'Bangladeshi cos should be serious about COP report'
Thursday, 10 December 2009
FE Report
Bangladeshi companies that are signatories to the United Nations Global Compact should be serious about Communication on Progress (COP) report to make their corporate social responsibility activities more visible, experts said Wednesday.
They said this during a training programme on 'Communication on Progress for the UNGC Signatories in Bangladesh' at the conference room of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) in the capital.
Farooq Sobhan, president of BEI, inaugurated the programme, which was conducted by Sara Ballan, an international resource person from Denmark.
BEI Project Director Lopa Rahman and Chief Executive Officer of CSR Centre Shahamin S Zaman also spoke on the occasion.
The objective of the training programme was to make the UN Global Compact (GC) signatories more conversant with the reporting structure of COP (Communication on Progress), which would result in regular submission of report.
Farooq Sobhan said the COP is a critical medium through which the GC participants communicate with the entire GC network and make its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities more visible.
He said participation in the GC and adopting the 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption are absolutely voluntary.
"But COP report is essential in promoting transparency and accountability and it demonstrates the seriousness and commitment of the member organisations that have signed the GC. It is an effective forum of dissemination of best practices," the former ambassador said.
Mr Sobhan said there is a significant number of participants from Bangladesh, but most of them have failed to submit the COP report.
"Inactive participants can no longer attend UNGC events and are not permitted to use their logo. It is not just a simple commitment to the initiative. It means remaining engaged in promoting the principles of compact," he said.
Sara Ballan said the COP report can create value for a company.
"It can also attract customers and investors and helps the companies do risk and opportunities analysis and monitor progress," she said.
"It would meet the buyers' interest as it is a good document to start communication with them." said Sara, also a consultant to the CSR team at the Confederation of Danish Industries.
The international expert acknowledged that there were many barriers to posting COP report such as lack of time, employee turnover, inadequate know-how and fear to communicate.
"But those who fail to make COP report for one year are identified on the UNGC website as a non-communicating participant. And if this continues for two years they are labelled as inactive," she said.
Lopa Rahman said this would promote the commitment of the business entities to the GC and make their activities more visible to the rest of the world.
She said the GC asks the member organisations to uphold the principles within the organisations. "The principles should be applied wherever the participant company is involved."
Bangladeshi companies that are signatories to the United Nations Global Compact should be serious about Communication on Progress (COP) report to make their corporate social responsibility activities more visible, experts said Wednesday.
They said this during a training programme on 'Communication on Progress for the UNGC Signatories in Bangladesh' at the conference room of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) in the capital.
Farooq Sobhan, president of BEI, inaugurated the programme, which was conducted by Sara Ballan, an international resource person from Denmark.
BEI Project Director Lopa Rahman and Chief Executive Officer of CSR Centre Shahamin S Zaman also spoke on the occasion.
The objective of the training programme was to make the UN Global Compact (GC) signatories more conversant with the reporting structure of COP (Communication on Progress), which would result in regular submission of report.
Farooq Sobhan said the COP is a critical medium through which the GC participants communicate with the entire GC network and make its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities more visible.
He said participation in the GC and adopting the 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption are absolutely voluntary.
"But COP report is essential in promoting transparency and accountability and it demonstrates the seriousness and commitment of the member organisations that have signed the GC. It is an effective forum of dissemination of best practices," the former ambassador said.
Mr Sobhan said there is a significant number of participants from Bangladesh, but most of them have failed to submit the COP report.
"Inactive participants can no longer attend UNGC events and are not permitted to use their logo. It is not just a simple commitment to the initiative. It means remaining engaged in promoting the principles of compact," he said.
Sara Ballan said the COP report can create value for a company.
"It can also attract customers and investors and helps the companies do risk and opportunities analysis and monitor progress," she said.
"It would meet the buyers' interest as it is a good document to start communication with them." said Sara, also a consultant to the CSR team at the Confederation of Danish Industries.
The international expert acknowledged that there were many barriers to posting COP report such as lack of time, employee turnover, inadequate know-how and fear to communicate.
"But those who fail to make COP report for one year are identified on the UNGC website as a non-communicating participant. And if this continues for two years they are labelled as inactive," she said.
Lopa Rahman said this would promote the commitment of the business entities to the GC and make their activities more visible to the rest of the world.
She said the GC asks the member organisations to uphold the principles within the organisations. "The principles should be applied wherever the participant company is involved."