Corporate Social responsible

Microsoft led a panel discussion on Corporate Social responsible on 27.3.2006 at the first convening on Collaborative Leadership for Economic and Social Development in Cairo, Egypt.

"The lessons from the panel members' experiences will prove to be invaluable to conference attendees as they work to employ the ideas that we discussed during the "Corporate Social Responsibility" session," said Natasha Marks, Director Global Leadership Institute, Vital Voice

The session focused on public private partnership among government, private sector and civil society, showcasing community building programs that help businesses and NGOs support government goals through a spirit of true partnership.

The session was led by Heba Ramzy, the CSR regional manager of Middle East and Africa and included Dr. Nadia Hegazy, Minister Advisor, Ministry of Communication and IT, Amr Hamdy, the president of School Net Africa, Hala EL Kholy regional Manager of Middle East and North Africa of the Institute of Culture Affair, Sherif EL Tokaly, ICT for Development Specialist, UNDP and Ghada Khalifa CSR Manager of Microsoft Egypt.

Ramzy presented Microsoft Unlimited Potential Program shedding light on some of the successful projects in the region such as ajialcom project in Morocco. Dr. Hegazy presented the government initiative to support the civil society and address community issues through collaboration between private sector and civil society. Hamdy presented Mtandoa Afrika initiative highlighting partnership with government and private sector. EL Kholy presented on the roles of different type of partners focusing on lesson learned from partnering with Microsoft Egypt. EL Tokaly portrayed UNDP experience in working with the private sectors through projects made with Vodaphone and Microsoft MCIT program. Khalifa presented an over view of the projects in Egypt and the key success factors in partnership among government, civil society and public sector as well as the challenges to be addressed early on.

"We found the event to be successful and are still receiving enthusiastic feedback from the participants. The session on "Corporate Social Responsibility" was viewed favorably and we are confident that the convening will bring marked changes in Egypt's business practices, partnerships and open new opportunities for the nation's economic and social development in the coming years, said Marks.