Home ›› 12 Jun 2023 ›› Corporate
The United Nations Global Compact Network Bangladesh celebrated the 1st Integrity Day 2023 under the theme “Enabling Good Citizenship and Integrity through Collective Action’’ at the Lakeshore Hotel in Dhaka’s Gulshan area.
The event brought together leaders from the private sector, civil society, the maritime sector, and academia, according to a press statement.
Chief guest Yasir Azman, chief executive officer of Grameenphone, delivered the opening address, and he mentioned the importance of leading by example: “Good Business is Sustainable Business”, and is built upon “Transparency and Honesty”.
The first-panel discussion brought together cross-industry leaders including Fakhrul Hasan, general manager of Human Resources at SQUARE Pharmaceuticals, Warisul Abid, chief people and sustainability officer of SQ Group, Afreen Huda, chief human resources officer of IDLC Finance and Syed Ariful Islam, project lead of Maritime Anti-Corruption Network and ex-director general of Shipping Department.
The session was moderated by Md Rubaiyath Sarwar, managing director of Innovision Consulting. The cross-industry discussion shed light on ground realities, challenges and best practices related to promoting integrity in the workplace as well as their supply chains. The panellists also highlighted the importance of having well-defined values and embedding them into the culture of their organisations for sustainable change.
The second-panel discussion brought together leaders from the academic landscape to discuss the role of academia in achieving good citizenship and integrity for the next generation of leaders who will be entering the workplace. The panel comprised Professor Imran Rahman, vice chancellor of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), Professor Dr M Lutfar Rahman, vice chancellor of Daffodil International University (DIU), and Md Rashedur Rahman, executive director of Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship Center (ICE) of the University of Dhaka. The panellists shared the roles that their institutions are playing, along with how academia can engage with the private sector and civil society to embed good citizenship and integrity within the youth. Tahsinah Ahmed, executive director of Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC) moderated the session.
The two-panel discussions were followed by a student debate between the debate clubs of North South University (NSU) and the University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh on the motion, “Accountability Should Begin with the Public Sector, Not the Private Sector”. NSU team who were against the motion emerged as winners of the immersive and competitive session.
In his closing remarks, Korvi Rakshand, chairman of JAAGO Foundation shared there is a need to deploy a collective approach when it comes to upholding and promoting integrity. Even though it may take a while, a collective approach would lead to sustainable impact in the long run.
