Beyond CSR: ‘RAISE Summit’ on 25 Oct.

Friday, 14 October 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Societal responsibility should not just be the exclusive domain of the corporate. Neither should it encompass the traditional areas that are most often associated with CSR. The first-ever ‘RAISE Summit’, organised by UTO EduConsult Ltd. and scheduled to be held on Tuesday 25 October at the Ramada Colombo Hotel, will break new ground in areas in which individuals and institutions alike are inculcating it into their personal ethos as well as the corporate DNA.

RAISE, as the acronym suggests, seeks to raise awareness on a myriad of issues that impact on society, as a whole. These include health and sanitation, the environment, poverty alleviation, animal welfare, disaster response, education, banking for the ‘unbanked’, empowerment of women, and issues facing the youth of today.

The acronym RAISE could be broken down into its various components; Reconciliation, which is a feature of national concern, especially in the aftermath of a war that lasted almost three decades; Alleviation, not just Poverty Alleviation but the raising of overall living standard; Inspiration, the need to inspire our peers to urgent action; social responsibility, not just CSR, but even the responsibility that one should shoulder as an individual; and engagement, the need to entice stakeholders across various strata in order to ensure a more cogent approach to matters that impact contemporary society.

Speakers from a cross section of industries and backgrounds, from Sri Lanka as well as overseas, will enlighten the delegates on past experiences, whilst panellists will engage one another in a series of panel discussions on a diversity of topics germane to the overall theme.

The keynote address will be delivered by K.R. Ravindran, the first Sri Lankan to be conferred the Presidency of Rotary International. A persistent theme throughout the day would be actual untold stories from Sri Lanka and overseas on how society reacted to various situations; from immediate responses to disasters to the more sustainable needs of societies with a longer term impact.

An inspirational story from Pakistan will cover a project that commenced with six schools and has now assumed gargantuan proportions with over 1,600 schools catering to the ultra-poor. Responses to disasters such as the Nepali earthquake, the recent floods that we experienced in our motherland as well as post-tsunami projects that are still on-going in various parts of Sri Lanka, will hopefully serve as an inspiration to those attending the event. Global programs such as Rotary’s attempts to eradicate Polio would also be covered within a very insightful programme that has been drawn up for the day. Other issues that would be deliberated on would include the scourge of drugs, the impact of social media on our youth, environmental issues and animal welfare. RAISE Summit 2016 promises the delegates attending a day filled with insights and knowledge sharing on an interactive platform. For further details, please contact 0775-837575 or 0777-466488 or email [email protected] and visit www.utoeduconsult.com.