South Asian NGO Consultative Meet on Promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility
25 - 27 April 2007, Kathmandu, Nepal

A group of 30 NGOs from eight South Asian countries decided to form a South Asian civil society network on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This decision was arrived at during a three-day workshop on "South Asian NGO Consultative Meet on Promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility" jointly organised by Partners in Change (PiC), India and South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics & Environment (SAWTEE) with support from Oxfam Novib in Kathmandu, Nepal from 25th - 27th April 2007.

The decision to form a network was arrived at as it was felt that it would facilitate knowledge sharing among the NGOs working in this area and help Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) develop a common frame of reference to work on CSR issues. It was also felt that the regional network will assist South Asian CSO's engagement with international CSR institutions and standards setting organisations. As a priority the network also agreed to engage with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and its various foras like South Asian Free Trade Agreement to provide South Asian civil society perspective on key social, economic and environmental issues. The need to create dedicated domestic and regional funds for CSR research and advocacy was also highlighted during the meeting.

Four working groups have been formed with the aim of operationalising the South Asian civil society network within the next six months. The first working group would be working on the governance and working principles of the network, the second working group would be developing a Frame of Reference incorporating expectations of South Asian CSOs from businesses on social, economic and environmental fronts. The Third working group would be identifying the thematic areas on which the South Asian Network can focus on. The fourth working group would be identifying various mechanisms of engaging with SAARC on CSR issues. The working groups would be supported by resource persons from similar regional networks from The Netherlands and Argentina. Further, it was agreed that in the interim period Partners in Change (India) and SAWTEE (Nepal) would continue to provide coordination services to the network.