Business Daily (Nairobi)
E. Neville Isdell
22 April 2008
opinion
Nairobi — Over the last few weeks, there have been calls on sponsors of the coming Summer Olympic Games in Beijing to step up public pressure on China to help end the tragic humanitarian crisis in Darfur. This week, one group issued a "report card," which claimed that Coca-Cola and other major Olympic partners have been "silent" on Darfur.
Their approach is flawed. It judges concern by only one narrow measure - the degree to which one pushes a sovereign government in public - while completely ignoring what we and others are doing everyday to help ease the suffering of people on the ground in Darfur.
Let me be clear. We have been proactively engaged in Darfur for two years. We've been a proud Olympic partner for the past 80 years. As a business, we recognise that our role is important, but it is also inherently and appropriately limited. We are neither a government nor the United Nations, but we can and must be a catalyst for positive change through actions that are appropriate for a business to take.
To help in Darfur, we are focusing our efforts and resources where we believe they can make the greatest difference in saving lives, and reducing suffering on the ground.
Rather than make public statements, we have chosen a more direct and, in our view, more effective route to try to help address the staggering human suffering in Darfur.
Having lived in Africa for 26 years, I've seen first-hand the crises and conflicts caused by water scarcity.
While the lack of clean water in Sudan and its role in starting this conflict has been often overlooked by the international community, it has been the focus of much of our funding.
The Coca-Cola Company has committed at least five million dollars to programs that address the water needs in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan. Our investments are targeted at providing new sources of clean water to those displaced by the fighting. Our funding is focused also on building new water and sanitation projects that allow people to return to their homes.
We believe these actions are more effective than public statements because they actually improve lives on the ground and address one of the underlying causes of the conflict.
As the longest continuous Olympic partner, we believe in the purposes and objectives of the Olympic Games: a venue intended to be free of conflict, a forum for nonpolitical engagement, fair play, and celebrating the greatest in individual sporting achievement. We understand the power of the Games.
The writer is Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company.
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