Kaleidoscope (Issue 16) by Grameen Telecom Trust

KALEIDOSCOPE Newsletter Issue No. 16 January 2019

9th Global Social Business Summit

he 9th Global Social Business Summit (GSBS) took place in t h e c i t y o f Wo l fs b u rg , Germany on 8th- 9th November 2018. Yunus Centre and Grameen Creative Lab organized the annual event and led the conference on social business with the support of an automobile giant Volkswagen, Autostadt. The summit was framed by the Prof. Muhammad Yunus delivering speech

I N S I D E 9th Global Social Business 01 Summit 7th Social Business Academia Conference 03 (SBAC) IN-HOUSE NEWS l

New Year Celebration Program of GTT

IN-HOUSE TRAINING l

Training on Advanced Microsoft Excel in GTT HQ

Refreshers Training for The Field-workers

FOREIGN VISITORS l

A Visitor from France

Students from Taiwan and Brazil

GTT ABROAD l

One Young World Summit 2018

S o c i a l B u s i n e s s Yo u n g Challengers´ and Young Pioneers’ Meeting (6 th - 7 th November 2018). Besides this, the Social Business Academia Conference (6th- 7th Nov 2018) was held at the venue. A five-member team from Grameen Telecom Trust (GTT) led by Ms. Parveen Mahmud (the then Managing Director, GTT) participated in the event. The summit was dedicated to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN). Social Business will support existing and new initiatives within the framework of the SDGs in order to change the world and to build a new society. The three commitments of GSBS are sustainability, inclusiveness, and impact.

The concept of Social Business (SB) has been created by Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus with the intention to find solutions for humanity’s most pressing needs. For last nine years the Global Social Business Summit has been bringing together experts from private sectors, civil societies, governments, and academia to further advance the idea of social business. To increase awareness on this concept and to shape the SB community, the GSBS is organized in different countries. In the summit, there were captivating workshops, eyeopening keynotes, master-class events, networking sessions, and inspiring lectures for the participants and interest groups

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who met this year to discuss topics like plastic and recycling economy, solidarity, mobility, sports and food. In this regard, founder of Grameen Creative Lab Hans Reitz said that Plastic does not belong to the nature and they need a fundamental system change is needed to address the problem. Prof. Muhammad Yunus focused on his close relationship with the Volkswagen Group and the Autostadt, Wolfsburg. He shared his experience on how he bought his first Volkswagen during his first visit to Wolfsburg in 1955 and then set off on his arduous journey home to Bangladesh. "It is time to use our creativity, our wealth and resources and place the needs of people at the centre of our personal and economic thinking and actions," said Prof. Yunus. He wished for the future- "Let us work hand in hand together". The Summit focused on building a new civilization. Participants and speakers alike contribute to that idea throughout the sessions, workshops, and panel discussions. Experts from the private sector, civil society, governments, and academia - shared their ideas on how a new civilization can be built together giving everybody a better life and better future. They discussed on multiple issues covering circular economy, mobility, solidarity, sports and social business, food and its value, use of plastic, and so on during the two-day summit with a hope to see big smiles around. The prominent speakers explored ideas of how mobility and social business can create a better future for disadvantaged groups and improve people's life in a sustainable way of transportation. Circular economy got special focus at the Summit as the concept recognizes the importance of the economy needing to work effectively at all scales for large and small businesses, for organisations and individuals, globally and locally. The speakers stressed that transitioning to a circular economy represents a systemic shift that

builds long-term resilience, generates business and economic opportunities, and provides environmental and societal benefits. During a session on the last day, Prof. Yunus said, “It will be a circular economy instead of wasteful economy as they were discussing on building a new civilization.” Expressing hope over finding solution to any crisis, he also said, "Every crisis creates opportunity." Prof. Yunus emphasized on taking best advantage of opportunity that every crisis generates. He advised Volkswagen Group to convert itself into a Social Business or at least 'B Corp' to have a better image, referring to the company’s criticism when it admitted cheating emission tests in the United States three years back. Focusing on women and children in new civilization Ms. Nurjahan Begum, Adviser to Prof. Yunus, said, “Women and children are suffering in this world though they do not deserve this miserable life. To me, a new civilization means a world where nobody will suffer but will lead a happy life." She also wished to see a world which is free from poverty and, of course, a world without any boundary. The speakers in two days also shared dreams about the future of mobility, saying all are coming closer to a new era of mobility which will create an ecosystem of connected ways of transportation – for persons and for goods. They hoped that the future of mobility will be more sustainable, will create less traffic in large cities and will be less ownership-orientated by individuals. The notable personalities participated in the s u m m i t w e re : D r. M a r i a F l a c h s b a r t h , Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany; Lamiya Morshed, Executive Director of Yunus Centre; Gunnar Kilian, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, Human Resources and Organization; Ron Garan, former NASA Astronaut;

ISSUE NO. 16: January 2019

Roland Clement, CEO Autostadt; Hans Reitz, CEO of Grameen Creative Lab & Head of GSBS; Monica Yunus, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Sing for Hope; Camille Zamora, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Sing for Hope; Jean Bernou, President and Founder of Jean Bernou Consulting; Peter Schwarzen Bauer, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG; Ruben Vardanyan, Impact Investor and Social Entrepreneur; Hiltrud Werner, Board of

Management Volkswagen AG, Integrity and Legal Affairs and many more. The Global Social Business Summit (GSBS) 2018 ended on 9th November 2018, seeking genuine efforts to leverage the opportunities to create a new civilization driven by fostering co-operation between practitioners and stakeholders, through sharing and developing best practices learnt at the GSBS.

7th Social Business Academia Conference (SBAC) Prior to the main Summit, the Social Business Academia Conference (SBAC) was held on 6th – 7th November 2018 at the Autostadt, the headquarters of Volkswagen at Wolfsburg, Germany. The Social Business Academia C o n fe re n c e wa s j o i nt l y organized by Yunus Centre and the Grameen Creative Lab with the help of the Scientific and Organising Committee of SBAC. SBAC is a platform for networking of the growing network of Yunus Social Business Centres at universities around the world to share their experiences and future plans. Prof. Yunus, while opening the Social Business Academia Conference on Tuesday, said t h e a ca d e m i c s a re t h e navigators. "They’re the pilots who are navigating everyone

in the direction we should go as a global society. If we continue on the current path, we’ll head towards disaster with wealth concentration and environmental degradation." he said. He also said that academics have to find a way to get to a new destination which is sustainable for all of them and social business is one way to do that. There are currently 64 Yunus Social Business Centres (YSBC) in 28 countries. At SBAC, 37 papers on Social Business were selected from 52 submitted papers. 19 of them were presented at the SBAC covering issues like SDG, health, education and training, technology, marketing, financing social business, wealth concentration, and so on.

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IN-HOUSE NEWS New Year Celebration Program of GTT rd

On 3 January 2019 Grameen Telecom Trust (GTT) started with a New Year celebration program organized at its Social Business Learning Centre (SBLC). The program was inaugurated with a welcome speech by Ms. Parveen Mahmud FCA, the then Managing Director, Grameen Telecom Trust. She expressed her joy and thanked the executives, officers, and staffs for the successful completion of another year for the organization and emphasized on team building spirit. A video on the activities of GTT in 2018 and its future plans for 2019 was presented. Mr. Ashraful Hassan (CEO, Grameen Telecom Trust) also spoke on the occasion about the potential growth of the company and expressed where he hopes to see GTT in the near future.

Ms. Parveen Mahmud (Managing Director, Grameen Telecom Trust) and Mr. Ashraful Hassan (CEO, Grameen Telecom Trust) are with New Year Cake

In the program, Ms. Adiba Tarannum (Officer, PID) shared her experiences of participating in One Young World Summit-2018 in Hague, Netherland. A cultural show was also performed by the employees of GTT comprising of songs, poem, and puthi recitation. The program ended with cutting a New Year Cake and photo session. The New Year celebration program included Farewell of Mr. Fakhrul Islam (AGM, F & A). Mr. Fakhrul Islam also gave a speech.

In-House Training Training on Advanced Microsoft Excel in GTT HQ Training presents a prime opportunity to expand

Recently 54 of the GTT staffs participated in a

the knowledge base of all employees and those

training on Advanced Microsoft Excel and they

who receive the necessary training deliver better

completed it successfully. The training took place

service in their job.

in two segments, one session was in December

Grameen Telecom Trust provides necessary training to its staffs for their development.

2017 and another in 2018, in total 4 sessions. Each batch had 3 sessions with 12 participants of GTT.

ISSUE NO. 16: January 2019

The total number of sessions was 15 and the total number of participants was 54. A post training evaluation was conducted after each session.

Refreshers Training for The Field-workers GTT gives emphasis on training of the field-workers. Two Refreshers Trainings have been organized in January 2019. The first one was organized on January 18, 2019 at Arihazar Unit, Narayanganj. The training was conducted by Mr. Jayanta Kumer Bosu, Team Leader, SB and Program Support; K M Saleheen, Coordinator, Social Business (SB); and Md. Rafiquel Islam, Panel Officer, SB. Eleven Field Officers and one Area Manager attended the training. The second Refreshers Training was organized on January 25, 2019 at Nachol unit, Chapai Nawabganj. It was also conducted by Mr. Jayanta Kumer Bosu, Team Leader, SB and Program Support and Md. Shafikul Islam, Panel Officer, SB. Twenty-six Field Officers and two Area Managers attended the training.

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Foreign Visitors A Visitor from France Ms. Eve Bourguignon (France) visited Grameen Telecom Trust (GTT) on December 12, 2018 under exposure visit program organized by Yunus Centre. Being very passionate about Social Business (SB), she came to Bangladesh in order to learn about SB from the real practitioners. Mr. Jayanta Kumer Bosu, Team Leader of SB, GTT, shared his experience with her and replied to her queries on the journey of SB in Bangladesh. He was supplemented by Mr. Abu Nayeem, Manager of SB, GTT. The meeting ended with a photo session and writing comments on visitorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; book.

Students from Taiwan and Brazil A group of nine students from National Central University, Taiwan and UNICEUB, Brazil visited Grameen Telecom Trust (GTT) on January 24, 2019 to learn Social Business (SB) from the activities of GTT. Of them, eight students were from Taiwan and one was from Brazil. The visit was arranged under the Immersion Program of Yunus Centre. Mr. Abu Nayeem, Manager, SB along with Mr. Mehdi Imam, Deputy Manager, SB explained GTTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two wings of

Social Business- 1. Projects under Social Business Learning and Innovation Fund (SBLIF) and 2. New Entrepreneur (Nobin Udyokta -NU) program. The group consisting of Huang Shiang-Chi, Zeng Shu-Pei, Wei Chen-Shan, Hsu Fang-Chi, Liu MeiChen, Lee Hsin-Ju, Yang Chiao-Sung, Sung HuiHung, and Rafael Esteves Tabajara was accompanied by Mr. Rakibul Islam, Coordinator, Internship and Immersion Program, Yunus Centre.

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GTT Abroad One Young World Summit 2018 The One Young World Summit is known to be the largest international youth summit that gathers the brightest young leaders from around the world. Ms. Adiba Tarannum, an Officer in Project & Infrastructure Development Department (PID, GTT), took part in this Summit, she had s u c c e s sf u l l y m a d e t h ro u g h a competitive selection process to become one of the 10 participants who represented Bangladesh at the Summit as a part of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yunus Delegation Teamâ&#x20AC;? along with Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus himself. This year it was held at Hague, Netherlands th th from 17 to 20 of October. Around 1800 youths who are making positive changes in their respective capacities from 190 countries of the world attended the Summit. Adiba was selected as the Flag bearer to carry the flag of Bangladesh in the opening ceremony of the One Young World Summit. Three Nobel Laureates, state officials, heads of global companies, activists, actors, and athletes adorned the stage serving as Counsellors and Speakers at the Summit. There were Workshops and External Break-out Sessions where the delegates were provided with the opportunity to visit renowned

organizations and international agencies like Europol, OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons), MICT (United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals) etc. There was a separate QuestionAnswer Session with Prof. Muhammad Yunus where all the participants around the world got the opportunity to interact with the Nobel Laureate in person. Being one of Yunus Delegates it was a moment of great pride for Adiba when many delegates approached her to get enlightened about works of Muhammad Yunus regarding microfinance, social business, concept of 3 zeros and the contributions that Prof. Yunus-led organizations like Grameen Telecom Trust are making in Bangladesh. The constant essence of cooperation, social inclusivity, compassion and connectedness amongst all were the biggest take-away for her from the One Young World Summit 2018.

Published By Grameen Telecom Trust Corporate Office House- 132, Road-2, Block-A, Section-12, Pallabi, Mirpur, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh +880-2-9034733, +880-2- 9034744 +880-2-9023916 info@gtctrust.com www.gtctrust.com www.socialbusinesspedia.com

Advisor Prof. Muhammad Yunus Executive Editor Md. Ashraful Hassan

Editorial Team Jayanta Kumer Bosu Mehdi Imam Adiba Tarannum Abu Nayeem

Design Md. Uzzal Miah