CIBJO in 'Groundbreaking' CSR Educational Program

(IDEX Online News) – CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, is preparing a "groundbreaking" Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) educational program for the jewelry sector.

It will be offered worldwide and promote the industry's involvement in sustainable development, CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri told a meeting in Geneva of world leaders attending the High Level Segment of the United Nation's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

The four-day meeting opened ECOSOC's 2013 Substantive Session, which began on July 1 and will close July 26. ECOSOC deals with the world's economic, social and environmental challenges, and has responsibility for some 70 percent of the human and financial resources of the entire UN system. One of its key functions is to promote the Millennium Development Goals, which were set by the United Nations in 2000, and created specific targets for poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, HIV/AIDS and malaria reduction, as well as a global partnership for development. These are meant to be met by 2015.

CIBJO, which has been the jewelry industry's sole representative in the body since 2006, was among only 78 non-government organisations to be invited to address the High Level Segment, from the 3,735 NGOs that are recognized by ECOSOC.

Cavalieri said that CIBJO shares a common vision with ECOSOC. "It seeks to increase innovative productivity, encourages the use of cutting-edge mining and jewelry processing technologies, and industrialization and downstream beneficiation in developing economies, leading to economic growth and the creation of decent jobs in the international jewellery industry. This will, in turn, contribute to eradicating poverty in regions in which we are particularly active, and specifically Africa," he stated.

In developing the CSR educational program, CIBJO is joining forces with Fiera di Vicenza, one of the leading trade fair organisers in the international jewelry industry Cavalieri said. "Through Fiera di Vicenza's extensive international network, we aim to educate members of the industry about CSR, and specifically the obligations of businesses to promote sustainable development."

"The proposed CIBJO-Fiera di Vicenza programme will be presented at the UN headquarters in the fall," Cavalieri stated. "The United Nations Alliance of Civilizations will review this educational programme in the hopes of mainstreaming ethical business practices into many cultures."

The High Level Segment focused on science, technology and innovation as agents for economic and social development.

Cavalieri spoke of technological innovation in the jewelry industry in his address to the meeting, noting that it can serve as catalyst to narrow the gaps between emerging centers and established ones. Technology, he said, "enable the people in new centers to get the same value and with the same profitability, and also encourage companies in the developed centres to invest in developing centres."