Registration has opened for an Executive Course in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which is designed to elevate the role played by companies involved in the international jewelry and gemstone sector so that, through their own business practices, they become actively involved in the fulfillment of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, which form a blueprint agreed to by the international community to tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges.

The course, presented and prepared by a team of United Nations-sanctioned CSR experts from the University of Geneva, University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto, and MHC International, will comprise the first Executive CSR Course offered by the World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF).

The course will take place in Antwerp, Belgium, from June 19 to June 22, and is being hosted by HRD Antwerp. CIBJO has set up a scholarship fund that will cover a large portion of the tuition fee for each participant.

“We’re talking about the establishment of a culture and tradition by which our industry gives back to the less fortunate members of the greater jewelry community, many of whom reside in areas where our raw materials are obtained. This is proactive CSR and I propose that it should set us apart from other luxury product industries. CSR should be recognized as an integral part of our industry’s DNA. It should define us as a community, and be a characteristic by which consumers recognize us,” explains CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri.

Course participants will study the principal models and strategies for Corporate Social Investment, their application in an industry dominated by smaller and medium-sized enterprises, the impact of CSR on supply chains and a variety of practical case studies.

One of the instructors will be Dr. Hanifa Mezoui, the former head of the NGO section at ECOSOC, who played an instrumental role in the establishment of the WJCEF, which was established by CIBJO in December 2008 with the purpose of instilling the principle of Corporate Social Responsibility in the international jewelry industry and trade.

A second track, which will involve the provision of CSR courses at nominal costs to a broader cross section the industry through national associations, is currently being developed.