In order to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, Vivianne Okouma Mbella née Tchichelle, consultant in corporate social responsibility (CSR), environment and sustainable development, advises Congolese companies to integrate CSR policy into their governance and ‘stop seeing it as a luxury.
For more than 8 months, the Covid-19 has shaken the world, accentuating the economic and financial crisis due to the fall in the price of a barrel of oil. This pandemic has disrupted the world economy, affecting all industries. Like many countries in the world, the Congo is not spared. Businesses are using ways and means to get by. Several of them have either downsized or closed their doors. Vivianne Okouma Mbella urges Congolese companies to integrate CSR into their governance, which, according to her, is an important tool for managing the pandemic and anticipating risks.
“Companies that already had a CSR policy in their governance had strategies that enabled them not to weaken their finances, their employees, and the environment in which their activities are carried out. On the other hand, companies that did not have a CSR policy were surprised by this crisis and found themselves in situations which led them to reduce the number of employees. Some closed down altogether because they did not have strategies to deal with this kind of crisis. With CSR, the company is able to anticipate risks, ”she advised.
Moreover, to allow Congolese company managers to fully understand the importance of CSR, Vivianne Okouma Mbella led, on August 13 by videoconference, a workshop on the contribution of CSR to the management of the situation. current health crisis. The meeting, which brought together entrepreneurs, human resources managers and others, also made it possible to discover the benchmark CSR standard.
“The ISO 26000 standard sets out certain practices, principles and central issues which are subdivided into areas of action. The company can put in place practices to anticipate financial, societal and environmental risks. This makes it possible not to be surprised and to anticipate the possible negative effects of a crisis, “said Vivianne Okoumambela.
The participants in this meeting expressed reservations about the way in which the State supports companies in the implementation of the CSR approach in order to use it as a tool to fight the pandemic; the specific central questions of the CSR standard to be integrated into the governance of the company to fight against the pandemic; how to perpetuate good CSR practices in the company to protect employees and face another crisis.
Vivianne Okouma Mbella also spoke of the importance of the link between CSR and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “The 17 SDG goals can constitute a guideline for companies in order to really take into account the social, the economy, the environment and to strike a balance between the 3 components, which strengthens their capacities to face a crisis », She maintained.
She called on Congolese companies to stop seeing CSR policy as a luxury: “It is not a luxury to integrate CSR into your business even if it requires budgeting for it. We don’t just do it for philanthropy. There are companies that claim to have their CSR policy, but does this affect their suppliers, customers, partners and subcontractors? Asked Vivianne Okouma Mbella
