Mumbai: UBM India hosted Giving Back – NGO India 2014, its annual CSR event today in Mumbai. The event witnessed the presence of leading CSR heads and key dignitaries from 
companies like Aditya Birla, HSBC, ACC, Jindal Steel, Nissan Motors etc. The event is aimed at creating awareness and addressing various causes from child education, women empowerment, poverty eradication to environment sustainability.
On the first day, the highlight of the event was the panel discussion that emphasized on Incorporating best practices of CSR and the role of corporates and NGOs in inclusive development. It was concluded that it is imperative for the public – private partnerships for the overall social development. With the New Companies Act, India is all set to become the first country to make the disclosure of CSR activities mandatory.
Commenting on UBM India’s CSR initiative-Giving Back- NGO India , Mr. Joji George, Managing Director, UBM India said,”As part of our commitment to create and promote sustainability among organizations and its impact on society, UBM India initiated Giving Back- NGO India, a platform for dialogue and action amidst NGOs, corporates and policy makers. The UBM India team and the participating NGOs are keen to turn yet another leaf of success with this year’s edition and look forward to participation of fraternity icons and industry representatives to further encourage and help the common cause of, together, giving back to the society.”
Kajal Aggarwal, said, “Today, being actors and part of the film fraternity makes us public figures and if we can leverage the so-called star power to influence our fans towards a good cause, it successfully renders a mass appeal to a cause and increases its impact by manifolds. Being associated with Giving Back – NGO India 2014 gives me a chance to addressing various causes from child education, women empowerment, poverty eradication in India.”
The panel discussion included key experts who are at the centre stage of developmental activity of CSR in India such as Aloka Majumdar, Head of Corporate Sustainability, HSBC, Ashok Sajjanhar, Secretary, National Foundation for Communal Harmony, Vivek Oberoi, Actor and Social Activist, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Spokesperson of All India Congress Committee (AICC), Gayatri Subramaniam, Chief Programme Executive – National Foundation for Corporate Social Responsibility, IICA and also present at the event Anshu Gupta, Founder, Goonj.
Today, there is a considerable amount of awareness and attempt towards building a sustainable India, amongst various sections of society. Giving Back – NGO India is the only platform of this size in India that brings these sections of society together and consolidates the attempts into a concrete and collective course of action. The theme for Giving Back – NGO India is Sustainability and the focus for participating NGOs in the 2014 edition is on Healthcare, Care for the Elderly, Children’s Rights, Women’s Empowerment & Restoration. Over 120 NGOs from every area of concern – Healthcare, Care for the Elderly, Children’s Rights, Women’s Empowerment and Restoration – participated in the event. Eligibility of NGOs was determined through a stringent 10-point due diligence process which has been conducted by Guidestar India.
Source : Sachin murdeshwar