OSCE's office in Ukraine organizes training seminar on role of business in the community
KHARKIV, 23 June 2006 - An OSCE-led training seminar to show business leaders how they can help strengthen the community opened today in the Eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
The seminar highlights the benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its positive role in community development. It is organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, the European Business Association in Kharkiv and the Kharkiv Rotary Club.
"Studies have shown that young people who leave state orphanages are more vulnerable to being trafficked and other risks," said Hlib Yasnytsky, who is in charge of an OSCE Project Co-ordinator's project to assist Ukrainian orphans. "Providing internships, life-skills and employment opportunities for Ukrainian orphans reduces that risk."
CSR is attracting growing interest in Ukraine as a means of building sustainable communities and assisting the disadvantaged. Recently, more than 30 businesses, associations and civil society organizations launched the Global Compact National Network in Ukraine. The network is part of a United Nations initiative that seeks to promote agreement on essential values in the relationship between businesses and communities.
"The Kharkiv seminar helps businesses understand the benefits available to themselves and their communities through corporate social responsibility," said Alyona Khorol, CSR Committee Co-ordinator for the European Business Association in Ukraine.
"By receiving practical training on how to incorporate CSR into their strategy and planning, Ukrainian companies are learning how their business goals can be aligned with social ones, helping them become what we call 'responsible corporate citizens'", she added.
The seminar concludes a series of CSR training activities organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the OSCE's Economic and Environmental Activities Co-ordinator's office as part of their "Economic Empowerment for Ukrainian Orphans" project. More than 60 young people in Kyiv and Kharkiv have received assistance under the programme.