1. Development of National CSR Agendas
through multi-stakeholder dialogue
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Lyra Jakulevičienė, UNDP LITHUANIA
13-14 October 2008, Prague
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2. Why more active Government involvement in CSR needed?
Countries covered:
Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland, Slovakia and
Turkey.
Situation in the region (Baseline Study on CSR implementation,
2007)
- businesses themselves – supported by local, membership based
business organisations are currently the main agents of change for CSR
- the awareness, ability and organisational power of NGOs to put
pressure on business and government are limited
- the media in the Region is failing to hold corporate actors accountable
for irresponsible business activities
- the direct involvement of Governments across the region is diverse and
systematic government incentives and initiatives for social and
environmental performance are generally missing
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3. National CSR Agendas to accelerate developments
Rationale: when traditional driving factors for CSR are missing,
§
Government policies and actions may stimulate developments
Objective: to coordinate state measures for enabling better
§
environment for companies to engage in CSR (CSR promotion
measures); to set priority actions of Governments for 3-5 years – thus
not a new tool of regulation
Format: no single format – ranging from - Roadmap in Turkey,
§
Stakeholder agreement in Poland to - official government strategy in a
form of national programme in Lithuania and Slovakia
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4. Development of National CSR Agendas: process
Mapping out various
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stakeholders and building their
capacities to implement CSR
CSR peer groups formed from
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government representatives and
stakeholders-allowed to see “all
sides”
Partnership with three
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CSR/Global Compact Networks
in Germany, Spain and UK and
external CSR experts
Multi-stakeholder forums
§
nationally and locally
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5. National CSR Agendas in a multi-stakeholder context
TURKEY - SECTORS POLAND-STAKEHOLDERS
Consultations with 6 main groups
4 CSR peer groups working actively
in the development of Agenda: of CSR stakeholders:
• Business
§ TUSIAD (Turkish Industrialist’s and
• NGOs
Businessmen’s Association) WG
• labour unions
§ CSR Association round table
• Government
§ Textile CSR peer group
• academia
• media
§ PR and Strategic Communication
Companies CSR peer group
BULGARIA – FORMAL GROUP
A multi-stakeholder CSR experts’ group is
MACEDONIA – CSR BODY
appointed by the Order of Deputy Minister
of Labour and Social Policy Coordinative Body on CSR
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6. Development of National CSR Agendas: challenges
The definition of CSR: Often mixed up with PR, charity, philanthropy or
§
ad-hoc initiatives, the CSR concept should be understood and applied
on the basis of common denominator by all national (CSR)
stakeholders.
Lack of capacities of stakeholders
§
Leadership and financial sustainability: Which institution assumes
§
the leading role in the implementation of the National CSR strategy and
Action Plan? How to ensure the financial sustainability of the national
strategy?
Monitoring and Assessment of results: How do we assess the
§
progress?
Promotion and spreading the CSR practices among SMEs: What
§
kind of incentives to be applied? Specific requirements which are less
cumbersome and less expensive in order to be effectively implemented
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7. National CSR Agendas: priorities
Among the priority areas for advancing public policies on CSR the
eight countries recognised:
CSR education and advocacy,
-
support to civil society organisations and capacity development of other
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local stakeholders,
small and medium enterprise (SME) guidance,
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responsible public procurement,
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development of regional CSR reporting standards and impact monitoring
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systems
(Statement of Vilnius Conference on Public CSR Policies, 9
September 2008)
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8. Results so far
Comparable baseline analysis of CSR implementation situation in the
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region mapping the actors in the field of CSR
CSR Agendas in 7 countries as first multi-stakeholder agreements to
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outline vision/ action plan for CSR development. Led to formalized
public CSR policies - provides sustainability for many years to come
Multi-stakeholder forums turned into permanent or formalized
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structures (CSR Coordinative Body in Macedonia, CSR Association in
Bulgaria, CSR Platform in Turkey, etc.) – will allow to continue the
dialogue
Better understanding among stakeholders - working together allowed
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to understand each other concerns better
Cooperation among countries: establishment of knowledge and
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expert sharing platform in the region, a database of good practices, a
joint European masters programme on CSR
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