|
MANSOUR GROUP’S CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Mansour Group believes in giving back to the community that it works in as part of being responsible and as being a leg in the development of the country. MMD also believes that the private sector and the civil society have to cooperate with the government in order to solve all the country’s social issues, and hence solve the economic problems. It is not only the government’s responsibility; it is rather a shared one. Mansour Group believes that the only way for society to move forward, to empower people, and to eradicate poverty over the long run is by completely eradicating illiteracy. Educated people will have better jobs; will earn more money, causing the whole economy to improve. That is one of MMD’s main objectives in Corporate Social Responsibility: to adopt sustainable/efficient programs that tackle education issues, and the alleviation of suffering in Egypt.
Our Main objective
is to reduce poverty through education.
We chose education due to what, we believe, are its three, core strengths:
- Education is the primary tool every citizen needs, in order to raise to his/her standard of living.
- Education is the solution to environmental and social issues.
- Education is permanent: what we know, we know forever. to educate someone is to give him/her a lasting gift that will eventually lead to self-determination.
Our strategy
- Reduce poverty through education.
- Focus contributions on responding to human need and alleviating suffering.
- ensure contributions are sustainable and have measurable impact.
- Work with well recognized charities/associations to ensure our support is reaching the intended beneficiaries.
THE UN GLOBAL COMPACT
Our Main Partner in development
When he was the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan first proposed the Global Compact in an address to the world economic Forum on 31 January 1999. The Global Compact was launched at UN headquarters in New York on 26 july 2000. the Secretary-General challenged business leaders to join an international initiative – the Global Compact - that would bring companies together with UN agencies, labour and civil society to support ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption. Through the power of collective action, the Global Compact seeks to advance responsible corporate citizenship so that business can be part of the solution to the challenges of globalisation. in this way, the private sector - in partnership with other social actors - can help realize the vision of a more sustainable and inclusive global economy.
The Global Compact is a voluntary initiative whereby private sector companies agree to respect labour and human rights, protect the environment, and fight corruption internally within the organization and within the organization’s scope of influence in the community.
MMD was one of the pioneering companies that joined the UN in launching and implementing the Global Compact in Egypt. It also is one of the main partners of the UN in implementing multi-lateral development projects in the country.
The Global Compact is not a regulatory instrument it does not police, enforce or measure the behaviour or actions of companies. Rather, the Global Compact relies on public accountability, transparency and the enlightened self-interest of companies, labour and civil society to initiate and share substantive action in pursuing the principles upon which the Global Compact is based.
The ten principles are as follows:
Support and respect human rights within the sphere of influence.
- Ensure that the company is not complicit in human rights abuses.
- Uphold freedom of association and recognize the right of collective bargaining.
- Ensure that the company is not employing forced or compulsory labor.
- Refrain from employing child labor.
- Elimination of discrimination in the hiring and firing policies.
- Support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges.
- Undertake initiatives to promote environmental responsibility.
- Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.
- Work against corruption in all its forms including extortion and bribery.
Today, the actors of the Global Compact- the private sector, NGO's, Academic Institutions, UN agencies, and governments worldwide- are promoting the concept in order to better conduct businesses and extend the services and benefits to the community and the societies where we work.
MMD has already volunteered to join the UN in promoting and launching the concept in Egypt and acting as a role model to other companies to abide by the 10 principles and expand their social corporate responsibilities.
To this date, 56 Egyptian companies have joined the Global Compact since it was first launched in Egypt in 2004. June 16th 2005 will commemorate the first anniversary of the initiative in Egypt . In collaboration with the UN, MMD has organized and sponsored a seminar that was held in the Alexandria Bibliotheca, encouraging more companies to adopt these principles in their everyday business.
Projects
GLOBAL COMPACT AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INSTITUTION
The GC & CSR Center will mainly focus on reforming business which will naturally lead to strong community outreach. The center will provide members with information about development priorities and best practices with NGOs. It will establish various partnerships with chambers of commerce, business federations, and associations, in order to create a strong lobbying force to tackle issues with the government. it will also have strong relationships with governmental bodies in order to facilitate change in policies.
SAILING THE NILE INITIATIVE 2007
- Raising awareness on the Millennium development Goals amongst the most deprived populations in Egypt.
- Creating channels for young people to contribute towards achieving the MDG’s through volunteerism.
GROWING SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS CENTER
This Center is dedicated to improving the supply chain of small independent suppliers, whether in agricultural products or manufactured products. By enabling small businesses to grow it will increase production capacity, variety and quality of manufacturing. The Center will conduct research for the provision of new retail services directed towards the base of the pyramid markets, in addition to identifying supply chains outside Cairo.
SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
This is our first corporate Sustainability Report, our enthusiasm to share our vision and strategy with you is the main driver for issuing this report.
The report is intended for all our stakeholders and it aims at conveying our continuous efforts and endeavors to operate in an ethical and responsible way and to portray our current initiatives as well as our intentions for the future.
Our choice for the title of the report reflects our profound vision in supporting the advancement of Egypt through utilizing all resources available to us and seeking an active role in the society; a role that goes beyond compliance.
OTHER MANSOUR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
Illiteracy
Internal
All members of the Global Compact have agreed to start implementing literacy courses for all their employees.
External
Illiteracy campaign:
The campaign focuses on the negative impacts of illiteracy and shows the importance of educating our children which prepares them for the future, hence creating a more productive population leading to an improved economy. The campaign also shows some examples of child labor as a main reason for the early drop out from schools, under the pressure of poverty. From that perspective, the spots show to the parents how to balance between continuing the education and working at the same time, hence moving from child labor to light working children which is acceptable by the society. In general, the campaign aims at creating awareness about the importance of education and combating illiteracy in all possible ways.
Illiteracy campaign
ERADICATING ILLITERACY IN BEHEIRA AND MANSOURA GOVERNORATES: 2006-2007
- MMD supported the literacy classes.
- MMD provided scholarships for the students who continued their education after the literacy classes.
Developing the Skills of Society
Mansour Group's Unique Contribution…..The “Advance” School for Autism
Established in 1999, the Egyptian Society for Developing Skills of Children with Special Needs- also known as “Advance”- is a non-profit organization founded by a group of families of children with autism and other related development disorders. The society aims to offer life-time services to help children and adults develop their abilities and reach their full potential. Of course such a great endeavor requires proper funding, which the Mansour Group has helped provide as the sole corporate sponsor of “Advance”.
Preschool to mid-childhood programs were established over six years ago to offer individual therapeutic and educational services for children and adults with special needs. Personnel were efficiently trained to provide competent services, while governmental and nongovernmental organizations help upgrade services and draw public attention to the area of special needs.
“Advance” also plans to create an adult program center where workshops provide vocational training to students. Supported employment opportunities may even be arranged for adults who reach a compatible developmental level for carrying out special jobs.
Current services include community awareness and parent support in order to ensure children are surrounded by people who can provide proper care. Also underway is a baby-sitting training program that aims to train young people as babysitters and home trainers for special children.
Children are taught activities supported by specialized therapeutic services such as speech and language therapy. They also receive social skills training to learn the necessary competence for daily functioning within the community (like shopping, eating and socializing). To date, there are seven classes, 20 well-trained teachers and staff members and a maximum of six children per class. The school has 33 students ranging from 2-20 years of age .
“Advance” offers comprehensive education for pre-school children and children between 2-12 years of age, and a pre-vocational program for adolescents between 13-20 years of age. It is important for the group to establish individual curriculum to meet each child's plan and develop the student's independence and self-esteem.
The group's objective is to increase the number of students to 100 within three years. It is currently located in a four-story building in Maadi, but has also purchased land in the Kattameya area to build a new school. This building would include workshops and homes for autistic adults who have no one to live with. While the contractor has agreed to build the village at cost, the design will be chosen via a competition for senior year students in the Faculty of Engineering - Cairo University under the supervision of a prominent architect.
The creation and maintenance of such services would not be possible without public support and funding. In the case of “Advance”, the Mansour Group is the main contributor and sole corporate sponsor of the project. It has underwritten a portion of the value of the development plans and continues to support the “Advance” village as it grows over the years.
A strategy such as “Advance” can only give strength to the community and the society as a whole and the Mansour Group intends to continue its contribution over the years. “Advance” builds on an unexplored field of education in Egypt and helps children become independent, productive adults; enriching themselves and the community at the same time.
For More Info Click Here.
AUC SCHOLARSHIP ANNUAL PROGRAM
An annual Mansour Group scholarship is given in coordination with the AUC. The funds were allocated to the Centre for Adult and Continuing education (CACe) in the fields of computer studies, English studies, etc, on an annual basis.
IDSC TRAINING PROGRAMS
IDSC provides programs to develop and identify employment opportunities for Egyptian graduates. idSC was identified as the appropriate institute to undertake a joint training program for new graduates in the different fields of Marketing, Sales, it, etc.
INJAZ PROGRAM
INJAZ started in 2003 as a project under the umbrella of Save the Children (SC) in Egypt. INJAZ, which means ‘Achievement’ in Arabic, is licensed to use junior Achievement international curricula designed to enhance youths’ qualifications to enter the job market as employees or entrepreneurs. The schooling system has not integrated economic and occupational education into the school curricula, and this is where INJAZ attempts to fill the gap.
- The INJAZ program was taught in more than 60 schools to an average of 10,600 students in Egypt in 2005/6.
- The Mansour Group had three volunteers teaching 120 students in a school in Maadi 2005-2007.
Orphanage support
Mansour Manufacturing & distribution Group was happy to sponsor and support in 2005 two Ramadan iftars for the orphans of Cairo. The aim of the event was to invite almost 8,000 orphans throughout the month for Ramadan iftars along with students and teachers from private schools in order to integrate the orphans with the schools’ students and make them an integral part of the society. The iftars were done in coordination with 60 different orphanage houses and private schools. The events were also attended everyday by famous singers and celebrities; the aim is to encourage other enterprises to do the same thing and also to gather donations in order to help the most needy orphanage houses in Egypt. These iftars are part of a bigger program whereby donations are collected with the objectives of re-building and fixing orphanage houses to improve children’s quality of life. This initiative was created by Cairo Sheraton, and Mansour group has adopted the cause. the program started in 2004, and this year we have adopted an extra cause which is to light the problem of the disabled children on in order to help them integrate into the society at large and realize their full potential.
Environmental campaign 2005-2006
MMD’s quest is to increase Egyptians’ awareness of the serious threat of pollution and how it affects our environment, health, and society. it is also to encourage the Egyptian population to stand together and contribute in helping our country be cleaner for us and for our future generations to enjoy.
Television campaign comprised of a total of 3 TV spots, duration of each spot 30 seconds, aired on Egyptian channels and some free to air satellite channels for a period of two years.
This campaign was funded and produced totally by Mansour Manufacturing and distribution Group, with collaboration from the Ministry of environment.
Environment campaign
Communication on Progress (Global Compact) 2009
Al-Mansour Holding Company has submitted its 2009 Communication on Progress Report to the United Nations.
For More Info Click Here.
|