Developing countries exchange ISO 26000 experience at workshop

A two-day workshop on the experience of developing countries in implementing and promoting the ISO 26000 guidance standard on social responsibility opened on 5 November in Geneva, Switzerland. Some 120 participants from about 70 countries participated in the workshop, which was organised by the Development and Training Services of ISO.

Participants at the ISO 26000 developing country workshop, held in Geneva. (Photo credit: ISO/Granier.)

ISO Secretary-General Rob Steele welcomed the participants. He said: “We are celebrating the second anniversary of the standard. This is the first time ISO has organised such an event on one specific standard and it shows the importance and relevance of the standard to developing countries.”

He underlined that during the development process of the standard, the involvement of developing countries was very important. Experts from 99 different countries contributed, over 40% of them from developing countries.

Beer Budoo, Director of ISO Development and Training Services, declared: “The objectives of the workshop are to share the experience on the uptake of ISO 26000 in developing countries, discuss the way forward for NSBs and equip them with ideas, information and tools to develop action plans to ensure the further uptake of ISO 26000. This is a dynamic situation in which NSBs have a central role to play in the way forward.”

He quoted some activities linked to ISO 26000, such as the project within the Middle East-North Africa region with the objective of creating a pool of national experts on social responsibility in eight pilot countries to support its implementation.

Speakers such as Jonathon Hanks from South Africa and Martin Neureiter from Austria gave participants an overview of ISO 26000 from the start of its development based on their involvement in the process, as well as the challenges linked to social responsibility. They described the development process of ISO 26000 that brought together experts representing industry, consumers, government, labour, non-governmental organisations and organisations representing service, support, research and others. They said it was a fascinating process and that the membership of developing countries grew during the project, showing how ISO 26000 has become an important global document.

This workshop will be followed by an open forum on ISO 26000 from 8-9 November.