country in which they operate, the creation
of EITI and significant advances in countries Nigeria y Azerbaijan.
Difficulties include the exclusion of civil society from certain meetings and conferences,
arrest and intimidation of come members, lack of financial and technical support.
APPENDIX 6
44
SUMMARIES OF SECTION 6 PRESENTATIONS CSR FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR
6.1. CSR Strategy of Grupo Terán and Fundación Terán, Nicaragua
The presentation suggests that a fundamental paradigm shift is taking place in Nicaragua’s
private sector, moving from Milton Friedman’s view that a company’s only objective must
be the generation of profit to a vision oriented towards CSR, not as a fad but as a new
policy culture based on companies’ wish to assume responsibility not only for what they
do but also for what they fail to do. This new way of thinking has borne fruit in the
creation of UNIRSE, the Nicaraguan Union for CSR that seeks to convince large and
medium-sized companies that tend to see CSR as a cost, not as an investment.
6.2. Ethos Institute, Brazil
The mission of the Ethos Institute is to mobilize, sensitize and help companies carry out
their businesses in a socially responsible manner by becoming partners in the construction
of a more prosperous and just society. The Institute works with over 1,100 companies of
all sizes – micro, small, medium and large.
The Institute’s actions are based on an analysis of social sustainability that shows the
following essential problems: unsustainable and predatory use of natural resources; high
rates of income transfers towards greater concentration and lesser distribution of wealth;
lower participation of labor in productive processes; growing social exclusion; and
inefficient and inappropriate management of public resources.
The Ethos Institute seeks to help companies act in a socially responsible manner through
implementation of its CSR Charter; implementation of good corporate governance;
improvement of dialogue with those affected by company activities; improvement of
participatory management; systematic fight against public and private corruption; and
planning and implementation of improved management processes. In addition, the Institute
publishes and promotes the use of various management tools including a Guide to
Preparation of a Social Balance Sheet, the Ethos 2005 CSR Indicators, the Ethos Indicators
and the Global Pact and its Practice Bank.
The Institute also works with a variety of incentives including the Ethos Prizes for Value,
for Social Balance Sheets and for Journalists; it participates in a number of sustainable
networks amongst institutions dedicated to similar ends including the Enterprise Forum,
the Capoava Alliance, Combating Inequality and Poverty, the Social Technology Network,
the National Pact for Eradication of Slave Labor, Corporate Forum for Support of
Municipal Governments, the 1 Million Water Tanks Project, the Interethos Program and
the Corporate Pact for Integrity and Against Corruption.
6.3. Social and Environmental Responsibility, AMANCO Group, El Salvador
45
The AMANCO-NUEVA group of companies headquartered in Brazil operates in 17
countries in the American Continent, employs 13,000 people, invoices US$ 1 billion per
annum, has US$ 2.4 billion in assets and is therefore one of Latin America’s major
corporate groups. The group has 3 major strategic objectives that are pursued
simultaneously: economic success, responsible use of natural resources and CSR. Its socalled “integral concept” consists of (1) being a profitable enterprise (2) business ethics
and compliance with competition, property, intellectual and other legal frameworks, (3)
adequate compensation of its workers, non discrimination, no child labor, freedom of
association and safe workplaces; (4) responsibility towards the natural environment; (5)
philanthropic support of the community; (6) social responsibility in its business dealings
with its clients, suppliers and contractors; (7) respectful, mutually beneficial relations with
neighboring communities and other social actors.
The ways in which AMANCO manifests its CSR include: leadership in the water sector,
promoting innovative solutions; promotion of transparency in the water sector and
inclusive business practices in quest of what it describes as “Social License to Operate”
and the attainment of the so-called “Triple Bottom Line – Economic Values, Social Value
and Environmental Value.
In order to objectify its social and environmental actions, and in addition to its financial
reports, AMANCO publishes an annual Sustainability Report that seeks to provide
transparency and accountability to its interested public.
The lessons that AMANCO has learned from its involvement with CSR include: the fact
that there is no universal recipe, that CSR must be an integral part of corporate
management, that dialogue with interested parties (clients, suppliers, neighbors, etc) is
essential, that all members of a company’s personnel are the protagonists of CSR, that top
management support and commitment are essential, that CSR’s economic importance must
be recognized by way of generating brand loyalty, and that measurement and reporting of
sustainability indicators a (“Sustainability Scorecard”) are critical.
6.4. Amazonia Gas, Ecuador
Amazonia Gas is a company wholly owner by the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples in
Ecuadorian Amazonia (CONFENIAE) incorporated to recover gas produced in the Sacha
oilfields in Orellana Province in Ecuador’s Amazonia, that is currently burned off and
wasted. After incorporation of Amazonia Gas, alliances were formed with Keyano Pimee,
a corporation owned by Native American communities in Canada and with the Canadian
Commercial Corporation, CCC. Later on, ENCANA, a private corporation became a
potential partner and investor that, in addition, was expected to lend CONFENIAE the
funds that it needed to participate in Amazonia Gas.
The project has not come to fruition because the various ethnic groups that make up
CONFENIAE have been unable to reach an agreement regarding the eventual distribution
of the project’s expected profits.
46
Appendix 7: Results of self-evaluation exercise with regard to Knowledge Management
DONDE ESTAMOS
ALINEAMIENTO
ESTRATEGICO
ECUADOR
SALVADOR
PERU
HONDURAS
GUATEMALA
NICARAGUA
BOLIVIA
BRASIL
CENAM
LARMU
COMPORTAMIENTOS
ADMINISTRATIVOS
2
3
2
3
2
2
2
3
2
4
MECANISMOS DE
COLABORACION
PROCESOS DE
APRENDIZAJE
3
3
1
4
2
2
2
2
3
3
2
3
3
4
2
3
2
2
2
2
MECANISMOS DE
COLABORACION
PROCESOS DE
APRENDIZAJE
3
4
4
4
4
4
2
5
4
4
3
4
4
4
4
4
2
4
3
3
MECANISMOS DE
COLABORACION
PROCESOS DE
APRENDIZAJE
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
4
3
3
CAPTURA Y
ALMACENAJE
DE
INFORMACION
2
3
3
3
2
3
3
2
2
2
DONDE QUEREMOS ESTAR
ALINEAMIENTO
ESTRATEGICO
ECUADOR
SALVADOR
PERU
HONDURAS
GUATEMALA
NICARAGUA
BOLIVIA
BRASIL
CENAM
LARMU
COMPORTAMIENTOS
ADMINISTRATIVOS
3
4
4
4
4
4
3
4
5
5
3
4
5
4
4
4
3
5
5
4
CAPTURA Y
ALMACENAJE
DE
INFORMACION
3
4
4
4
4
4
3
4
3
4
PRIORIDADES
ALINEAMIENTO
ESTRATEGICO
ECUADOR
SALVADOR
PERU
HONDURAS
GUATEMALA
NICARAGUA
BOLIVIA
BRASIL
CENAM
LARMU
COMPORTAMIENTOS
ADMINISTRATIVOS
CAPTURA Y
ALMACENAJE
DE
INFORMACION
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
47
WHERE WE WISH TO BE
7
6
ECUADOR
5
SALVADOR
PERU
HONDURAS
4
GUATEMALA
NICARAGUA
3
BOLIVIA
BRASIL
CENAM
2
LARMU
1
0
ALINEAM IENTO
ESTRATEGICO
COM PORTAM IENTOS
ADM INISTRATIVOS
M ECANISM OS DE
COLABORACION
PROCESOS DE
APRENDIZAJE
CAPTURA Y
ALM ACENAJE DE
INFORM ACION
48