Presentations, panel discussions, demonstration of successful examples of social responsibility implemented by private business representatives, work of social enterprises, and sharing of Slovak experience made clear how important and timely cooperation of the non-governmental and business sectors is for the development of social responsibility, promotion of employment of vulnerable groups and strengthening of the eco-system of the region.
The meeting participants discussed what challenges the business sees in supporting the employment of persons with disabilities and what the opportunities are in the local labor market for vulnerable groups.
Nino Giorgadze, the head of private business and social enterprise, who also led the panel discussion of the meeting, shared her business history, social entrepreneurship experience, and information gained during the study visit to Slovakia with the participants.
Sharing the experiences of young startuppers and representatives of social enterprises was interesting.
Soso Mezvrishvili, social cafe “Space”, Jondo Tsertsvadze, startup “King of pickles”, Nino Chalauri, “Chikori” dried fruit enterprise, Badri Tsikubadze, enterprise “Enlili”, Sofio Tuaeva, social entrepreneur, and Ivane Goglidze , “Kula” Ltd talked about their initiatives.
Elene Chkheidze, an expert on corporate social responsibility, led this part of the meeting.
Tako Rodonaia, corporate communications specialist, Mariam Devrisashvili, representative of the Alliance of Social Enterprises, Nino Sukhitashvili, representative of local business, environmental protection specialist of Heidelberg Cement company, Mariam Gogava, non-governmental organization “Komli” and Nino Lipartiliani, Head of Khashuri Municipality also took part in the discussions. She spoke about the municipal programs supporting the employment of people with disabilities.
At the end, the participants emphasized the importance of developing the cooperation of the local non-governmental sector with business and social entrepreneurs operating in the region and raising awareness about social responsibility among local businesses.
“Society Biliki” plans to organize similar meeting in Marneuli and Zugdidi.
The meeting with the representatives of the Shida Kartli business sector was held in the framework of the projects “Supported Employment and Optimization of Services in the Labour Policy in Georgia” and “Civil society initiative: sustainable, open and accountable civil society organizations for the development of Georgia”.
„Society Biliki“ implements the projects with the financial support of Slovak Aid and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
