Corporate Social Responsibility v Community Development: The Role of Business in Socio-Economic Rights.”
Introduction
Companies are understood to be corporate citizens. They do not exist in a world of their own or in a vacuum but are in fact considered as citizens by the law. The law accords them rights , and with rights comes responsibilities that are owed to the community in which they exist. It is in light of this understanding that this paper seeks to explore the role of business in socio-economic rights in the light of corporate social responsibility and community development. In addressing this, this paper begins by giving a general understanding of corporate social responsibility and community development. It is followed by a discussion of the part played by businesses or the part that businesses can play with regards to realization, fulfilment, promotion and protection of socio-economic rights. Whether these roles by businesses are played much better from the perspective of corporate social responsibility or from a background of the need for community development will be discussed next. The writer will give an independent alternative way in which the role of businesses in protecting, promoting and fulfilling socio-economic rights can be enhanced before giving a conclusion.
Community Development
According to the United Nations, community development is understood to be “a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems.” Community members would include companies which are understood to be citizens of the community. The role of corporates as community citizens in this regard becomes either to ensure that they are empowered to effect sustainable positive change in the community or to empower their compatriots to effect positive sustainable change in the society. The International Association for Community Development has developed International Standards for Community Development Practice which calls upon citizens and groups of citizens to maintain commitment to rights, democracy, equality and environmental and social justice as guidelines in any community development agendas they undertake.
Corporate Social Responsibility
It is a concept which entails that companies should fulfil their obligations “to the broader society within which they exist and operate and being responsible for their actions in the society.” This idea demands companies to be good citizens who take into consideration or are sensitive of the impact of their existence and operations in the community they exist. According to King III Report, “they must give direct rather than incidental consideration to the legitimate interests and expectations” of those in the society who are likely to be affected by their decisions, operations and/or existence. It expects companies to think beyond profits and be capitalists with a social conscience.
Role of business in socio-economic rights
Socio-economic rights are understood to be a second generation of rights. They “give people access to certain basic needs necessary for human beings to lead a dignified life”. They are found in the Zimbabwean Constitution from Section 71 to Section 84. They include but are not limited to the right to food, education, water, health and environmental rights. They are comprehensively encompassed in the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights.
In that regard, business can play an important role in promotion of these rights by marrying their profit agenda with promotion of socio-economic rights. This calls for businesses to ensure that at the centre of any of their projects, they prioritize socio-economic rights that are much more related to the line of work they are pursuing. One quite important and relevant example is that of pharmaceuticals and the right to health care. Generally pharmaceuticals have intellectual property related rights to patent their drugs. However, in times such as these where the world is battling COVID-19, pharmaceuticals that may pioneer a COVID-19 vaccine need to make central the right to health care in any decision to make available to the markets, the COVID-19 vaccine. This may include making the drug accessed free of charge.
Businesses play an important role in socio-economic rights by providing remedies where a violation has been committed. This arises from an understanding that businesses themselves or their personnel can be responsible for violation of socio-economic rights. Where such happens, if businesses can create independent quasi-judicial mechanisms responsible for provision of remedies, it saves the victim of the human rights violation time and money considering that acquiring a remedy through the courts of law can be very expensive. This would require for instance mining companies to provide an independent platform not only for its workers but also for the community to report and get a remedy where they violate environmental rights. The platform can also include an avenue for negotiations with citizens on ways in which such mining companies can prevent future violations of environmental rights.
In almost all cases, enjoyment of socio-economic rights depends on availability of resources. For members of the community in which a company exists to enjoy the right to education, there needs to be resources to build schools, pay teachers, purchase learning materials. Although it is an obligation of the government to do so , private sectors can always intervene especially in Africa where lack of resources is a national anthem for almost all states which in turn usually hinders enjoyment of socio-economic rights. The writer argues that companies are better placed to help in such scenarios because of late; companies have become financially powerful citizens with revenues that exceed a nation’s GDP. In an endeavour to increase value to their organizations whilst promoting enjoyment of socio-economic rights, companies can work with Universities, sponsoring infrastructures and necessary funds in researches where in the end the company gets ownership rights of an invention it sponsors from a University and the University and students involved get authorship rights. In that way, society is able to enjoy the right to education and the company benefits from the research or invention.
Community Development v Corporate Social Responsibility in socio-economic rights
Community Development calls for empowerment of citizens for better protection of socio-economic rights. Empowering citizens enables them to have the necessary knowledge and skills. When businesses are empowered through education, they know the importance of socio-economic rights and how their activities may violate or promote these rights. Businesses need to be educationally empowered to know their positive and negative duties in protection of socio-economic rights. Duties to abstain from doing certain actions that may violate these rights and duty to do positive actions to ensure protection or enjoyment of these rights. The International Standards for Community development require businesses to prioritize principles of equality, rights and democracy in their community related practices. This approach ensures that socio-economic rights are central to business activities. However, Corporate Social Responsibility is a discretionary approach to effecting change in the community. Businesses can cherry-pick what to do and what not to do. It does not give human rights related obligations, let alone, guidelines to how businesses approach socio-economic rights.
Alternative way
The best approach that brings together businesses and socio-economic rights for the betterment of the community is the Business and Human Rights Model. These are principles endorsed by the United Nations Human Rights Council which brought the Protect Respect and remedy Model in 2011. This framework shifts from a Corporate Social Responsibility approach to a human rights based approach in the way businesses relate to the community. For instance, Anjin Mining Company is known to have violated environmental rights in Chiadzwa. Implementing the Business and Human Rights Framework not only protects environmental rights but also ensures that Anjin is held accountable.
Conclusion
Companies exist in the society as corporate citizens which can claim rights including socio-economic rights to the extent that they apply to them. As members of the society, companies have a role to protect, promote and fulfil socio-economic rights. This role can be achieved, as noted from the discussion through community development or through corporate social responsibility roles. However, the paper argues that adopting the Business and Human Rights approach to business and socio-economic rights is best.
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