EDU on Corporate Engagement & CSR
At CARE Bangladesh, we believe that CSR offers opportunities for greater market access, cost savings,
productivity and innovation to Companies and SMEs, as well as broader social benefits such as income,
education and community development. It is critical that enterprises in Bangladesh are able to go beyond
just compliance based reactive mode to engage in the ongoing development of what effective,
Why CSR:
1. Development challenges are growing in proportion and complications which is why it is necessary
to discover new innovative solutions and explore window after window of opportunity to address
such challenges
2. Collaborative efforts between private sector and development organizations can help avail and
channel valuable resources and skills towards fulfilling development goals
3. A number of development organizations are working with the private sector to practice and
promote CSR- CARE Bangladesh seeks to join in on the act with concerted effort.
appropriate CSR means at all levels. Most importantly CSR offers a Win-Win situation for all- beneficiaries,
CSOs, private sector organizations, donors alike and can tremendously accelerate the process of attaining
development for the disadvantaged.
CARE Bangladesh has been one of the
Vision & Mission for CSR:
leading proponents of CSR practice and
promotion,
through
innumerable
CARE
Bangladesh
envisions
poverty-free,
socioactivities. If not in a direct manner, a
economically flourishing lives for the poor and
close examination of our work should
marginalized.
reveal the significant contributions we
have been making to CSR promotion.
In doing so it intends to create a common platform and
Our most notable contributions have
understanding of local approaches to corporate social
been in the areas of (a) organizing
responsibility; develop pilot interventions with the private
workshops, seminars and participating
sector for the poor and the marginalized, especially women
in discussion forums to contribute to
so that they may participate in and benefit from resultant
contemporary thinking on CSR and
impacts such as improved access to dignified employment,
establishing a common platform for
markets for their products, information and services to
understanding
CSR;
(c)
forging
bolster their economic activities, and technical support for
partnerships with an internationally
their entrepreneurial initiatives.
renowned group of development
practitioners, especially in South Asia, to network and promote CSR and relevant practices with an
integrated regional approach; and (b) developing a handful of insightful interventions that promise
sustainable positive impacts in the lives of marginalized, with some leading local and international private
sector organizations in the country.
In order to promote and learn from modern perceptions surrounding CSR we have:
1. Organized technical training on CSR, and related issues in association with CSR Asia, IBLF, Partners in
Change, Global Reporting Initiative
2. Organized a 2-day workshop titled “Corporate Responsibility & Disclosure, GRI G-3 & the Triple
Bottom Line” to familiarize private sector and development practitioners with the current context and
trends in Corporate Social Responsibility, Triple Bottom-line Reporting (TBL) and guide them through
the stakeholder process required for TBL documentation using the Global Reporting Initiative’s G-3
guidelines, in line with UN Global Compact.
3. Arranged series of workshops titled "Poverty and Business: Bridging the Gap" in association with
private sectors, civil society, leading development practitioners, donors, and local and international
business associations to foster greater understanding of what CSR means and devise ways of building
synergies between all parties concerned.
EDU on Corporate Engagement & CSR
In our efforts to create international alliances on CSR we have:
1. Organized the "Second South Asian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Meet to Promote CSR” from
November 12-14, 2007. This was an assembly of scores of frontline development practitioners in the
region who expressively participated with a common goal of developing a strategic alliance that
would enable regional collaboration and cooperation in carrying forward the benefits of promoting
CSR.
2. Actively participated in South Asian NGO forum on CSR to help develop a CSR Framework for South
Asia and work in partnership with private sector in meeting development challenges. The document
has been published, and is being widely disseminated and recognized across the region.
Finally in developing pilots we have partnered with:
1. Unilever, BATA Shoe Company Ltd.
and Square Toiletries and Consumer
Products Ltd. in the Rural Sales
Program, which is a Bottom of the
Pyramid approach to ensuring income and
entrepreneurial
development
for
marginalized rural women.
2. Grameen Phone (the nation’s largest
telecom service provider) in the Tathya
Tari project, which is targeted at ensuring
basic and livelihoods information and
services for the remote poor, via
construction of boat mounted information
center, equipped with modern technology.
3. GAP Inc. and Timberland Company
USA in two successful social compliance
projects in the RMG sector that seek to
ensure education, awareness and health
services for thousands of marginalized female garment workers in Dhaka and Chittagong.
4. Kik and Creation Pvt. Ltd. in developing the export oriented Home Textile value chain, by
sustainably engaging the marginalized artisans in the supply chain of these companies.
5. BRAC, Rangpur and PRAN Dairies in pro-poor development of the dairy value chain in
Bangladesh as part of a 4 year project titled “Strengthening the Dairy Value Chain in Bangladesh”,
with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USA.
Three point Plan for the Future
1. Create a common platform for understanding and practicing CSR in Bangladesh
2. Network with and participate in major local and international forums
3. Continue to develop sustainable partnerships with value driven private sector organizations under
their CSR scheme to organize pilot projects addressing development issues
We seek a world of hope, tolerance and social justice, where poverty
has been overcome and people live in dignity and security