Since 2000 the German Committee of UNICEF awards every year the “UNICEF Photo of the Year” to photo series that “best depicts the emotions of a situation or event in a child’s life anywhere in the world.”
The young Belgian photographer Alice Smeets is the winner of the 2008 international photo competition “UNICEF-Photo of the Year”. Her winning picture shows a girl in the largest slum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. Although she has to live between dirt and rubbish, the girl is wearing a clean white dress with matching ribbons in her hair whilst walking barefoot through the mud.
“The photo shows us the courage and energy of a little girl who is growing up in the face of adversity. Children from the poorest backgrounds often demonstrate great strength” said UNICEF patroness Eva Luise Köhler at the award ceremony on Thursday in Berlin.
I came across a new initiative aimed at sharing information on CSR issues.
CSR TUBE is an initiative of the Dutch MVO Platform (CSR Platform) and lokaalmondiaal. CSRtube is inspired by The Hub, created by Witness, which reports on human rights abuses worldwide.
“The aim of CSRtube is to increase the impact of the work of civil society organizations, research institutions, governments, and companies dealing with CSR issues. CSRtube intends to contribute to the debate around CSR, and to inform people about its developments. Citizens and civil society organizations from all over the world are invited to upload and share their video material on CSRtube”(www.csrtube.net)
Have a look!
P.S. You can also join CSR TUBE, enter the competition and win 1000 $!
Green Thing is a independent, not-for profit community which wants to help people around the world to lead a greener life and to make a difference in the fight against climate change.
Green Thing suggests 7 things you can do to lead a greener life and focuses on one thing a month to tempt as many people as possible to do it.The things any individual can easily do are included in following 7 categories: walk the walk, stay grounded, all-consuming, easy on the meet, human heat, plug out, stick with what you got.
Green Thing also features inspiring videos and stories from people from around the world.
Here is the chart of the seven things you can do to lead a greener life:)
I have presented in a previous post the recent initiatives co-financed by the European Commission aimed at investigating the relationship between CSR and competitiveness. On November, 28, the European Commission has published a Communication on the European Competitiveness Report 2008.
The European Commission analyses in chapter 4.2. the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on firms’ competitiveness. This issue is developed in the “Commission Working Staff Document” which accompanies the European Commission’s Communication.
The European Commission has analysed the effects of CSR on 6 determinants and indicators of firm-level competitiveness: cost structure, human resource performance, customer perspective, innovation, risk and reputation management and financial performance. Moreover, the European Commission has analysed the relationship between CSR and firms’competitiveness at macro and sectoral level.
Some of the main findings of the research undertaken are summarised below.
1.The strongest evidence of a positive impact of CSR on competitiveness at micro level appears to be in the cases of human resources, risk and reputation management and innovation.
2. Business interest in CSR is increasingly based on opportunities for new value creation and not just on value protection through risk and reputation management.
3.The strength of the business case of CSR in any given enterprise is still dependent on its competitive positioning. For some companies, exceeding social and environmental legal requirements might generate costs that undermine competitiveness. However, for an increasing number of enterprises in a growing number of industries, CSR is becoming a competitive necessity.
4. To be a competitive differentiator, CSR needs to be part of a core business strategy. Enterprises in which CSR remains a peripheral concern, mainly confined to public relations functions, are likely to miss opportunities for competitiveness gains.
EarthSayers.tv, is a project of RED Direct, LLC. It brings forward audio and video programs addressing sustainability-related topics from across the Internet.
Dr. Joanne Levin-O’Brien developed the Content Map after researching both print and online content.It is specific to the subject of sustainability and unique to EarthSayers.tv. Four main categories have been developed: the emerging landscape of sustainability, our relationship with ecosystems and the natural resources that sustain us, human well-being and the way we live, our economic foundation.
Here is one of the videos featured on their site: “Teach a man to fish”
