Use CSR to improve people’s wellbeing – Otabil

The General Manager of the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Mr Bernard Otabil, has underscored the need for organisations to refocus their Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) to ensure substantial and long-term improvement of the life of people.

He said the principle of CRS was not limited to philanthropic gestures but it also imposed a commitment on organisations to behave ethically and stay economically viable as well as comply with state laws.

Sadly, the problem in Ghana is that companies and organisations over concentrate on “philanthropic responsibility” at the expense of economic, legal and ethical responsibilities, he said.

Mr Otabil gave the advice at a two-day training session for journalists on oil and gas/financial and business reporting on August 6.

He said journalists must question organisations about all forms of social responsibilities to ensure they (companies) respond appropriately to the needs of communities and workers.

“Don’t let them use you as a manipulation to get what they want, question them, CRS could be used as a manipulative tool that does yield the desired benefits,’’ he said.

He said CRS plans should go closely with a community-engagement plan that would seek to sufficiently involve community members in order to derive the desired benefit of enhancing lives in the long run.

Journalists from different media houses were treated to topics such as CSR, Auditing and Reporting in the Oil and Gas Industry-a new Frontier for financial and business journalism, the dynamics of downstream oil marketing and financing.

Others are the role of Oil Marketing Companies, Bulk Distribution Companies and National Petroleum Authority, Risk Assessment and Emergency Response System as well as an overview of the Oil and Gas Industry.