CORE Platform Annual Report 2016-2017
CORE Platform Annual Report 2016-2017
CORE Platform Annual Report 2016-2017
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<strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong><br />
<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2016</strong>-<strong>2017</strong>
Editorial<br />
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been on the agenda of many businesses and<br />
government bodies in Europe for a number of years. In the case of Malta, however, this concept is<br />
still in its infancy. Therefore, it was on the initiative of Her Excellency, the President of Malta, Marie-<br />
Louise Coleiro Preca, that a task force made up of business institutions and non-governmental<br />
entities was set up. This eventually led to the creation of <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong>, the national platform on<br />
CSR in Malta, in September 2015.<br />
<strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong>, which is under the patronage of Her Excellency, is made up of the business<br />
institutions in the country, namely the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry;<br />
the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA); the Malta Employers’ Association (MEA);<br />
the Malta Business Bureau (MBB); the General Retailers and Traders Union (GRTU); and SOS Malta,<br />
which is representing the NGOs.<br />
I was appointed President of this new organisation on behalf of the Malta Chamber of Commerce,<br />
Enterprise and Industry. <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> also took on Ms Maria Rauch, who had been instrumental<br />
in its formation, as Chief Executive Officer.<br />
The first step we needed to take was that of applying to become members of CSR Europe, which<br />
is a powerful entity based in Brussels that lobbies on CSR at European level. Maria and myself<br />
met up with representatives from CSR Europe in Brussels on May <strong>2016</strong> and were very welcomed,<br />
especially since Malta had yet to feature at a European level when it came to CSR initiatives.<br />
As the board of <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> had decided to opt against individual membership, various<br />
companies were approached for sponsorships and here I must sincerely thank AX Hotels, Alfred<br />
Mizzi Foundation, Tumas Foundation, Corinthia Group of Companies, Demajo Group, Bank of<br />
Valletta, Advise Ltd., as well as Farsons Foundation and Think Ltd. who are sponsoring our website.<br />
Moreover, I must mention the Malta Community Chest Fund, which very kindly agreed to give us<br />
a grant to help <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> find its feet. Without your generosity and support, we would not be<br />
here today.<br />
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Unfortunately, Maria, who lived in Germany, had to leave <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> due to logistical<br />
problems, which made it very difficult to work on local projects. Thus, Matteo Privitelli joined the<br />
organisation in May <strong>2016</strong> as its Executive.<br />
In order to create an action plan for CSR, <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> has held meetings with a vast number<br />
of stakeholders, including SMEs, large companies and corporations, NGOs, government ministries<br />
and entities, as well as local councils. As priorities, the following actions were established:<br />
• To encourage small and medium size businesses to take part in CSR activities, mainly in<br />
their localities;<br />
• To create with local councils a priority task to be handled, such as the maintenance of<br />
playgrounds;<br />
• To take part in European CSR-related projects;<br />
• To take part in local projects with NGOs, local communities, and businesses;<br />
• To create CSR Awards.<br />
In the meantime, <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> has been engaged in a number of local and European projects.<br />
The local projects include “Volunteer Siema”, “Working Roma”, “Resilient Communities”, “The<br />
President’s Trust Employment Initiative”, “The President’s Trust Youth Empowerment Initiative”,<br />
“Leaders For A Day”, as well as a project on playing fields within our local communities. The<br />
European projects <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> is involved in are “EUTalent”, which focuses on apprenticeships,<br />
and “Stereotypes in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)”, which<br />
is to start in the coming months and will be focusing on reducing the gap present between the<br />
girls and boys that opt for STEM subjects at school and at University.<br />
Due to our limited resources, we have not been able to do more, but we know that we are<br />
working in the right direction and, hopefully, we will be able to gain more momentum in the<br />
months to come.<br />
We had, since the very beginning, told the Government that Malta is the only EU country that<br />
does not have a national CSR Plan. Even so, this was acknowledged and we offered to co-ordinate<br />
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this with all the Ministries concerned yet, until today, we have not managed to get this done. This<br />
is something that is urgently needed for Malta. We need to have a national plan outlining our<br />
country’s priorities, so everybody can focus and work in the same direction.<br />
In Malta, a lot is being done by companies, especially the larger ones. Moreover, tremendous<br />
work is being done by the various NGOs, however we need a national plan to clearly set out the<br />
priorities in order to achieve better outcomes. We also need to link all the CSR activities to the<br />
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for<br />
Sustainable Development and are a list of 17 goals aimed at promoting peace and prosperity for<br />
all, ending all forms of poverty, fighting inequalities, and addressing climate change issues. There<br />
are many businesses that do not know about them and actually also do not know that they are in<br />
some cases already working towards them, such as the introduction of PVC panels, to name just<br />
one example. Thus, more awareness needs to be created.<br />
Therefore, as a concluding remark, <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> will always be committed in supporting any<br />
CSR initiatives happening both locally and abroad, and will always try to use its resources to<br />
encourage businesses to adopt policies that will help their employees and their communities.<br />
This will help them in the long run as more people will start choosing them over their competitors.<br />
After all, CSR pays your business!<br />
Helga Ellul<br />
President<br />
<strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong><br />
3
4
Local Projects<br />
CSR Day<br />
On the 16th of June <strong>2017</strong>, <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> collaborated with the President’s Foundation for<br />
the Wellbeing of Society and organised an event to promote Corporate Social Responsibility<br />
by facilitating networking between NGOs and businesses at local and national level, under the<br />
patronage of Her Excellency, The President of Malta.<br />
The event aimed:<br />
• To encourage networking between the three main stakeholders: NGOs, small and largescale<br />
businesses and Local Councils;<br />
• To increase awareness and inform all stakeholders involved about the benefits and the<br />
process required to access Corporate Social Responsibility;<br />
• To make businesses more aware of the rewards when investing in Corporate Social<br />
Responsibility;<br />
5
• To support, facilitate and encourage networking between all stakeholders within their local<br />
community and at national level.<br />
• To share good practice of projects where Corporate Social Responsibility was adopted.<br />
<strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> and the PFWS hosted Ms. Celia Moore, a renowned international speaker from<br />
CSR Europe as keynote speaker. Dr Marie Briguglio then facilitated a panel debate entitled “Sharing<br />
good local practice”.<br />
6
Leaders For A Day<br />
In October <strong>2016</strong>, Mrs Helga Ellul represented <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> at the ‘Leaders For A Day’ event lead<br />
by Junior Achievement Young Enterprise and hosted by the Malta Chamber of Commerce. The<br />
main objective of the initiative was to offer students graduating from the Company Programme<br />
(CP) and Entrepreneurial Skills Pass (ESP) the opportunity to experience further how a company<br />
is run by shadowing some of Malta’ top CEOs. On the occasion, there were 23 Alumni and CEOs<br />
participating who, together with the Minister for Education, the Honourable Evarist Bartolo, signed<br />
a letter of intent to continue supporting Entrepreneurship Education activities.<br />
Apart from this, the event, which is<br />
expected to be held annually, aimed to<br />
promote further the CP and the ESP among<br />
the business community, schools, as well as<br />
the decision-makers in Malta.<br />
7
The President’s Trust Employment Initiative<br />
<strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> is currently supporting the President’s Trust in its Employment Initiative, which<br />
aims to help young people, who are coming from difficult backgrounds and are going through<br />
personal challenges, find employment in Malta.<br />
On Wednesday 1 st March<br />
<strong>2017</strong>, representatives from<br />
the business sector and<br />
from institutions and unions<br />
including the Malta Employers’<br />
Association and the General<br />
Retailers and Traders Union<br />
met to discuss how the<br />
initiative can move forward<br />
and develop further.<br />
The President’s Trust Youth Empowerment Initiative<br />
<strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> is helping the President’s Trust in its Youth Empowerment Initiative, which aims<br />
to help give a voice and empower young people in the South-East region of Malta and allow them<br />
to become active citizens. This will be done primarily through the setting up of a skatepark in<br />
Birżebbuġa.<br />
On the 26 th of May <strong>2017</strong>, a<br />
meeting with stakeholders<br />
was held at San Anton Palace<br />
in Attard. This meeting was<br />
addressed by Her Excellency,<br />
Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca,<br />
President of Malta. Further<br />
follow-up meetings are being<br />
planned for the coming months.<br />
8
Volunteer Sliema<br />
Volunteer Sliema is a Partnership between SOS Malta and Core <strong>Platform</strong> and is supported by<br />
Sliema Local Council and Capua Hospital. This multi-stakeholder local partnership will develop<br />
an innovative community based response to the needs of vulnerable elderly people to ensure<br />
a reduction of their social exclusion, whilst contributing to a reawakening of the spirit of selfgiving<br />
and active citizenship within the community through the development of a local volunteer<br />
scheme. This project will be a flagship project to celebrate 25 years of SOS Malta. This project will<br />
seek to ensure vulnerable elderly and people with a physical disability feel more mobile and able<br />
to access health care and essential services, as well as engage in leisure and community activities.<br />
Additionally, the project will seek to provide emotional support to these groups of people through<br />
the creation of a Community Volunteers Network.<br />
This pilot project will build upon both the existing VolServ project and Tal-Kultura – the volunteer<br />
programme for Valletta 2018, which currently together have approximately 500 volunteers. The<br />
scheme will also utilise the existing the SOS Malta car and the wealth of volunteer management<br />
experience SOS Malta holds and will contribute to the SOS Malta core pillar of work of social<br />
inclusion and solidarity with vulnerable groups. The proposed pilot project would take place in<br />
Sliema. This area is one of the main shopping hubs with a wide catchment area.<br />
9
The project will include 3 key elements:<br />
1) The development of a local volunteer network of 20-30 volunteers to ensure a pool of<br />
support for the elderly;<br />
2) The development of a community transport scheme to promote the mobility of the elderly<br />
and those with a disability;<br />
3) The establishment of a local stakeholder network who support the implementation of the<br />
scheme.<br />
Resilient Communities<br />
<strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> is partnering with SOS Malta to promote cross-sector partnerships for the<br />
implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at a local level. The vision behind<br />
this project, which is part-financed by the Malta Community Chest Fund, stems from the need to<br />
begin addressing the 17 goals for sustainable development committed to by UN world leaders in<br />
2015.<br />
To this end, this particular project considers the pivotal role that businesses could play in<br />
complementing ongoing and new local efforts to establish a more equitable, inclusive<br />
and sustainable society but also recognises the need for transformative change in order for<br />
companies to integrate environmental, social and good governance approaches into their<br />
business framework. The idea is to address existing barriers to involvement of businesses in<br />
the SDGs, including lack of knowledge; lack of leadership and a lack of potential gains through<br />
different means including:<br />
i) The creation of an online hub on Responsible Business which will provide an interactive<br />
space for learning and knowledge exchange;<br />
ii) A public campaign which will engage citizens and encourage them to push businesses and<br />
local authorities to become engaged in tackling SDGs at a local level;<br />
iii) Organising participatory workshops involving all relevant actors to foster a cooperative<br />
environment;<br />
10
iv) Working towards the development of local sustainable development action plans for<br />
certain localities.<br />
The specific objectives of the project are as follows:<br />
1) Increasing awareness amongst the Maltese business sector, consumers, civil society and<br />
local government regarding the SDGs and the collective responsibility of all to take action<br />
for their achievement;<br />
2) Engaging all players in constructive dialogue and action on Responsible Business for the<br />
achievement of global sustainability; and<br />
3) Contributing to behaviour change of Maltese businesses through awareness and<br />
engagement and thus encourage the incorporation of responsible policies, practices and<br />
collaboration with local stakeholders to ensure local community development approaches.<br />
Working Roma<br />
This project is funded by the<br />
European Union – JUST/2014/RDIS/<br />
AG/DISC – which aims to provide new<br />
tools, based on the exchange of best<br />
practices, to prevent intolerance in<br />
the labour market towards migrants.<br />
The majority of working age migrants and foreigners in Central and Southern Europe do not<br />
have a job and many have been out of work for a considerable length of time.<br />
The high levels of unemployment of working migrant people are most often perceived as a<br />
problem of scarce supply-side in the labour market, due to low levels of education and professional<br />
qualifications of migrants and foreigners. However, there is another dimension, less spoken and<br />
recognised, that is discrimination.<br />
11
Discrimination significantly aggravates the situation and causes systemic exclusion from<br />
employment for a large number of the migrant and foreign communities.<br />
<strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> has partnered with Paragon Europe and has embarked on a mission to overcome<br />
this discriminatory environment in Malta and within the Maltese business community.<br />
In May and June <strong>2017</strong>, the first workshops on the issue were held at the premises of the Foundation<br />
for Human Resources Development in Sliema and Paragon Europe in Mosta respectively, with a<br />
number of entrepreneurs, employers, as well as the migrants and foreigners themselves actively<br />
participating in the debates.<br />
12
Playing fields in our local communities<br />
<strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> is collaborating with the Local Council Association (LCA) as well as with the<br />
councillors of Maltese communities themselves with regards to the playing fields found in our<br />
localities. The aim of the initiative is to preserve and maintain already-existing playgrounds that<br />
will not only serve as spaces for recreation and relaxation, but also as safety hubs for the children<br />
of the area.<br />
On Tuesday 07 th March <strong>2017</strong>, a number of mayors, executive secretaries, and other representatives<br />
of local councils in Malta, together with Dr Marc Sant, President of the LCA and representatives of<br />
<strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> met to discuss the problems and obstacles that are hindering the development of<br />
playing fields. This event was held at the President’s Kitchen Garden in Attard.<br />
Many interesting points were raised, however, the most important one concerned the heavy<br />
costs that the local council must incur to maintain and insure the playing field. Therefore, for this<br />
reason, <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> is communicating with the Malta Developers Association (MDA) as well as<br />
with insurance companies to see ways of how these costs and burdens could be reduced.<br />
13
European Projects<br />
EUTalent<br />
<strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> is one of 13 National Partner Organisations engaged in the CSR Europe-led<br />
EUTalent project. The main objective of this Erasmus+ funded project is to involve and<br />
encourage Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to offer more, and better quality,<br />
apprenticeships.<br />
<strong>CORE</strong> <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> is one is one of 13 of National 13 National Partner Organisations engaged in the CSR Europe-led<br />
Partner EUTalent SMEs Organisations play project. a big The role main engaged<br />
today's objective of this Erasmus+ funded project is to involve and<br />
in<br />
encourage economy,<br />
the CSR Europe-led<br />
Small and<br />
EUTalent<br />
Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to offer more, and better quality,<br />
apprenticeships.<br />
especially in countries like<br />
project. The main objective of<br />
Malta, which depend heavily<br />
this Erasmus+ funded project is<br />
SMEs on play them. a big SMEs role have in today's a lot of<br />
to involve and encourage Small<br />
economy,<br />
potential when it comes to<br />
and Medium the provision Enterprises of development (SMEs)<br />
especially in countries like<br />
to offer and more, and better quality,<br />
Malta, which depend heavily<br />
apprenticeships. employment opportunities, as<br />
on them. SMEs have a lot of<br />
well as apprenticeships. The<br />
SMEs potential play a when big role it comes in today’s<br />
problem here is that, very<br />
the provision of development<br />
economy, often, especially SMEs lack in the countries sufficient<br />
and<br />
like Malta, information, which depend heavily<br />
employment opportunities, as<br />
on them. resources, SMEs and have experience a lot of to<br />
well as apprenticeships. The<br />
potential provide when it high comes to quality the<br />
problem here is that, very<br />
provision apprenticeships.<br />
of development and<br />
often, SMEs lack the sufficient<br />
employment opportunities, as well<br />
information, To support SMEs this<br />
as apprenticeships. The problem<br />
resources, EUTalent and project experience aims to to<br />
here is that, very often, SMEs lack<br />
provide create support high structures quality in<br />
the<br />
apprenticeships.<br />
sufficient information, resources,<br />
the form of European and<br />
and experience national learning to provide networks. high<br />
To support SMEs this<br />
14<br />
EUTalent project aims to<br />
create support structures in<br />
the form of European and
quality apprenticeships. To support SMEs this EUTalent project aims to create support structures<br />
in the form of European and national learning networks.<br />
The main aims of this project include:<br />
The The main aims aims of this of project this project include: include:<br />
The main<br />
<br />
aims<br />
Increasing<br />
of this project<br />
awareness<br />
include:<br />
on the benefits of apprenticeships,<br />
Increasing<br />
√ Increasing<br />
awareness opportunities<br />
on the benefits for<br />
of apprenticeships,<br />
Increasing awareness on the benefits of apprenticeships,<br />
Increasing<br />
of apprenticeships,<br />
uptake<br />
opportunities<br />
of apprenticeships,<br />
for<br />
Increasing opportunities for<br />
uptake<br />
Improving<br />
of apprenticeships,<br />
uptake of apprenticeships,<br />
the quality of the<br />
√ Increasing Improving<br />
apprenticeships,<br />
opportunities the quality for of uptake the of<br />
Improving the quality of the<br />
apprenticeships,<br />
apprenticeships,<br />
Identifying and removing<br />
Identifying<br />
policy obstacles<br />
and removing<br />
to engage in<br />
√ Improving Identifying the and quality removing<br />
policy of the<br />
apprenticeships.<br />
obstacles to engage in<br />
apprenticeships,<br />
policy obstacles to engage in<br />
apprenticeships.<br />
apprenticeships.<br />
√ Identifying and removing policy obstacles to engage in apprenticeships.<br />
EUTalent offers a number of benefits to businesses. These include, among other things,<br />
EUTalent offers a number of benefits to businesses.<br />
enhancing<br />
These include,<br />
the reputation<br />
among other<br />
of the<br />
things,<br />
employer<br />
EUTalent offers a number a of benefits of benefits to businesses. to These These include, include, among among other other things, things,<br />
enhancing<br />
and business,<br />
the reputation<br />
as well<br />
of<br />
as<br />
the<br />
attracting,<br />
employer<br />
and<br />
enhancing the reputation of of the employer<br />
and<br />
and<br />
making<br />
business,<br />
the<br />
as<br />
most<br />
well as<br />
of,<br />
attracting,<br />
new and<br />
and<br />
diverse<br />
and business, business,<br />
making<br />
as well as as well attracting, as attracting, and making and the<br />
talent,<br />
the<br />
whilst<br />
most<br />
equipping<br />
of, new and<br />
youngsters<br />
diverse<br />
with<br />
making most talent, of, new the and most diverse of, new talent, and whilst diverse equipping<br />
the<br />
whilst<br />
necessary<br />
equipping<br />
skills for<br />
youngsters<br />
the current<br />
with<br />
labour<br />
talent,<br />
youngsters<br />
whilst<br />
the necessary with<br />
equipping<br />
the necessary<br />
youngsters<br />
skills for the<br />
with<br />
current<br />
market. This<br />
skills<br />
will<br />
for<br />
then<br />
the<br />
lead<br />
current<br />
to easier<br />
labour<br />
access<br />
the necessary skills for the current labour<br />
labour market. market. This will then lead to easier access<br />
of talented<br />
This will<br />
potential<br />
then lead<br />
employees.<br />
to easier access<br />
market. This will then lead to easier access<br />
of of talented potential employees.<br />
of talented potential employees.<br />
If you or your business want to become involved in this project, or would like to know<br />
If you<br />
more<br />
or your<br />
about<br />
business<br />
the project,<br />
want<br />
CSR<br />
to become<br />
Europe,<br />
involved<br />
or <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong>,<br />
in this project,<br />
kindly<br />
or<br />
contact<br />
would<br />
Mrs<br />
like<br />
Helga<br />
to know<br />
Ellul on<br />
If you or your business want to become involved in this project, or would like to know<br />
more<br />
15<br />
helga.ellul@good-advise.com<br />
about the project, CSR Europe,<br />
or<br />
or<br />
Mr<br />
<strong>CORE</strong><br />
Matteo<br />
<strong>Platform</strong>,<br />
Privitelli<br />
kindly<br />
on matteo.privitelli@core.org.mt.<br />
contact Mrs Helga Ellul on<br />
more about the project, CSR Europe, or <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong>, kindly contact Mrs Helga Ellul on<br />
helga.ellul@good-advise.com or Mr Matteo Privitelli on matteo.privitelli@core.org.mt.<br />
helga.ellul@good-advise.com or Mr Matteo Privitelli on matteo.privitelli@core.org.mt.
Tackling Gender Stereotypes in the field of Science,<br />
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)<br />
<strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong>, together with CSR Europe and 14 other National Partner Organisations, has<br />
embarked on a mission to address the stereotyping of education and career choices relating to<br />
STEM and to dissolve the persisting imbalance in the STEM field.<br />
Project activities include:<br />
• Setting up of business-education partnerships to deliver awareness-raising activities for 13-<br />
19 year-old students, their parents, and company representatives to address and question<br />
stereotypes and attract women into male-dominated STEM sectors;<br />
• Developing a toolkit and provision of training for national partner organisations on how to<br />
set-up business-education partnerships on STEM and gender Stereotypes;<br />
• Having an impact assessment of activities;<br />
• Facilitating a learning network for companies at both national and EU level that aims<br />
to improve the impact of a company’s STEM programme (with an emphasis on tackling<br />
gender stereotypes).<br />
• Developing and providing training, online courses and a guide for teachers so that they are<br />
equipped with all the tools necessary to combat gender stereotypes.<br />
The Executive Committee of <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> is comprised of the Malta Chamber of Commerce,<br />
Enterprise and Industry (President), GRTU – Chamber of SMEs (Secretary), SOS Malta<br />
(Treasurer), the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, the Malta Employers’ Association,<br />
the Malta Business Bureau, BoV Foundation, Alfred Mizzi Foundation, TUMAS Foundation,<br />
Farsons Foundation, and AX Holdings Ltd.<br />
16
“For more and better corporate citizenship”<br />
GET IN TOUCH<br />
The address of <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong> is:<br />
The Malta Chamber of Commerce,<br />
Enterprise and Industry,<br />
The Exchange Buildings,<br />
Republic Street<br />
Valletta, VLT 1117<br />
Malta<br />
You can find <strong>CORE</strong> <strong>Platform</strong>’s website by following this link: http://www.core.org.mt/<br />
Our Facebook page can be accessed by following this link: https://www.facebook.<br />
com/<strong>CORE</strong><strong>Platform</strong>Malta/