4 YEAR PROJECT TO ENCOURAGE THE UPTAKE AND USE BY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES OF THE STANDARD ON SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – ISO 26000

Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region

Concept of Social Responsibility
Organizations around the world, and their stakeholders, are becoming increasingly aware of the need for and benefits of socially responsible behaviour. The aim of social responsibility (SR) is to contribute to sustainable development. An organization's performance in relation to the society in which it operates and to its impact on the environment has become a critical part of measuring its overall performance and its ability to continue operating effectively. This is, in part, a reflection of the growing recognition of the need for ensuring healthy ecosystems, social equity and good organizational governance. In the long run, all organizations’ activities depend on the health of the world’s ecosystems. Organizations are subject to greater scrutiny by their various stakeholders, including customers or consumers, workers and their trade unions, members, the community, non-governmental organizations, students, financiers, donors, investors, companies and others. The perception and reality of an organization’s social responsibility performance can influence, among other things:

• its competitive advantage;
• its reputation;
• its ability to attract and retain workers or members, customers, clients or users;
• the maintenance of employees' morale, commitment and productivity;
• the view of investors, donors, sponsors and the financial community; and
• its relationship with companies, governments, the media, suppliers, peers, customers and the  community in which it operates.

This project targeting a selected group of pilot countries in the Middle East and North Africa region aims at undertaking a series of activities to create a pool of national and regional experts, who are assisting two voluntary pilot organizations per country. The overarching objective is to build capacity within each of the selected countries, using the national standards body (NSB) as the central pivot. Activities like training-of-trainers involving professionals from the NSB, government, industry, consumer organizations, etc. is undertaken. The project is also establishing a regional coordination mechanism involving NSBs and other regional players. The project is covering the following 8 pilot countries Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Syria.

Lebanese delegation at JCC Meeting in Geneva- April 2011: Sami Mouwakdie, national expert, Joumana El Hoz, National Coordinator, Lena Dargham, Director of LIBNOR

JCC Meeting in ISO offices in Geneva for the launching of ISO 26000 in the MENA Region- April 2011 in the presence of Rob Steele, ISO CEO

Second national seminar on SR- Nov 17 2010 at Metropolitan Hotel Delegate from Al Kawthar School

Second national seminar on SR- Nov 17 2010 at Metropolitan Hotel The official panel: delegate from the Lebanese Industrialist Association, M. Vrej Sabounjian the Minister of Industry and M. Habib Ghaziri the chairman of LIBNOR board

Second national seminar on SR- Nov 17 2010 at Metropolitan Hotel Unipak delegate

Miss Joumana El Hoz, National Coordinator for ISO 26000 Second national seminar on SR- Nov 17 2010 at Metropolitan Hotel