The role of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in guiding CSR and SMEs 1/2
The past three years have shown remarkable activity in CSR projects at the local and global level with regard to sustainability and globalization and adoption of issues such as poverty, environment, health, climate change, human rights and assistance in the event of multiple natural disasters.
Since the implementation of the 17 goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development Plan and its 169 goals adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at a historic United Nations summit, some companies have taken different approaches to support these issues to maintain their share of markets. Companies must take a proactive role in leading social and environmental changes. The millennium generation (born after the mid-1990s) is now entering the labor market and consumer market in large numbers – representing 40 per cent of all consumers worldwide by 2020 – demanding better and easier to use technology, greater flexibility and transparency and greater degrees of equal opportunity in place Work and provide clean energy at reasonable prices. In addition, they are particularly interested in seeing companies deal with the three dimensions of sustainable development – the economic, social and environmental dimensions.
At the governmental level, the work program of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain for the years 2019-2022 includes nine general objectives which the Government hopes to achieve during the four years through three priorities: strengthening the basic constants of the State and society, financial sustainability and economic development, Supporting sustainable development.
However, as the business community becomes more complex and calls are made to urge companies to take greater care of corporate ethics and community roles, many corporate leaders and social responsibility professionals face greater responsibility to keep pace with changes and best practices in governance and accountability.
Through my work as a volunteer program manager for one of the youth associations since 2013, I have been very interested in how many large private sector companies in Bahrain have channeled their budget for community responsibility programs to charitable activities and activities that achieve short-term goals instead of directing them to development projects that contribute to Term solutions that enhance the value of the company to the consumer and directly contribute to achieving some of the 17 goals of the sustainable development plan.
In this context, I personally find that one of the most important and important opportunities that companies can contribute to is to adopt a number of goals within their program of responsibility – a process that may last ten years – and to cooperate with civil society organizations working in the same context – Specialized civil society organizations have credibility and responsibility – and provide material support to the implementation of non-traditional programs to upgrade community projects to new levels, while activating this strategy in a balanced and balanced manner, and evaluating and evaluating them through the development of clear, specific and measurable indicators and the necessary reports. At least these companies will be able to achieve the 17th objective of the Sustainable Development Plan (Partnership for Achieving Goals).
The qualification of CSR officers in private sector companies should be a priority for the company and help them gain official corporate CSR and sustainability certification such as those offered by Harvard Business School and the CSR Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
The private sector has the opportunity to contribute to supporting the efforts of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the international community to achieve the objectives of sustainable development and the participation of the countries of the world in the experiences and successful experiences, in order to discuss ways of joint action and develop international solutions.
We will continue to talk about the role of sustainable development goals in guiding projects in the next article.
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