JAKARTA – The consortium of Indonesian civil society led by the Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation (ICCO) has collaborated with Indonesia’s home ministry to implement the program of Responsible and Sustainable Business in Indonesia’s Oil Palm Plantations (RESBOUND) in 10 villages in North Sumatra province, and 10 villages in West Kalimantan province.
Heriyandi Roni, the head of cooperation facilitation center at the home ministry, said that the RESBOUND program has created a solid collaboration among the village administrations, oil palm industry players and the local people around the oil palm plantations. “They have implemented a number of activities to empower the villagers under the programs of corporate social responsibility (CSR) which are tailored based on the public needs,” Heriyandi said when addressing the virtual closing ceremony of the RESBOUND program on Friday, 25 February 2022.
“The program is aimed to intensify dialogs of stakeholders to improve the lives of oil palm workers, smallholder farmers, and all people involving in the upstream palm oil supply chain through the formulation of Community Corporate Social Responsibility (CCSR), which will help them to effectively and efficiently use village funds and companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs,” he said.
The implementation of the RESBOUND program has resulted in a guideline of CCSR, which is in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGPs). It has become a dialog guideline for palm oil stakeholders at the grassroots level.
The program implementation is also expected to get support from palm oil consumers in realizing proper and prosperous rural life, which requires the production of palm oil based on the principles of sustainability and responsibility.
“CSR programs are designed through dialogs of multi-stakeholders, including the local governments, and are always tailored to the need of local people living around the oil palm plantations. The success stories will be disseminated to other villages to inspire others to reach their own success stories,” he said.
During the same occasion, ICCO Indonesia Director Kiswara Prihandini expressed her appreciation to the delegation of the European Union (EU) to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam, and the Indonesian home ministry that have given tremendous support for the implementation of RESBOUND program.
“The good businesses are those that always prioritize the public welfare, environmental conservation, and mitigate the potential negative impacts to the environment. The businesses should be also fair and urge the consumers to buy products that are good for human health,” Kiswara said. (*)
Source: sindonews.com | Featured image via snrd-asia.org
