NPO KYODOREN Visits the Work Together Foundation - Nov.9,2009

NPO KYODOREN Visits the Work Together Foundation

 

NPO KYODOREN performs grassroots international exchange projects for social participation and the acquisition of labor rights for the disabled. Twenty-eight people from both this organization and a Japanese specialists’ group for social entrepreneurship for the disabled visited Korea from Nov. 7 to 9 to participate in the ‘Korea-Japan International Seminar on Social Economy (Social Enterprises)’ hosted by the Research Institute of the Differently Abled Person’s Right in Korea (RIDRIK).

 

After the visiting group joined the seminar on labor rights and social integration for the disabled in Asia, they visited and were introduced to the Work Together Foundation (WTF) as a social enterprise supporting entity on Nov. 9.

They had an especially large interest in CSR activities by private companies to support social enterprises. They asked a series of intensive questions on the background of cooperation between private companies and social enterprises, its market size, strategies to attract the participation of companies and so forth. 
 

Answering questions, Director LEE Eun-Ae of the WTF explained three necessary factors for inviting private companies to support social enterprises:

 

1)    Companies: Recognition of social responsibility and acting power 2)    Government: Understanding of and systemic encouragement for civil society and social enterprises’ governance 3)    Civil society: Power to negotiate with the central government through professionalism in social entrepreneurship, transparency in management and policy suggestion for social enterprises   The visiting group showed a willingness to continue to raise recognition of social enterprises to support the disabled and seek strategies to attract cooperation from private companies back in Japan in the future.  Nov.9,2009   Translated by CHOI Eun-Young Edited by Patrick Ferraro