The 2nd FEI/ILO Annual Conference on Decent Work & CSR, jointly organized by the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) and International Labour Organization (ILO), was held on 4 January 2016 at the Conrad Cairo Hotel. During the opening plenary session, FEI Chairman Mohamed Al-Sweidy pointed out that the FEI seeks to bring all parties together to coordinate CSR efforts in collaboration with the private sector.
On his part, Workforce Minister Gamal Sorour praised the private sector’s efforts aimed at community development, particularly those programs focusing on youth training for employment and encouragement of young entrepreneurs. ILO Regional Director Peter Van Rooij explained how the government and the private sector are starting to reformulate the CSR concept from being merely an act of charity into a strategy of sustainable community development.
The conference had four roundtable discussions. Discussion 1 focused on CSR in relation to the challenges and opportunities of creating new jobs in Egypt. Discussion 2 witnessed reports of both the Ministry of Social Solidarity and some private-sector firms on integrated CSR partnerships between the government and the private sector. Discussion 3 shed some light on the role of CSR in enhancing decent work conditions and economic growth. Discussion 4 was centered on corporate contributions to sustainable development, along with a number of success stories. Presenters in this last discussion included Vodafone Foundation and Bank of Alexandria.
ECG’s strong presence at the conference was established through an entire team of HR and CSR specialists who participated in all four roundtable discussions. The team included CSR Coordinator Hala Abdel Daiem, Branches Coordinator Doaa Youssef, Recruitment Section Head Shahira Eweiss, and Monitoring & Evaluation Section Head Sayed Abdel Aal.
