KUWAIT, April 28 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's Second Conference on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), organized by Multaqa Media Group in collaboration with the UN Development Program (UNDP) Kuwait office, kicked off its activities on Saturday.

The opening session of the two-day event witnessed the launch of the first website on CSR in Arabic, offering sufficient data on the issue and the role of Kuwaiti institutions in that respect.

A documentary tackling the history of social responsibility and solidarity, focusing on the state of Kuwait, was also screened during the opening session.

Organizers announced the issuance of the "Kuwait Corporate Social Responsibility Guide" in Arabic.

The guide is divided into three parts, the first of which includes CSR definitions and some successful experiences at the international level. The second tackles CSR activities of several Kuwaiti institutions while the third reviews local, regional and international examples that have helped enhance the CSR concept.

Addressing the opening session, UNDP-Kuwait programs' director Risli Burisli underlined the UN's great interest in CSR, saying the program used the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) as a guide.

He added that the eight MDGs, ranging from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015, form a blueprint agreed upon by all the world's countries and all the world's leading development institutions.

Burisli pointed to the role by the private sector which he referred to as an important partner for achieving these goals.

He said the UNDP-Kuwait office encouraged the private sector to play a bigger role in development, noting that they had managed to create strategic partnership and cooperation with the sector for the good of the society.

This second conference continues to focus on creating awareness of the important role that CSR now plays in business prompted by the belief that, once CSR has been acknowledged as a factor in the private sector's contribution to social development, "It Simply Works Better" as the conference's slogan notes.