Antonio Vives Amy Heinecke Editors September 22, 23, 24 2002 Miami, Florida PROCEEDINGS Edited by Antonio Vives Amy Heinecke The Americas Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility Miami, Florida September 2002 THE AMERICAS CONFERENCE ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY “ALLIANCES FOR DEVELOPMENT” TABLE OF CONTENTS Presentation ii Acknowledgements iii Conference Agenda v Session Summaries Benefits, Impact, and Results of Socially Responsible Business 1 Antonio Vives Partnerships in Local Economic and Community Development 5 Roberto Gutiérrez Partnerships with NGOs and Civil Society 8 Audra Jones Partnerships through the New Philanthropy and Volunteerism 14 Rosa Maria Fischer The Demand Side: Investors and Consumers 16 Adrian Hodges Business as a Role Model for Business: Beyond the Supply Chain 19 Lee Tavis The Role of the Media in Promoting the CSR Agenda 22 Ana Maria Majano Supporting an Enabling Environment for CSR: 24 How Can We Work Together? Errol Mendes The Role of Civil Society Organizations 27 Chris Pinney The Role of Oversight and Accountability Institutions 29 Gabriel Berger and Ezequiel Reficco The Role of Supranational Institutions 32 Amy Heinecke The Future of Corporate Social Responsibility 36 Amy Heinecke Summary of the Americas e-Conference on CSR 41 A Commentary of the Development of CSR in The Americas 52 Adrian Hodges Corporate Citizenship Resources: Readings, 56 References and Web Sites PRESENTATION An increasing number of multinational and local companies based in the Americas have voluntarily undertaken a variety of activities for the improvement of the working and living conditions of the communities. These firms display their social responsibility by engaging in ethical business practices and creating value for their various stakeholders including shareholders, employees, customers, ven- dors, communities, public authorities, NGOs, and the natural environment. CSR practices are diverse and may include the traditional philanthropic programs, support for local charities, cultural and educational activities to a more integrated and comprehensive set of policies and practices linked to the company’s operations. These socially responsible businesses have "a purpose beyond making profit". Their challenge is to achieve the triple-bottom line: obtaining financial results and sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social equity. Their message to various stakeholders with whom they interact is clear: businesses have a crucial role in identifying and promoting sustainable and equitable solutions to key global issues affecting the physical, social, and economic environments. Some busi- nesses have been actively pursuing and expanding their CSR practices for years, and are now experi- encing a range of bottom-line benefits such as improved financial performance, enhancement in their brand image and reputation, increased sales and customer loyalty, increased ability to hire and retain employees, a reduction in regulatory oversight and access to capital. The Americas Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility: "Alliances for Development", held in Miami on September 22-24 2002, focused on illustrative examples of how these businesses are help- ing with the wide array of complex social and economic issues of the region, and the above-men- tioned benefits that these firms obtain. Both traditional and new players were the target audience of this conference. In addition, the conference sought to gather all players to promote a tri-sector col- laboration: businesses, governments, and civil society - to confront and work together in developing solutions for the enormous social and economic challenges that the Americas is facing. The Americas Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility served to increase awareness and advance CSR in the Americas by creating a forum in which to interact, exchange views, share experi- ences and build trust among the various players to work together towards the improvement of the communities and the environment. The conference responds directly to a request made during the 2001 Summit of the Americas in Quebec, which called upon the participants to: "…Convene a meeting as early as feasible in 2002 with the support of the OAS, the IDB and other rele- vant inter-American organizations involving representatives from governments, civil society, including mainly the business community, to deepen dialogue on corporate social responsibility in the Hemisphere, raise awareness of key issues to be determined and discuss ways to promote the development, adoption and implementation by the business community of principles of good conduct that will advance corporate social and environmental responsibility." These Proceedings summarize the presentations and discussions held during the Conference. It also includes a summary of an electronic forum hosted by the World Bank Institute in preparation for the Conference. It is expected that the publication of these Proceedings will further enhance its objectives of contributing to disseminate the benefits, for all actors involved, of Corporate Social Responsibility. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Rapporteurs The organization and execution of the Conference owes a The Dante B. Fascell North-South Center of the University debt of gratitude to the many persons and institutions that of Miami, through its President, Ambassador Ambler Moss, were involved in its execution. was generous in providing the rapporteurs for the meetings. Their summaries were instrumental in the preparation of Organizing Committee these Proceedings and the work of the team is highly appreci- ated. The team was directed by Sherry Tross, and composed The Conference was organized by a team composed of: of Antonio Garrastazu, Christina Prkic, Dario Lobo, Wendy Grenade, Karla Mosquera, Consuelo Pinto, Manuela Picq, Anne Tamara Lorre, Mission of Canada to the and Allison Brooks with support from Conchita Ramos. Organization of American States Antonio Vives, Chair, Inter-American Development Bank Steering Committee Amy Heinecke, Inter-American Development Bank Neli Vera Diaz, Inter-American Development Bank The Organizing Committee received guidance from the Carlo Dade, Inter-American Foundation Steering Committee, in the areas of conference design, con- Audra Jones, Inter-American Foundation tent of the sessions, identification of speakers and sponsors Linda Borst-Kolko, Inter-American Foundation and in general in the promotion of the conference. Their Amb. Lombardo Martínez, Organization of American States efforts are highly appreciated. Fernando de Mergelina, World Bank Invitee Organization Assigned Steering Committee Member Luis Anderson Organización Regional Interamericana Victor Báez Mosqueira, Secretario de Política Secretary General de Trabajadores (ORIT) Social y Económica James Austin Harvard Business School Self Chair of Initiative on Social Enterprise Salvador Carbó Consejo Empresario de América Juan Martín Allende, Executive Director President Latina (CEAL) Ricardo Carciof Government of Argentina (Invited) EXD, IDB Guillermo Carvajalino Fundación Corona,Colombia Self Executive Director Oliver Clarke O.J., J.P. The Gleaner Company Ltd., Jamaica Self Chairman Javier Cox Irarrázaval Acción Empresarial, Chile Self President Thomas Paul d'Aquino Canadian Council of Alexandra Laverdure, Policy Analyst President & CEO Chief Executives Henry Day Forum EMPRESA, Brazil John Mein, Acting Director Chairman Henry Day Perú 2021, Peru César Fonseca, General Manager President Robert H. Dunn Business for Social Self President and CEO Responsibility, US Antonio Estrany y Gendre Consejo Interamericano de Comercio y Self President Producción (CICYP), Argentina José A. Fourquet Government of the Ambassador Roger Noriega, US Permanent Representative to the Organization President & CEO United States of American States Agustín García-López Government of Mexico Cecilia Loría Saviñón, EXD, IDB General Director César Gaviria Organization of American States Jorge García González ( Director, department of Legal Cooperation), Secretary General Ambassador Lombardo Martínez (Permanent Representative of Nicaragua), and José Manuel Salazar (Director, Commerce Unit) iii Invitee Organization Assigned Steering Committee Member Oded Grajew Instituto Ethos de Empresas Self Director President Responsabilidade Social, Brazil Ronald Harford Republic Bank Ltd., Trinidad and Tobago Self Managing Director Georg Kell United Nations Global Compact Self Executive Head Office Cornelio Marchán Fundación Esquel, Ecuador Self Executive President Marcel Masse Government of Canada Alisa Postner, Trade Policy Officer, EXD, IDB Investment Trade Policy Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Andrés Mata Osorio VenAmCham, Venezuela Margarita Méndez de Montero, Manager, Presidente Alianza Social Program Roberto H. Murray Meza Fundación Empresarial para la Self Presidente Acción Social (FUNDEMAS), El Salvador Alberto Nuñez Esteva AliaRSE: CCE, COPARMEX, CEMEFI, Carlos Ludlow, Director General, Amelud Mexicana Coordinator USEM, IMPULSA, AVAL, Mexico S.A., Representante de USEM to AliaRSE Daniel Oliveira Government of Brazil Beatriz Azeredo, Director of Urban and EXD, IDB Social Development, BNDES Felipe Oriol Diaz Fundación Empresa y Francisco Abad, Director de Bustamante Sociedad, Spain General President William Pryce Council of the Americas Self Vice President Germán Quintana Government of Chile María Eliana Arntz, Subsecretary of the General EXD, IDB Secretariat of the Government Stephan Schmidheiny