Eradicating poverty through CSR programs

Rudijanto, Contributor, Jakarta

The harrowing drama of thousands of Indonesian overseas workers (TKI) returning home, some simply leaving with their salaries unpaid to avoid detention by the Malaysian authorities, has struck another blow to the country, which has not yet recovered from the tsunami in Aceh.

While President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was quick to respond to the TKI problem by making a visit to Malaysia, his government's success lies not so much in preventing the expulsion of illegal Indonesian workers from Malaysia, but in tackling the root of the problem, namely poverty and the lack of job opportunities in the country.

The task of uprooting poverty and creating more job opportunities is a gigantic one that will not be successful without the participation of all sectors in the country, including the corporate sector.

The corporate sector's participation in responding to the challenges of poverty, dengue and other endemic diseases, lack of job opportunities and even the eradication of corruption in this country is expected to bring a more positive outcome.

After all, as Indian-born author C.K. Prahalad noted in his new book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Eradicating Poverty Through Profit, after more than 50 years of efforts, the World Bank, donor nations, aid agencies, governments and others have failed to eradicate poverty, the root of many social problems.

Prahalad seems comfortable with the idea that a company's approach to corporate responsibility must be integrated into the company's business strategy to reap more profit.

The awareness among Indonesian companies of the need for a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program has been encouraging in the past few years.

PT Unilever has, for example, provided free dental check ups and treatment for city dwellers as well as the rural population.

The free dental check ups and treatment conducted by Unilever for the past 10 years is an example of a CSR that is based on the local context in which 90 percent of the population suffer from oral and dental problems and disease.

While the program helps raise the awareness of people of the importance of oral and dental health, the program also boosts the image as well as the sales of Unilever's Pepsodent toothpaste and other oral and dental care products. No wonder the company plans to launch a more coordinated CSR, The Pepsodent Initiative, next month.

When the tsunami hit Aceh province, multinational express delivery and logistics company TNT used its corporate strength in logistics by teaming up with the United Nation World Food Program (WFP) to facilitate WFP's emergency relief operations.

The company quickly deployed its staff from Jakarta, Singapore, the UK, Finland, Holland, Australia and Sweden to assist WFP efforts in Medan in North Sumatra and Banda Aceh, Melauboh and Singkil in Aceh. The company has provided, among other things, extensive transportation services.

TNT has worked in partnership with the WFP since 2002 as part of the company's CSR program. WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency, which, in 2003, gave food aid to a record 104 million people in 81 countries, including 56 million malnourished children.

TNT Logistics Southeast Asia Managing Director Colin Moran said that TNT had selected this particular CSR with WFP as it fitted well with the company's core business and strength, namely logistical services.

However, Moran emphasized that the company has no financial interest in carrying out its CSR program. Any improvement in the company's image as a highly professional company in its field is just a logical consequence of the program.

Moran added that another logical impact of TNT's CSR is that its employees will be inspired to have more loyalty to the company as they have a sense of pride because of being involved in a humanitarian mission.

The employees of PT Indocement Prakarsa Tbk (Indocement) are likewise proud of their company's CSR involvement in battling the spread of HIV/AIDS in Indonesia.

With 7000 employees, many of whom are highly skilled, and more than 15,000 family members of those employees needing education and protection against HIV/AIDS, one can understand why Indocement is serious about its chosen CSR program.

PT HM Sampurna Tbk (Sampurna), one of the countries major domestic cigarette producers, in cooperation with Tempo Magazine is fully committed to boosting entrepreneurship among small- and medium-scale enterprises through the Dji Sam Soe Award (DSSA), a prestigious award given to small- and medium-scale entrepreneurs in Indonesia.

Sampurna's Dji Sam Soe Award may have encouraged the growth of entrepreneurial spirit through its awards to three DSSA winners presented in Jakarta last Thursday (Feb. 17). But at the same time, Sampurna benefits from the positive image generated by the program.