Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to give keynote address at the United Nations in Geneva

For the first time, the International Leadership Symposium on Ethics in Business will be held at the United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. Organized by the World Forum for Ethics in Business in partnership with the International Association for Human Values and the World Bank Institute, the conference will bring together prominent leaders from business, politics, academia, civil society and faith‐based organizations to dialogue on the pressing need to strengthen human values and ethics in business.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of the Art of Living and International Association for Human Values, will inaugurate the conference and address the audience in what is promising to be a vivid discussion on “Good governance and transparency through shared values”.

According to the UN, good governance is consensus oriented, participatory, following the rule of law, effective and efficient, accountable, transparent, responsive, equitable and inclusive. Transparency also plays a very important role.

In the private and public sector, in corporations and charities, across the world, improving efficiency and effectiveness, ensuring accountability and tackling corruption, ensuring a combination of shared values, good governance and accountable systems are the recipes for long term success.

In recent years, the global economic crisis with major financial, social and environmental challenges have shaken the world and forced leaders to rethink the current paradigms of governing businesses and public sector. Value creation is today clearly perceived as a balance between earning wealth and doing public good, with increasing recognition that combining profitability and responsibility is the way to a sustainable future.

The Symposium will provide an opportunity to major stakeholders from all sectors to have a fresh look at current political and economic paradigms. The dialogue will challenge existing belief systems and identify shared values as a roadmap for a sustainable future. Inspirational, international examples will be showcased providing ideas that can be scaled up for global impact.

Amongst the much awaited top speakers are:

• Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, The former Secretary-General of the United Nations
• Mr. Amir Dossal, Head, Gobal Partnerships Forum
• Mr. Michael Izza, CEO, The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
• Mr. Badr Jafar, President, Crescent Petroleum, Co-Founder, Pearl Initiative
• Mr. Jo Leinen, Member of European Parliament
• Mr. Michael Liebreich, CEO, Bloomberg New Energy Finance
• Ms. Ann-Marie Lizin, Honorary President of the Belgian Senate
• Prof. Ruud Lubbers, Former Prime Minister, Netherlands
• Mr. Alojz Peterle, Member of European Parliament, Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia
• Dr. Sanjay Pradhan, Vice President, World Bank Institute
• Ms. Jyoti Sanghera, Chief, Human Rights and Economic and Social Issues Section, Research and Right to Development Division, OHCHR
• HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder, International Association for Human Values

The conference format, which is a combination of pan­el discussions, leadership roundtables and interactive workshops, engages the global delegates into reflect­ing on the theme of ethical leadership and making de­cisive plans for the way ahead.

The detailed program can be obtained from the conference website.

Advocate of Ethics in Business and Good Governance

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has long been a strong advocate of ethics in business and good governance, and has in the past three decades spoken at numerous symposiums and conferences on the mechanisms of combating corruption.

He continuously reminds us that ‘trust is the backbone of business’. According to Sri Sri ‘corruption starts where belongingness ends.’ ‘Lack of sense of belongingness and greed causes corruption. These issues cannot be tackled only through law; it needs social commitment and awareness amongst people.‘

Registration

The participation at this conference is free of charge and by invitation only. To apply for participation, kindly send an email to [email protected] or visit http://wfeb.org/geneva

About the World Forum for Ethics in Business

The World Forum for Ethics in Business is a registered public interest foundation based in Belgium (N° 822.216.342). The mandate of the Forum includes all manners of pursuing and establishing the indispensable ethical foundations of business in a globalized world. Providing a platform for the promotion and defence of ethical approaches to business enterprise and corporate governance and facilitating global dialogue and fostering cooperation among the private sector, the academic world, government agencies, international organisations, the media, spiritual as well as secular communities and all other stakeholders are among the organisation’s main objectives.

The Conference was first launched on the inspiration of HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in 2003 and evolved in the formation of the World Forum for Ethics in Business as a registered public interest foundation with its international conference annually held at the European Parliament.

Impressions from previous World Forum for Ethics in Business conferences

Slovenia, March 2013

European Parliament, Brussels, 2012