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UNCTAD, GIZ and BMZ break new ground on Corporate Social Responsibility training for emerging country TNCs

27 September 2012

UNCTAD’s Investment and Enterprise Division, in collaboration with, and with funding from, GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) and BMZ (German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development), has launched a project on responsible business in emerging markets.

Central to the project is a training programme on responsible business for TNC’s, especially those from developing countries. The aim of the course is to facilitate dialogue between peers from developed and developing country firms, as well as companies from transition economies in order to share information and promote best practices for maximizing the development impact of TNCs.

 

The training programme will be based on new concepts and strategies for responsible business globally and will make use of peer learning, expert guidance and executive coaching for CSR professionals from around the world. The target audience for the course are managers with day to day responsibility for environmental, social and governance issues (including human resources, safety and environmental practices). These will include managers that have decision making authority or influence over social and environmental policies and voluntary CSR activities of companies.

The first pilot training will be delivered in March 2013 and will seek to present a model course to be replicated by UNCTAD in the future. The ultimate aim of the programme is to create a global focal point for capacity building in the area of corporate responsibility in emerging markets at UNCTAD.

In anticipation of the pilot training course, UNCTAD is conducting a market and needs analysis of executive management courses within CSR. This research will be used to tailor the course to participant needs and develop the ground-breaking program. 

The collaboration with GIZ and BMZ arises out of an established record of work on CSR issues within UNCTAD’s Investment and Enterprise Division. Building on the Accra Accord (paragraph 152) UNCTAD has been extensively involved in research and analyses of voluntary enterprise practices on corporate social responsibility. This includes research provided in a 2011 Report to the G20 and published in UNCTAD’s World Investment Report as well as work on CSR reporting within UNCTAD’s Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR).

The current project also benefits from research by GIZ on the impact of TNCs on sustainable development. The training programme seeks to put this research into practice.