LEAD International joins Global Partner Network in promoting responsible business practice
Alongside government, NGOs and civil society, business has an important role to play in promoting sustainable development. Seeking to increase LEAD’s positive impact trough collaboration with the private sector, such as corporate high fliers programme, in February 2008, LEAD International joined the Global Partners Network (GPN).
The GPN is a group of more than 110 organisations which have agreed to work in partnership to promote responsible business practice. Since its inception by Business in the Community ten years ago, the objective has been to bring together NGOs, charities and companies in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) arena globally.
In addition to partners working on a national basis, there are some partners, such as LEAD, who also have international presence and provide additional specialised expertise across different countries. The areas of expertise of each partner vary, as each country has its own economic, cultural and political history influencing different CSR frameworks and practices.
The members of GPN are mainly not-for-profit organisations or academic institutions that according to their own their own national context, provide support, experience and networking capabilities in a range of areas such as:
- sustainable development;
- CSR reporting;
- corporate community investment;
- employee engagement;
- environmental impact;
- human rights;
- cause related marketing.
Building on their collective experience, the global network of partners can provide knowledge, experience and tools to support companies in delivering CSR strategies individually, or through wider collaborative campaigns, such as:
- research on regional or national themes
- run seminars, workshops and briefings
- design cross-border community engagement programmes
- support networking with other companies
- broker opportunities with community and educational organisations
- develop human capital strategies and programmes focused on developing skills and teamwork
GPN organisations cover approximately 60 countries around the world, with the strongest presence in Europe, where the network began. Whilst the number of organisations joining the network in Latin America and Asia/Pacific has grown significantly over the last 5 years and collaborative efforts are underway to increase further the coverage of GPN.
The Global Partners Network is chaired by Mike Wareing, CEO of KPMG International. It also counts with the support of BHP Billiton and Macquarie Bank.
Simon Lyster, LEAD International’s Chief Executive, and Edward Kellow, Head of Training, have already been able to start building the relationship with some of the partners of the network as well as with companies that support this initiative in a reception they attended at Macquarie Bank just after LEAD joined the Global Partner Network.
More information about the GPN and to know if your organisation is eligible to also join the GPN or use its services, contact Flavia Krauss.
To know more about how LEAD International plans to explore the feasibility of joint programmes with the GPN partners, contact Isabela Souza at Isabela@lead.org or at +44 (0)20 7938 8706.
Release date: Wednesday, March 5, 2008