their social responsibility is increasing Geneva, July 4th 2007Companies'
social responsibility is on the increase. This is asserted by nine out of
ten
major companies in the large-scale CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) survey
covering Sweden's 500 largest companies, carried out by the Swedish business
magazine Veckans Affärer and
Save the Children, Sweden, ( view these results here ) . Consequently 68 percent of
them intend to
increase their investment in CSR.The most
important issue is climate (81 percent work with this), followed by being a
good employer (78 percent) and gender equality (51 percent), in addition
one in
three also work with charities in Sweden. In almost
half the companies the CEO is responsible for these issues. Currently, the most
important driving force behind these issues is not
customers (66 percent), but
employees (68 percent). Media (21 percent) and the financial market (21
percent) lag a long way behind as forces for social responsibility. Slightly
more than 63
percent believe that their company can contribute to the
fulfilment of the UN Millennium Development Goals, especially when it comes to poverty,
education and gender equality. However confidence in
politicians to solve these
issues is low within business and industry at around 9 percent. Swedish
youth is even more negative. When Save the Children Sweden recently asked 1500
young people
aged 15-25 at the Internet community "Lunarstorm" if they believe
that all children in the world will go to school in 2015, a vast majority, 61
percent, answered no. "The
survey
confirms that, in principle, CSR issues are pursued by all stakeholders in
business and industry", says Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, the Secretary-General
of Save the Children Sweden, who is
participating at the Global Compact Leaders
Summit. "This means
that they are currently being integrated into core activities at the same time
as investment in social responsibility is
increasing. The results of the survey
show that we have now finally moved from charity to business benefit with
social responsibility. At the same time we are pleasantly surprised about thecompanies' high level of belief that their CSR activities do actually contribute
to the UN Millennium Goals, for example that all children will be able to
attend school by 2015."
The importance of education
Education is
children's chance for a better future.
It can empower children to rebuild their societies. Education can protect
children
during a conflict, help communities heal afterwards, and build peace
and prosperity. No
country has achieved sustained economic growth without attaining near universal
primary education.
Today 77 million children are
out of school. 39 million of them live in conflict affected fragile states
(CAFS). "According to
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, every child
has the right to
education," says
Mr. Barry Clarke, Chair of the International Save the Children Alliance, also
participating at the Summit in Geneva. "Apart from
bringing knowledge,
education also gives children a sense of normality and hope
for the future. In conflict affected fragile states, education contributes to
the creation of stable societies, peace and economic
development.""The Millennium Development Goals are promises made by all world leaders
and should be achieved in 2015. Today, we're half way there, and still the
goals are far
away. Therefore, we are calling on governments, international
agencies and companies to work together to guarantee primary schooling for all children."
Preliminary forums
In
conjunction with the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in Geneva on 5-6 July, the International Save
the Children Alliance is inviting delegates and the media to an informal gathering
to discuss
effective and strategic global partnerships between business and
INGOs. It will be an opportunity to hear about Save the Children's experience
in this field and to meet other delegates to the
summit, before the official
welcome reception hosted by the President of Switzerland. The
event will include short presentations by Mr. Barry Clarke, Chair of International
Save the Children
Alliance, Ms. Cathy Heseltine, Vice President, Marketing and
Category EMEA at Starbucks and Mr. Dave Williams, CEO
of Impact DTG, global leaders in sustainable business, people
development and
cross-sector working.When: 4 July at 5.30 - 7.00 pm Where: St. Gervais at the
Mandarin Oriental Hotel de Rhone, Quai Turrettini 1, Geneva 5
minutes walk
from the venue of the official Global Compact Leaders Summit
welcome reception For more information,
please contact:PetraHallebrant , PR- and Press Officer
Save the Children Sweden
+ 46 70 19
00 777.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
