Rights and Humanity is establishing an Annual Congress to inspire, inform and empower leaders at all levels of society. The aim of the Congress is to strengthen realisation of human rights and responsibilities as a legal framework and moral compass for solutions to global challenges.
Ubuntu, the main theme of the event, could have significant implications for business, and seems to becoming a quite widely held belief/view held outside of Africa, advocated by people such as Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, and Bill Clinton, but what is it?
The word 'Ubuntu' originates from one of the Bantu dialects of Africa, and is pronounced as uu-Boon-too. It is a traditional African philosophy that offers an understanding of ourselves in relation with the world. According to Ubuntu there exists a common bond between us all and it is through this bond, through our interactions with our fellow human beings, that we discover our own human qualities. The Zulus say ' Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu', which means that a person is a person through other persons. We affirm our humanity when we acknowledge that of others.
Nelson Mandela has given a definition as:
'A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?'
This is interesting because here at Tomorrow's Company, we work towards re-aligning the interests of business to fit with those of societies, so that what is good for one is good for both. I'm not sure if this is exactly what Ubuntu would mean, but I think its very close. And I do think companies are slowly moving this way.
At the moment, companies will think 'how does affect me, is this in my interest?' and then 'how does this affect society, is it in society's interest'. Well, most anyway. Some will do it the other way around, and quite a few won't think about the societal aspect at all..
It would be interesting (and a good thing) if there was no distinction, if company and society considerations were both the same. I think this is still a long way off, but I'm optimistic that we will get there eventually.
Probably.
Hopefully.
Maybe.