African Views Organization - Corporate Social Responsibility

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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

CSR is an evolving business practice that incorporates codes of professional standards and ethical conduct in ensuring the achievement of the global sustainable development goals into a company's business model.

CSR is for all businesses and private and public institutions to prioritize self-regulation, maintain professional conduct and ethical standard within the work environment, and respect and fairness in dealing with colleagues, clients, and the public. Consequently, understanding the benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to the corporation increases the SDGs' chances by 2030.

Bottom lines:

National and international indexes have been created to assess companies against a corporate social responsibility framework. Inclusion on an index in this guide is based on the level of performance with respect to sustainability.

Since 1999, the 100 Best Corporate Citizens has ranked the 1,000 largest U.S. companies for outstanding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure and performance.

Corporations actively engaged in sustainability efforts are setting an excellent example for integrating the triple-bottom-line of people, planet, and profit.

In 2019, 128 companies were recognized for exemplifying and advancing corporate citizenship, transparency, and integrity standards. The honorees span 21 countries and 50 industries. They include 16 first-time honorees and eight companies that have been named to the list every year since 2007.

Corporate responsibility programs are a great way to reduce sexual harassment and raise morale in the workplace.

Animated Map: An Economic Forecast for the COVID-19 RecoveryThe global economy is projected to contract by 3% in 2020, followed by 5.8% growth in 2021. This animated map shows a country-level economic forecast.

CSR Indices

National and international indexes have been created to assess companies against a corporate social responsibility framework. Inclusion on an index in this guide is based on level of performance with respect to sustainability.

Jantzi Social Index
Launched by Jantzi Research in partnership with Dow Jones, this index consists of 60 Canadian companies that pass a set of broadly based environmental, social, and governance rating criteria.

Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes
(Open Access)
A collection of indexes that track the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide.
The indexes include the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, which covers the top 10% of the biggest 2,500 companies in the Dow Jones World Index in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria and the Dow Jones STOXX Sustainability Index, which covers the leading 20% in terms of sustainability of the companies in the Dow Jones STOXX SM 600 Index.

S&P/TSX Renewable Energy and Clean Technology Index
"The S&P/TSX Renewable Energy and Clean Technology Index measures performance of companies listed on the TSX whose core business is the development of green technologies and sustainable infrastructure solutions."

FTSE4GOOD Index Series
(Open Access)
This family of global and regional indices was developed by the Financial Times Stock Exchange in association with the Ethical Investment Research Service to track companies that exhibit good policy, management and performance with respect to CSR.

Environmental Performance Index (Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy)
Countries are ranked on environmental performance. The analysis centers on two overarching environmental objectives: 1) reducing environmental stresses on human health and 2) promoting ecosystem vitality and sound natural resource management.

United Nations Global Compact
The world’s largest corporate citizenship initiative encourages businesses around the world to align their strategies and operations with ten universally accepted principles related to human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption. Access company sustainability reports, case stories and communication on progress reports.

Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency International)
Transparency International is a global coalition against corruption. This index scores countries on how corrupt their public sectors are seen to be.

Board Shareholder Confidence Index
The David & Sharon Johnston Centre for Corporate Governance Innovation, at U of T Rotman, produces a series of board ratings, focusing on three key areas: Board Shareholder Confidence Index, The Long View, and Corporate Governance in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises.

African Views technical, scientific, and cultural research, analysis, reports, and public engagement on Corporate Social Responsibility

Millennium Development Goals: Progress and Challenges In 2000, 189 nations made a promise to free people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations. This pledge became the eight Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015. The MDGs provide a framework for the entire UN system to work coherently together toward a common end. UNDP, global development network on the ground in 177 countries and territories, is in a unique position to advocate for change, connect countries to knowledge and resources, and coordinate broader efforts at the country level. In September 2010, the world recommitted itself to accelerate progress towards these goals. The declaration established eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and time-bound targets by which progress can be measured. With the 2015 deadline looming, how much progress has been made? And is the pace of progress sufficient to achieve the goals? The MDGs break down into 21 quantifiable targets that are measured by 60 indicators. In our inaugural episode we hope to give a brief over view of the progress and challenges made from the year 2000- 2005 and focus on Sub Saharan Africa to review the progress made with reference to MDGs 1 and 4 . Join us as we explore this very important topic on MDGs.

Safety Rules at Work Places: Who enforces them? Workplace Safety and health laws establish regulations designed to eliminate personal injuries and illnesses from occurring in the workplace. Workplace safety refers to the working environment at a company and encompasses all factors that impact the safety, health, and well-being of its employees; this covers managers, supervisors, partners, stockholders, officers, and family members of the workers. It does not cover independent contractors or family members of a farm operator. Safety violations can include environmental hazards, unsafe working conditions or processes, drug and alcohol abuse, and workplace violence. What types of rules are regulations are in place in Africa, how effective are they and who enforces them domestically? Join us as we explore this very important topic on African Health Dialogue

AQUATIC POLLUTION Aquatic pollution occurs when a body of water – rivers and seas - is adversely affected due to the addition of large amounts of foreign materials to the water. The sources of water pollution are categorized as being a point source or a non-source point of pollution. Point sources of pollution occur when the polluting substance is emitted directly into the waterway. A pipe spewing toxic chemicals directly into a river is an example. A non-point source occurs when there is runoff of pollutants into a waterway, for instance when fertilizer from a field is carried into a stream by surface runoff. There are a few types of aquatic pollution: Toxic; Organic; thermal; ecological If it is toxic it could be source from a chemical plant spewing into water bodies toxic materials. They could be insecticides, herbicides and industrial compounds. Organic pollution emanates from material like fertilizers and decomposers that use a lot of oxygen from the water bodies. Thermal pollutants could be water recycled after being used as plant coolants and can contribute to lowering of oxygen levels in the water bodies. Ecological pollution when the three pollutants of organic, thermal and toxic combine to pollute water bodies.

COUNTERFEIT AND SUBSTANDARD DRUGS IN AFRICA Counterfeit and substandard drugs have been a major problem in developing countries especially in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) began collecting information on counterfeit drugs in the 1980s and over the past 30 years, as counterfeit technology has advanced, so have the number of counterfeit and substandard drugs on the world market. Counterfeit medicines are defined by the WHO as those that are "deliberately or fraudulently mislabeled as to their source." The products can include incorrect ingredients, may misstate the amount of the active ingredients, or are manufactured under circumstances that lack quality control. Current estimates suggest that 10 percent of prescription drugs worldwide are counterfeit, contaminated, or fake. The problem is even more dire in Africa, where some countries report that 30 to 50 percent of all prescription and over-the-counter medicines sold to consumers are counterfeits. While the issue of counterfeit drugs has long been treated as a criminal matter of intellectual property infringement, this view has often obscured what is in fact a public health crisis. Counterfeit and substandard pharmaceuticals are not just duping consumers and eroding profits of genuine drugs, they are taking lives. The WHO estimates that one fifth of global malaria deaths each year are a result of the use of fake drugs. We will explore ways to address this issue and how various strategies such as anti counterfeiting technology is used in the fight against counterfeit and substandard drugs. We will also look at various regulatory enforcement measures taking by government agencies, public sector organizations and private enterprises to increase the quality of life saving medicines coming into Africa and other underserved/resource poor communities around the world.