Our recent networking event was a success!
The Ethics Practitioners’ Association (EPA) celebrated the first anniversary of our launch on Global Ethics Day. This year, 17th October, was the Carnegie Council’s 5th annual Global Ethics Day. Inspired by Earth Day, it was an opportunity for organisations around the world to rally together, explore the meaning of ethics and share those #globalethicsday 2018 activities widely on social media.
The EPA took a decision to continue celebrating their anniversary each year on Global Ethics Day since this would give the organisation an ideal springboard to share best practice on matters of ethics.
Stephan Bezuidenhout, CEO EPA, gave a status update on progress, what the EPA has done and what we are currently doing. The EPA has been working towards achieving South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) accreditation and we are confident we will expand our membership substantially in the years to come.
Cynthia Schoeman of Ethics Monitor and a Director of the EPA, explored the meaning of ethics on Global Ethics Day. She examined the question “Is there such a thing as a global ethic, i.e. a set of universal values? If so, what are these values?” She said it was imperative that ethics informed the massive advances in the world’s capability in areas such as biotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI). Without an ethical influence, we risk benefiting the rich while increasing inequality and creating a new “useless’ class”. Food for thought! Several fortunate delegates won autographed copies of Cynthia’s book.
Johanna van Wyngaard, MTN Group Senior Manager – Ethics and a Director of the EPA, shared how MTN are embedding ethics management practices across their footprint. She discussed how MTN was integrating ethics into their business model and emphasized that this was an ongoing process.
Puseletso Makhura, Senior Manager MTN SA, shared her idea of “Press Pause”, an initiative encouraging employees to step back and question any suggestions or ideas which raised red flags in listeners’ minds. This concept earned her a place as a finalist in the first 2018 The Ethics Institute (TEI) ethics initiative competition in which the EPA was part of the judging panel.
The event also marked the distribution of the very first joint initiative between TEI and the EPA – printed copies of The Ethics Office Handbook. Copies are available from The Ethics Institute (TEI) or can be downloaded on https://tei.org.za/
Professor Leon van Vuuren, Executive Director of TEI, handed out copies to Stephan Bezuidenhout, CEO EPA and to all participants.
A big thank you to MTN for their generous hospitality and to all participants for making this event a success!
To be a part of this exciting initiative join here https://stagingenvironment.epa-africa.com/getinvolved/
