European Union Chamber of Commerce

Beijing CSR Forum

Forum Meeting and Chair Election
Date & Time: Thursday, 14 March 2013, 9:00-11:00am
Venue: European Chamber Beijing Office, C411A, Beijing Lufthansa Center, 50 Liangmaqiao Road, Chaoyang District  

Fee: Free of charge

Dear CSR Forum Member,

The European Chamber is pleased to invite you to the next CSR Forum meeting which will be held on Thursday 14 March 2013, starting at 9am at the European Chamber Beijing office.

At this meeting we will have the great pleasure of welcoming Ms. Sanna Johnson, Executive Director CCR CSR, who will give a presentation and lead a roundtable discussion on Young Workers in China.

We will also hold the annual elections for the CSR Forum Chairperson and Vice Chairpersons at this meeting. 

Tentative Agenda

1) Chair and Vice-Chair Elections

2) Presentation from CCR CSR

3) Q&A  

4) Any other business

To attend this meeting, please register with Ms. Anna Stalnacke at astalnacke@europeanchamber.com.cn by COB Tuesday 12 March 2013.

Presentation from CCR CSR:

China is facing challenges related to its workforce in terms of talent shortages, increased labour costs and difficulties in retaining staff. Many factories have high staff turnover due to the fact that the young workers are not –contrary to previous generations – satisfied with the monotone work along the assembly line, comfortable with the lack of dialogue with their managers and have larger career aspirations and hope on life development than the factories can fulfil. At the same time, many factories are using student workers as an additional workforce although the regulatory framework for interns is unknown and unclear to many HR staff.

In March 2012, the Children’s Rights and Business Principles (CRBP) were launched. The principles are developed jointly by UNICEF, the UN Global Compact and Save the Children and these are the first comprehensive set of principles to guide companies on the full range of actions they can take at the workplace, marketplace and community to respect and support children’s rights. An increased knowledge of the characteristics of young workers will lead to better staff retention and improved brand image. In addition, supporting young workers would position companies in the forefront using the new CRBP.

The focus of the presentation will be the regulations regarding Young workers and Student workers in China and the characteristics and challenges these workers brings for management and companies at large. The aim is to strengthen the knowledge regarding this issue as well as the implementation of the recently adopted Children’s Rights and Business Principles.

Speaker:

Sanna Johnson has been working with development since 1989, starting her carrier with the Swedish Red Cross. During the 1990 Sanna worked for a Swedish Child rights organisation, was establishing the Swedish IT company Netch Technology in New York as well as leading the youth work of the UN 50th Anniversary among many other assignments. In 2000, Sanna started to work for the Olof Palmes International Center as regional director for the Western Balkan & Middle East as well as being in charge of dialogue initiative’s for Indonesia, the occupied Palestinian territory and Zimbabwe. In 2004 Sanna was appointed as International director of the Palme Center. In 2006, Sanna was recruited by Save the Children as Regional Director of Middle East and North Africa (Morocco to Iraq) based out of Beirut Lebanon. In August 2012 Sanna was appointed as Executive Director for the Center for Child Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility in Beijing China.

Chair Elections

The CSR Forum Chair and Vice Chairs play a crucial role in driving the CSR Forum. The responsibilities of the Chairpersons include taking a leading role in communicating key messages to the Chinese and European government and planning and steering the CSR Forum meetings and events. The required characteristics of a Chair and Vice Chair are a senior industry representative with relevant industry expertise who has the time and willingness to support the group.

According to European Chamber internal best practices intended to promote new strategies and approaches for the operation of the working groups and forums, the European Chamber recommends that a Chairperson should not exceed three years in his/her role and highly encourages all members interested in taking a leading role to put their name forward for election. However, there is no maximum term duration for Chair and Vice Chair positions.

Should you be interested in putting yourself forward for candidacy for election, please firstly read the attached document which outlines the roles and responsibilities of a Working Group/Forum Chairperson. To apply, each prospective candidate should submit a short bio and a motivation letter to Ms. Anna Stalnacke by COB Thursday 7 March 2013 at astalnacke@europeanchamber.com.cn. In the email, please clearly state whether you intend to run for the position of Chair or Vice Chair. Candidates running for the role of Chair, if not successfully elected, can opt to be included as a candidate for Vice Chair. For the CSR Forum, it is possible to have at most one Chair and two Vice Chairs.

In accordance with European Chamber internal guidelines, the Business Manager will send another email to the Forum one week prior to the election with the bios and motivation letters of all candidates attached. Voting for the election must be conducted in person at the Forum meeting (one vote per company) after each candidate has been given an opportunity to give a short speech on why they would like to run for election. The duration of the term for both Chairs and Vice Chairs is one year. All elected Chairpersons must sign the attached Code of Conduct following election.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Anna Stalnacke at astalnacke@europeanchamber.com.cn. 

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