Partnerships That Highlight International CSR Outreach
Charity begins at home but the CSR theme also takes in practical and funding assistance for people in need elsewhere, writes Emily Styles
Some companies like to think outside of the box with their CSR initiatives, while others go further and think outside of the country. The street children of Kolkata (Calcutta) are benefitting from the CSR activities of Enet Group, which is aiming to raise €70,000 to help them. Enet is partnering with The Hope Foundation, a Munster charity working to improve the quality of life for street and slum children in India. Together, the open-access network provider and the charity are supporting a boy’s home in Kolkata that caters for solvent-addicted children. Enet’s commitment involves a series of fundraising events to raise the €70,000. Elsewhere, yoghurt producer is managing to straddle Glenisk domestic and international CSR activities by working with Self-Help Africa on the charity’s One Million Trees initiative, which will see ten trees planted in Africa for every native tree planted in Ireland. The initiative aims to arrange 1,000,000 trees planted in sub-Saharan Africa and 100,000 trees planted in Ireland. Glenisk was drawn to the initiative because it accords with the company’s sustainability principles – the business is one of the original members of Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme. The campaign is being publicised through Glenisk’s Bio yoghurt range, with consumers urged to donate €5 to plant one tree in Ireland and ten in Africa. Glenisk’s support for the initiative will see it reforest up to 120 acres of what was previously Glenisk Woods in Co. Offaly. An alliance of Irish water sector companies has joined with humanitarian aid agency Goal to deliver sustainable WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) programmes to some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. is a partnership of public and private water sector companies aiming to leverage expertise, experience and funding to help sustainable implementation of water and sanitation programmes in developing countries. The initiative is led by Jerry Grant, former managing director of Irish Water. Goal is currently undertaking water and sanitation programmes in in Uganda, Sierra Leone and Syria. In Syria, Goal provided access to water for c.820,000 people last year, while in Ethiopia the programmes reached 240,000 people and in Sudan 115,000 people. According to Grant: “Our target areas have limited scope for modern Water-Share Ireland technologies, power and maintenance skills. Even when Goal can access funds for delivery of infrastructure, the success of the work relies on building capability at local level to operate and maintain facilities from which the very poorest can benefit. This is where we come in. Goal staff on the ground can now call on technical assistance from Irish water engineers and technologists.” Companies looking to become a corporate member of the WaterShare Ireland initiative can commit up to €5,000 in annual funding and provide a nominee to work on the initiative’s committee. Alternatively, companies can support the initiative by providing up to €1,000 annually, which would also allow them to help coordinate projects.