Experts facilitated a dialogue on ways to rebuild CSR strategies that will make the world a better place as it adapts to a new normal post the COVID-19 pandemic, at the virtual edition of the two-day Karma Summit hosted by CSR platform Goodera.
Corporates, nonprofits and HR professionals shared new ways to motivate employers to generate meaningful employee engagement and resources for COVID relief. The summit also helped assess the expected impact of the pandemic on our ability to move towards the SDGs 2030.
Featuring over 50 renowned speakers and jury members across the pharma, tech, auto, non-profit and health sectors, the summit brought to light key cross-cutting issues pertinent to the CSR community. The sessions included engaging and insightful conversations on topics such as changing boardroom discussions around CSR, risk management for resilient CSR programmes, interdependent partnerships for inclusive impact and the crucial role of employees who are volunteering to drive action.
The keynote address was given by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi who highlighted the situation of migrant workers who are unable to find work in their villages or resume their work in the cities. He further expressed the challenges their children face as many migrant workers have lost their livelihoods making their children more vulnerable to exploitation.
“Women make a huge contribution towards economic development globally and within India. The pandemic has hit women hard as many work in the unprotected, informal sector where job losses have been significant around the world. As transport systems stop, women are unable to access essential services such as maternal health services. Globally, domestic violence has surged, giving rise to the ‘shadow pandemic’. We need to fund policies and actions to end this shadow pandemic once and for all. In India, there are a plethora of innovative examples of preventing and responding to gender-based violence. The Karma Summit is a welcome initiative to spread the work already happening, learning from each other about what helps women live lives free of violence,” said Susan Ferguson – UN Women Representative for India.
“This summit brought under one roof some very critical conversations that impact how companies visualize and implement CSR and Volunteering initiatives for 2020 and beyond. From our panelists and speakers, we learnt how technology and practical solutions such as multi-stakeholder partnerships could transform a region impacted deeply by the pandemic, and help communities to quickly spring back to their feet. We would like to thank all participants of the summit who shared their invaluable insights that will go a long way in helping the world to successfully embrace doing good in the new normal,” said Abhishek Humbad, Founder & CEO, Goodera.
The 2-day Karma summit concluded with the Karma Awards that facilitated individuals and organizations who have made meaningful social contributions to communities during the pandemic. The jury members included established and distinguished leaders in the CSR & Volunteering sectors of India.
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