Economy
It has been a long time since corporate social responsibility overtook the criteria of charity and paternalism to become a supportive tool of social change and political organization. Such an approach has been implemented by Isabel Noboa, President of Nobis Consortium, a pool of Ecuadorian companies which, under the umbrella of the Nobis Foundation, engaged 13 years ago with development of human resources and training of the needy to undertake productive activities and foster initiatives in the fields of education, health, housing, technology, tourism and culture.

Noboa, named the Businessperson of the Year in her country of origin and recognized by América Economía Magazine among the most influential business leaders in the region, visited Caracas as a guest speaker at the 9th Symposium on Social Responsibility, hosted by the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Venamcham) Social Alliance. There, among others, she noted: "Through the Nobis Foundation, we take care of more than 100,000 beneficiaries annually and conduct training programs for small businesspersons, Afro-descendants and indigenous people. We also further housing programs; work on health and tourism, in addition to sponsoring joint programs with the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) and the (Ecuadorian) government."

Are these programs a spontaneous initiative or due to a legal provision?
It has been on our own initiative. We deem it important to take up the commitment to make changes in the social environment through technical training and involvement of the underprivileged, even in the political field. I think, though, that so far we have lacked solidarity in the task of financing and backing the projects of these social sectors; in the task of achieving equal opportunities.

Is it possible, from the private business, to promote social and political changes which, in principle, are the job of governments?
Sure! Politics emerges from needs. Political leaders must respond to the desires of a social group and even the whole country. Private business, together with social development organizations and the government, should define development plans consistently with the proposals made by communities. A better environment is a need which benefits all of us. Businesses should form part of communities, because in Latin America, there are 190 million unprotected and 70 million in extreme poverty.

Is such an amount of down-and-outs the result of the conditions of social inequity imposed by the capitalist system?
This has been the case in the past, and we, as private business, are somewhat responsible for it, because rather than working for the poor, as done previously, we should work along with them; train them; back their projects; and accompany them to give rise to a middle class; which is what we need in our world.

Is it possible to do that under a government such as the current one in Ecuador?
It can be done with any and all governments. Our duty as private business and promoters of social development is to work in partnership with the government, with social development organizations, with the UNDP (United Nations Development Program), with the IDB. Therefore, there is a joint work, always with the poor, and with they playing the leading role.

However, both in Ecuador and in Venezuela, there are statist governments which increasingly grasp more and more powers, many of which belong to the private sector of the economy. Since their long-term objective is the removal of private business, social responsibility will die with it.
There cannot be social responsibility in the absence of private business. There is where we should show that working with the deprived sectors we can make the difference.

Translated by Conchita Delgado

Roberto Giusti
EL UNIVERSAL