KeNICs' Corporate Social Responsibilty Framework

Generally, CSR is understood to be the way organizations integrate social, environmental and economic concerns into their values, culture, decision making, strategy and operations in a transparent and accountability. This helps to establish better practices within the organization to create wealth and improve society they reside in.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has described CSR as the business contribution to sustainable economic development. Building on a base of compliance with legislation and regulations, CSR typically includes commitments and activities pertaining to:

• Corporate governance and ethics
• Health and safety
• Environmental stewardship
• Human rights
• Human resource management
• Community involvement, development and investment
• Corporate philanthropy and employee volunteering
• Customer satisfaction and adherence to principles of fair competition
• Anti-corruption measures
• Accountability, transparency and performance reporting
• Supplier relations, for both domestic and international supply chains.

These elements of CSR are frequently interconnected and interdependent, and apply to any organization wherever they operate.

The Management and Business Case for CSR

Businesses plays a pivotal role in job and wealth creation in society, thus CSR is a central management concern. It positions organizations ability to proactively manage risks and take advantage of opportunities, especially with respect to its corporate reputation and broad engagement of the stakeholders.

The business case for CSR differs from one organization to another depending on a number of factors. These may include the organizations size, products, activities, location, suppliers, leadership and reputation. A coherent CSR strategy based on integrity, sound values and a long-term approach offers clear business benefits to companies and contributes to the well-being of society.

The success of any CSR can be measured through performance indicators. A key measure indicator for CSR is sustainability. Potential benefits of implementing a CSR include:

• Better anticipation and management of an ever-expanding spectrum of risk.
• Improved reputation management.
• Enhanced ability to recruit, develop and retain staff.
• Enhanced operational efficiencies and cost savings.
• Improved ability to attract and build effective and efficient supply chain relationships.
• Enhanced ability to address change.
• Access to capital.
• Improved relations with regulators.

Considerations

In view of these emerging trends in CSR, KENIC proposes the introduction of a CSR framework that addresses the following focus areas and activities. The KENIC management and board will develop specific strategies related to the focus areas and activities to be addressed in each fiscal/financial year. KENIC will allocate approximately 20% of its annual gross turnover to CSR related focus areas and activities.

i) Corporate Governance and Ethics

KENIC will be committed to upholding high standards of corporate Governance where the Board and management will be accountable and responsible for maintaining those standards. These standards are in part or full defined and articulated in the KENIC Articles and memorandum of association, KENIC Operating Policies, Scheme of Service, Board Charter, KENIC mission and Vision, and other board approved policies. Its is proposed that budget allocations for Human Resource management should cater for Corporate governance training.

ii) Corporate philanthropy

To ensure that KENIC continues to build relations with its community at large, corporate philanthropy will be form an integral part of its annual activities. A corporate philanthropy proposal detailing proposed activities, budgets, timelines and obligations will be presented to the board for approval at the beginning of each fiscal/financial year. It is proposed that 10% of the CSR budget be allocated to Corporate Philanthropy activities for each year.

iii) Human resource management

Human Resource plays a pivotal role because human capital has become a key intangible value driver that contributes substantially to a organizations success and sustainability. By enforcing an organization's values and beliefs, and helping the corporate culture adapt to shifting environments, human resource makes certain that an organization is always well positioned to meet the challenges it faces. Simply recognizing that people are an organization's most important resource puts Human Resources very prominently in the CSR. Employees are the face of the organization, therefore human resource management practices promote personal and professional employee development, diversity at all levels and empowerment. In this respect, KENIC will endeavor to promote fair labor practices, competitive wages, benefits, training and a safe, discrimination-free, family-friendly work environment to its human resource. It is proposed that 50% of the CSR budget should be allocated to HR Management and Corporate Governance related activities.

iv) Community involvement and development

In addition to corporate philanthropy, KENIC will participate in community related activities in its region in order to build strong links with the community. All employees of KENIC and the Board will be actively encouraged to participate in community initiatives and act as KENIC ambassadors. The focus areas in community development are Education, Mentorship programs, Environmental activities and Empowerment and gender related activities. KENIC staff and board members are encouraged to allocate time and resources to academic institutions to create awareness and mentor future citizens to leadership. Further, KENIC will continue to offer its Internship program to the community as part of its mandate and CSR.

v) Health and Safety

To achieve its objective, KENIC will strive to provide a safe and healthy working environment for its staff and community. For its internal clients (staff), the organization will provide for medical insurance cover with a reputable Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). Training on Safety and emergency procedures will be offered to members of stuff as part of the training curriculum and disaster preparedness program. Further Members of staff will be encouraged to participate in community initiatives that promote good health, awareness on incurable and curable diseases and overall safety. It is proposed that budget allocations of at least 7. 5% of the CSR annual budget should be allocated to supporting health and safety activities.

vi) Environmental Stewardship

KENIC will strive to meet the legal and regulatory requirements with regards to environmental issues. The organizations staff will be encouraged to consider and promote good environmental practices through the review of purchasing processes, reduction in the consumption of resources such as energy, water and the recycling or other waste management initiatives. On a regular basis will review its environmental initiatives in tandem with global trends. Further, KENIC will encourage its staff and board to participate in local environmental initiatives to foster strong relations with the community and environmentalists. Environmental stewardship should result in costs savings for KENIC, however it is proposed that budget allocations of at least 7.5% of the CSR annual budget should be allocated to supporting community based environmental initiatives and activities.

vii) Customer/Supplier Relations

In view of the unique nature of the ccTLD operations, Customers can also be suppliers (service providers). It is therefore important to build a strong working relationship in their relation as a customer and a supplier. Such considerations will ensure that they facilitate and support CSR related activities initiated by KENIC from time to time. The primary consideration is to ensure that our Customers/Suppliers uphold ethical business standards. KENIC will strive to promote and do business with Registrars that share a similar vision with relation to good citizenship and 'net citizen'. The Registrars should endeavor to uphold the terms of their accreditation agreement. KENIC will ensure that Registrar trainings and informal sessions are held to ensure customer satisfaction. The trainings will be held on a cost recovery basis hence budget allocations should be recovered. A plan for the annual training schedule will be presented to the board at the start of each financial year for approval.

viii) Accountability, transparency and performance reporting

To ensure there is accountability, KENIC will present its audited financial performance reports each year to its stakeholders at a General Assembly, the reports will further be placed on the KENIC website. Board meeting minutes and board papers shall be posted on the KENIC website. KENIC will further maintain mailing list services for communication with stakeholders that will include a searchable archive of past postings. A budgetary allocation of at least 25% of the CSR annual budget should be allocated to supporting accountability, transparency and performance reporting.