BASPIA English Blog

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) &

Hankyoreh Economic Research Institute (HERI)

Dear BASPIA WORLD English Blog Readers,

We just attended the HERI Sustainability Course last week and I'm happy to report that I am even more enthusiastic about what is going on in Korea.  Not only is SK Telecom really making waves in the area of social enterprise, such as through their lunchbox project, but HERI is also providing a great platform for growing future social leaders in business.  

 

At the event, I was impressed by the student-run group, Nexters, which was formed after some college students attended one of the HERI Sustainability courses.  Nexters just recently went on a trip to India and Bangladesh to learn more about social entrepreneurship and theories about how corporations can help alleviate poverty.

 

CSR is a relatively new sector for South Korean businesses, but HERI is building awareness about it.   After Korea joined Global Compact this past summer, HERI was the first organization to analyze sustainability reports using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines.  (The GRI is a unique, multi-stakeholder organization pursuing consistent, regular and comparable reporting.)

 

I am looking forward to seeing what else happens in the field of human rights, development, and corporate social responsibility.   If you are too, please make use of the various resources listed below as they are freely available on-line.

 

Sincerely yours,
Susan Lee
Project Associate
Organization Development

 

 

For more information about:

• Nexters: http://nexters.org/blog
  
• Global Compact Korea: http://www.unglobalcompact.org/NewsAndEvents/news_archives/2007_09_17.html

• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): http://www.globalreporting.org/AboutGRI/ 

• HERI’s first analysis on 22 local South Korea companies: http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_business/230034.html 
  

On-line Resources about CSR:

• Ethical Corporation:http://www.ethicalcorp.com/
  
• Business and Human Rights Resource Center:  http://www.business-humanrights.org/Home

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Reflections from the World Women’s Forum 2007

The World Women’s Forum was an amazing opportunity to meet women around the world to discuss various issues that encompass our lives in the 21^st century.  I was honored to represent BASPIA at the forum and connect with people on behalf of our cause for harmonizing human rights and development.  While there is so much to say about the three day event, I’d like to highlight two inspiring speeches.

Without a doubt, listening to Nobel Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus was all I had expected it to be—the most inspiring speech.  He spoke of overcoming rejection and ridicule for trying to help poor women in Bangladesh rise out of poverty through small businesses.  He elaborated on stories of reapplying for grants despite several rejections and monitoring (with positive results) the rate of Grameen Bank women rising out of poverty within five years.  Tenacity, perseverance, and keen results-based monitoring were obvious in his success of inspiring a world-wide movement.

A more subtle speech came during the panel, "Women as Catalyst for Peace and Stability."  Ms. Gaby Lasky, a human rights attorney in Israel, mentioned how sitting next to Dr. Mona El-Farra, a Palestinian physician in the Gaza Strip, was not an easy feat to achieve.  Because of the strict border laws between Palestine and Israel, these two famous activists were never able to meet.  It took flying over eight hours to Korea to finally connect with one another.  To me, that highlighted similarities between the activists and vulnerable people working between the North and South Korean border.  North Korea is only 30 minutes away by car, but feels like a world away in our hearts. 

Lasky then reiterated the importance of perseverance, encouraging other human rights activist to continue utilizing UN mechanisms and holding governments accountable.  I cannot describe the exuberance by which she engaged and inspired the listeners.

Hopefully more people will be able to attend the World Women’s Forum next year and also be inspired and challenged to harmonize human rights and sustainable development.

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