A global private sector forum to strengthen the partnerships between companies in South Korea and the public sector took place in Seoul on Wednesday (28/09). The gathering included some 40 corporate social responsibility (CSR) experts working in leading companies in South Korea.
The global private sector forum, hosted by IOM Seoul, aimed to increase the private sector engagement in global CSR activities to address the unprecedented humanitarian crises of today. It was part of IOM Seoul’s capacity building project, funded by the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) since 2013.
“As demonstrated in the recently held Private Sector Forum at the UN Headquarters in New York, it is time for companies to get involved more actively, as they have resources and expertise to provide solutions to the global issues affecting millions of lives,” said IOM Seoul Head of Office Miah Park.
“Through this private sector forum, we hope the participants will gain valuable knowledge and ideas to initiate new global CSR projects within their companies,” she added.
The forum consisted of three parts: CSR in current humanitarian challenges; global CSR and possible public sector partners and group work on humanitarian emergencies, risk management and climate change.
CSR expert Prof. Bradley Googins, the former director of Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and the current senior fellow at the E4Impact Africa project, participated as a keynote speaker. Two experts from IOM, Head of Community Stabilization Unit at IOM Washington D.C., Brian Kelly and IOM Vietnam Chief of Mission David Knight also participated to introduce private sector engagement in humanitarian emergencies and the ways to prevent unethical recruitment practices.
IOM works with private sector partners such as Microsoft, Google, Panasonic, SAS, ESRI, Deloitte and others. IOM Seoul has been building private partnerships with companies in the Republic of Korea since 2015. Last February, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Korea Telecom and the government of Bangladesh to build online social services in Moheshkhali, a remote island in Cox’s Bazar, where there are many developmental and migratory challenges.
