hello there, thanks for organising this
Absolutely. And may companies are very active in this regards.
How long is Kenya projecting this to last locally? Singapore and Malaysia braced for a second round this last weekend - closing schools and places or worship again. I realize this is a loaded question - as none of us know for sure.
I couldnât agree more with you Matthias. Its very well to plan how the business will support and indeed they should support society in these desperate times. The mid- longer-term view is what will happen to employment? How will businesses manage to stay afloat in view of the current turbulent times? How can we stem the employment losses that are likely to face organisations that are facing insolvency
First and foremost, the communities are aware that this is real. I spent time with young children under 6 years and they are all aware of corona virus
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I think there is a lot to learn from recent experiences with Ebola in West Africa and DRC and large scale cholera outbreaks. When learning from this information we have to keep in mind how this siutation differs (e.g. that its airborne) but there are many great lessons still.
Here is an example of what we learned from hygiene promotion in Liberia during the oubreak.
Here is a guide for some rapid actions we can takes as employers or within community groups in response to COVID-19
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Caroline, I think this question is critical. I am now rethinking concepts like Universal Basic Income (UBI) under these circumstances.
Thanks Amanda. We had hope that the financial crisis would lead to a new economy. It didnât. This time, we have to make sure it does. It may seem hard to think about âbuilding backâ now. But we have to see the opportunity in this crisis. We do not want to build back to where we were in 2019. We will want to âbuild forwardâ to an economy without carbon, less travel, protected and secure workers, investment in care services, and where business that serves stakeholders is the mainstream.
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Any ideas on sector specific financial support?. Had a meeting with an events company this afternoon. So many of the smaller eventing companies closing down as there is no eventing business. Some of the bigger organisations are trying to put people on half day packages but that wonât last as there is no income
This is the reality of health and wellbeing a pillar we talked about in the sustainability plan for a long time, creating a well being economy that takes into consideration products for the poorest of the poor as well as keeping your employees well. we will not be safe until the virus is tackled everywhere.
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From Ali Karami Ruiz, Senior Director for Strategic Engagement and Communications, Business, OECD
At Business at OECD, I oversee our relations with our global membership of national business organizations in OECD countries and beyond. I also oversee health and employment policy, among others, and have served as Business at OECD Sherpa to the B20 rotating presidencies, providing input and continuity to G20 processes.
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The Un Global Compact has issued a special appeal to business earlier this week calling companies to unite to support workers, communities and companies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The reality is that it is pretty hard for many companies and especially SMEs, and many people have lost their jobs already.
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Some examples of how Chinese companies responded are in this Harvard Business Review article: https://hbr.org/2020/03/how-chinese-companies-have-responded-to-coronavirus?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_term=&utm_content=41946&utm_id=50180981-ce02-45c4-9b2c-2c4934dc3ff8&sfmc_id=358613346&sfmc_activityid=08fb87f8-ab21-45ff-90be-114c9ae2b7a5
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Much has been said about the risks to business of coronavirus. Less has been said of the opportunities to work with businesses to overcome it. Thereâs a balance to strike here. Critics have warned against profiteering as unscrupulous businesses take advantage of shortages of face masks and hand sanitisers. But business involvement will be an essential part of the solution. I have demonstrated the possibility of this previously, joining the worldâs largest soap manufacturer - Unilever - to run what became the largest hygiene program in the world. Led by the Lifebuoy brand, this effort recently surpassed reaching 1 billion people with handwashing behaviour change messages. I recently documented this evidence as a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School with my book âBrands on a Mission: How to achieve social impact and business growth through purposeâ, coming out in May 2020. There is definitely a clear role for businesses in influencing positively healthy habits like handwashing.
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Catalina, how have your global preparedness plans helped AB InBev navigate this crisis? There is much we can all learn from global companies who have navigated a number of previous global and regional crises before â and had plans in place to help them support employees and supply chains.
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Sidchat- It is great to hear about your activities in Kenya. You have the global expert, Myriam Sidibe there. We welcome the opportunity to support/link efforts.
All sectors and stakeholders must now address COVID-19. The responsibility for achieving real change needs to be collectively shared. Business Partners for Sustainable Development is working to catalyze opportunities
However, there are those who still express mistrust and think the governments are creating a story for resources. Our response is to bridge this gap with community health workers/volunteers who are trusted community members and once we have achieved this, we then shift to behavious change communication of hand washing with soap, social distance
I think amidst all the current suffering, we need to think hard about what will enable a true shift in mindset and what is acceptable, so that we build back differently. In the UK in the last week, things that were radical nonsense are now sensible options. I hope we will learn to adapt, to try new things, as well as to work with less travel and carbon. And to invest in those âkey workersâ who are usually un/underpaid.
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From: * Ali Karami Ruiz, Senior Director for Strategic Engagement and Communications, Business, OECD
We see significant disruptions for business, and particular focus should be placed on immediate threats for SMEs, as they risk going out of business.
¡ More should be done to anticipate effects of social distancing and quarantine measures on ability of business to survive during this period.
¡ Recent lockdowns in European countries shed light into ââcritical windowââ periods: even when policy measures are designed to support entrepreneurs and medium-sizes companies, what happens when these measures can only be rolled out after the crisis is over and the 3- 4- week period without operations puts peopleâs jobs at risk?
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Firstly, those involved in media and communications must play their part in ensuring correct information about the virus and how to prevent its spread is heard. Panic and fear driven by rumour and fake news is the number one enemy here. Correct information will be key to minimising damage. This responsibility lies with media and social media companies, creative agencies, and brands with a media budget could align with these priorities.
Secondly, businesses must work collaboratively with other agents, playing to their strengths to achieve a common aim. This should include governments and international organisations, with whom businesses can work to ensure access to necessary goods and capabilities, such as putting to work their creative know-how, and having access to distribution networks.
We must unite our efforts to address the crisis. We should make sure that structures and processes are in place to deal with similar situations when they arise in future. Local coalitions promoting handwashing, like what weâre seeing in Vietnam and beyond combining the government, soap manufacturers and influencers, have proven impactful in halting the spread of Coronavirus. And what gets handwashing to stick is powerful, coordinated and consistent communications and coalitions.
Another successful campaign to take inspiration from here is Global Handwashing Day, marked on 15th of October, which last year reached over 500 million people in 100 countries with handwashing messages. This has been achieved by competitors like Unilever, Procter and Gamble, Colgate Palmolive coming to the same table with international organisations like Unicef, USAID amongst many others. This has already inspired many similarly impactful initiatives. But much more is needed, especially at community levels and in hard-to-reach areas where more resources are required as well as running water in some cases.
Lastly, businesses must become resilient. As the markets shift with every announcement from the World Health Organisation or national leaders about the virus within their borders, businesses must consider how best they can safeguard their employees, and their role in the wider economic system itself. We have seen banks offering mortgage breaks for those affected, we also need to look at how businesses responding to basic needs of those going into self-isolation to avoid further spread of the virus.
This crisis has the potential to reshape business and society, one way or another. The direction that takes depends in a large part on how business reacts with regards to emerging opportunities and wider social responsibilities
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