Lilongwe, Malawi, Jul 19, 2016 / 23:03 pm
Amid Malawi's booming industry in mineral extraction, the country's Catholic bishops and NGO partners hope corporations will help the wider community benefit.
"The role of uplifting poor masses is beyond government alone," Martin Chiphwanya, an official with the the Malawi bishops' conference, told a workshop for civil society organizations in Lilongwe, the nation's capital.
He said civil society organizations have a role to engage business firms, "especially those whose activities impact on the environment such as mining firms", so that they will view corporate social responsibility "as an important component of maintaining good rapport in communities."
"It is important that companies should attend to the interests and issues of the wider community by taking into account issues of corporate social responsibility," added Chiphwanya, who is acting director of the Malawi bishops' Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace.