1 / 8

PANEL DISCUSSION ON CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

PANEL DISCUSSION ON CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY. “Business Legitimacy and Reconstruction in Zones of Conflict”. Dr. Malaika Culverwell Senior Research Fellow -Corporate Responsibility/ Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House).

justinhall
Download Presentation

PANEL DISCUSSION ON CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. PANEL DISCUSSION ON CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY “Business Legitimacy and Reconstruction in Zones of Conflict” Dr. Malaika Culverwell Senior Research Fellow -Corporate Responsibility/ Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) United Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs 10 October 2003

  2. Private Sector in Conflict Zones PRIVATE SECTOR CAN: • exacerbate tensions & contribute to downward spiral of insecurity. • contribute to peace-building and reconstruction KEY: • Transparency • Inclusivity • Accountability • In routine business activities at micro and macro level • For extractive, but more importantly infrastructure, power, transportation & financial sectors

  3. Policy Approaches for Engaging Business 1. NORMATIVE • ‘Naming & shaming’; advocacy campaigns e.g. “Conflict Diamonds” • Can work - but for recognisable brands 2. COERCIVE • Regulatory regimes that sanction prohibited behaviour • Difficult - different levels of regulation, incentives for evasion, depends upon state co-operation 3. INSTRUMENTAL • Positive inducements that reward constructive industry practices • At company level - doesn’t go far enough? Multistakeholder level - is too context specific to be generic eg. “Chad/Cameroon Pipeline Agreement”. ”

  4. Profiteering & Opportunism by Both Business & Government? IN IRAQ: ENVIRONMENT Lack of reconstruction Insecurity GOV’T BUSINESS • Strongest perception of illegitimacy, profiteering and corruption rests within the administration • Fear that subcontracting and hiring practices by business will exacerbate pre-existing tensions.

  5. A Role for Responsible Business BUSINESS Confer legitimacy National & Int’l Level Earn legitimacy • Bidding process • Awarding contracts Community Level Accountable Inclusive • Hiring & • sub-contracting Transparent

  6. Inclusivity • Requires: • an integration of local ethnicities, tribes, religions & business networks. • Recommended: • a simple formal dialogue with firm’s Iraqi employees and their families. • A neutral third party facilitator to manage the process • Requires: • independent scrutiny of civil society • Recommended: • civil society capacity building Accountability

  7. Transparency • Requires: • companies to be cautious with respect to working with elites from previous state institutions. • Companies to insist on free and open competition with respect to tendering process for reconstruction contracts & sub-contracts • Recommended: • Companies, with civil society help build the credibility of political institutions of the nascent new Iraqi state • Companies seek inter-sectoral collective action to influence free and open competition with respect to reconstruction contracts & subcontracts

  8. Conclusion • Responsible companies need courage, stamina and a long-term view to attend to issues of “inclusivity”, “accountability” and “transparency” . • Companies can initiate efforts but will need the support of neutral third party mediators, NGOs, IOs and legitimate political institutions • In all the complexity of post-conflict Iraq, business should not loose sight of the fact that the greatest risk management tool at its disposal is its contribution to the winning of the peace.

More Related