International Fair of Social Projects

On the  4th  International Fair of Social Projects “Through Partnership – to Social Welfare and Sustainable Development”. 

Charity and Mercy in the Activity of Minsk Capital Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers.

On our round table I represent PA MCAEE in which I take position of Chairman of Charity and Social Programs. MCAEE unites over 250 enterprises in its structure.

The sources of charity in business were widely spread in Russia before the Revolution. Many merchants thought that building a church or a temple as their duty. They built hospitals for the poor, schools for peasants children. Those names as Morozov, Tretyakov were synonyms of charity… Although the Revolution  turned down the notion “charity”, it was proclaimed as “the survival of the bourgeois system…” There was no such notion as charity during the Soviet times. The government declared its “social course” using the motto “everything for a person – everything is in the name of a person” and prohibited any charity to socially unprotected levels of population inside and from without, it used only the notion “patronage”… 

Measuring your business within the world history we will get only a moment. The first cooperatives and small enterprises have been created no long than 20 years ago. Despite of absence of governmental support, infrastructure and common negative attitude of public opinion they from their first steps turned into settlement of social problems that flow from the role of entrepreneurs in our society. In fact as a matter of fact entrepreneur is at the same time an employer, owner, producer of goods and services, taxes payer, innovator, investor etc.

The source of social responsibility of entrepreneurs have been formed from here.

Within the past times active processes of identification of its own significance took place in the entrepreneurial community. Entrepreneurs have their own view of social interaction models – they are ready to claim more responsibility, to play more important role in social processes, surely in with the definite conditions.

I would like to say important thing: now MCAEE unites entrepreneurs who are socially not indifferent. They are people who make high requirements mostly to themselves.

Already on the stage of entering into the Association every entrepreneur signs a package of  voluntary moral and social responsibilities, stated in the “ Honour Code of Minsk City Entrepreneur”, “Honour code of MCAEE member” and others.

And these responsibilities are not abstract but are some Constitution followed by all members of the Association.

We do not need to pretend being socially responsible – we are actively trying to be such people. MCAEE signed the Global Compact initiated by Mr. Kofi Annan in January 1999. The official start of this initiative took place in July 2000 in the UN Headquarters. At this time it was announced that the main task of the Global Compact is development of business social responsibility, participation in solving the most crucial problems of the society globally and locally as well. They also told about the 10 ground principles that the Compact called the business circles for being guided by in its business activity.
 
In the course of practical activity our work can be divided into several parts. The first and the most important task is removal of defects in the issues of internal justice of processes of economic activity. Surely such justice as entrepreneurs understand. Without creation of effective search of compromises in such issues our future is rather sad.

A clear example of this is the Decree №300 01.07.2005of the President of the Republic of Belarus that in fact prohibited any gratuitous help from legal entities.

Nevertheless our Association makes social activity and charity owning to its possibilities.

    1.       We hold regular actions to collect and transmit economic and legal literature to places of imprisonment. In fact it is well known that many entrepreneurs are imprisoned for economic crimes.
    2.       We assists students and graduates in passing probation periods and employment.
    3.       In MCAEE we have corruption hot line where any entrepreneur can apply for free. Cell phone 3999-775. We hold the action “Entrepreneurs are Against Bribes and Duties”.
    4.       Our Association members give money to children’s houses, children’s hospitals, education agencies.
    5.       We hold charity meetings with the Afghan war veterans and participants of liquidation of consequences of the Chernoble Atom Station catastrophe.
    6.      We have collected money for building a temple in Syomkovo village. 
    7.      MCAEE staff members hold regular free workshops-consultations for entrepreneurs from all regional and some district centres of Belarus. 

Many entrepreneurs make charity privately.

   For example,
    1. installation of Fuko pendulum in Belarusian National Technological University;
    2. purchasing of diagnosis medical equipment for hospitals;
    3. regular help in holding charity concerts and evenings for invalids. Trips of children-invalids to the Circus and morning performances in McDonald`s were organized. They held regular material help to children`s education and medical agencies.