Мeeting of the EBA Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility

On Tuesday, February 23, 2010, in the office of the European Business Association in Kiev was held a regular meeting of the EBA Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility, which examined the prospects for cooperation EBA member companies with a joint project of UNDP and the International Labor Organization, "Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities through Access to Employment".

Elena Ivanova, manager of the project , delivered a speech where she gave details about the project, its importance, particularly given the problematic issues of employment of people with disabilities in Ukraine. Among pressing problems of employment in Ukraine is a limited number of open vacancies for job seekers with disabilities, as well as lack of motivation of employers regarding employment of people with disabilities, which in turn is the result of a lack of awareness of companies on employment issues for persons with disabilities. Thus, one of the key objectives of the project is to consolidate the necessary information on the employment of people with disabilities, to further inform the Ukrainian companies, as well as their involvement in co-operation within the framework of corporate social responsibility policy. Elena Ivanova has identified possible areas of cooperation with the EBA member companies projects within the framework of social responsibility, including implementation of joint programs aimed at adults and children with disabilities, companies involved in project activities. Project managers also invited representatives of business associations and individual companies to join the development of effective mechanisms for providing incentives to employers and organizations of employment of people with disabilities. Elena Ivanova assured that the staff of the Project is ready to provide advisory support to companies in developing their corporate social responsibility programs for people with disabilities.

One of the activities of Baker Tilly Ukraine for the past ten years is the corporate social responsibility. At the committee meeting the company was represented by the Director of Marketing and PR Irina Zinchenko, who shared with the committee members company’s experience of supporting various social projects. To date, Baker Tilly Ukraine supports two major social projects: "Mezhrechensky Landscape Park" - a project aimed at protection and social support of nature reserves and landscape parks of Ukraine; patronage support of the Free Theater under the direction of Arthur Artimeneva.

Expanding its activities in corporate social responsibility Baker Tilly Ukraine about a month ago started active cooperation with the above mentioned project of the UN in Ukraine "Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities through Access to Employment".

EBA Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility was established in 2006 to promote among the members of the association and the business community in Ukraine the ideas of corporate social responsibility. The Committee's objectives may be defined as follows: Advance of CSR agenda among EBA members and wider business community in Ukraine; Provide platform for presenting innovative Ukrainian and international CSR practices; Facilitate the exchange of best CSR practices in times of economic instability.