Attacking the Olympics Won't Help Darfur

By Neville Isdell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company
Published in the Financial Times, April 18, 2008

Over the past few weeks, there have been calls on sponsors of the summer Olympic Games in Beijing to step up public pressure on China to help end the tragic humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

One group has issued a "report card," which claimed that Coca-Cola and other Olympic partners had been "silent" on Darfur. Their approach is flawed. It judges concern by one narrow measure -- the degree to which one pushes a sovereign government in public -- while ignoring what we and others are doing every day to help ease the suffering in Darfur.

Let me be clear. We have been actively engaged in Darfur for two years. We have been a proud Olympic partner for the past 80 years. We support the athletes and the global unity the Olympics celebrates.

As a business, we recognize that our role is important, but it is also inherently and appropriately limited. We are neither a government nor the United Nations, but we can and must be a catalyst for change through actions that are appropriate for a business to take.

To help in Darfur, we are focusing our resources where we believe they can make the greatest difference in saving lives and reducing suffering.

Rather than make public statements, we have chosen a more direct and, in our view, more effective route to help address the staggering human suffering in Darfur.

Our approach encompasses: immediate relief to those on the ground; investments to address water, one of the conflict's underlying causes; and efforts to bring local and international stakeholders together to develop long-term solutions.

More than a year before a group first criticized the sponsors in public, Coca-Cola was working with non-profit partners, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, to support work in Darfur that has saved lives.

Our support helps deliver relief supplies and provides healthcare services in field hospitals and mobile clinics. While these important steps address the consequences of the conflict, we have also been working on one of its root causes. Having lived in Africa for 26 years, I have seen the crises and conflicts caused by water scarcity.

While the lack of clean water in Sudan and its role in starting this conflict has been often overlooked by the international community, it has been the focus of much of our funding.

The Coca-Cola Company has committed at least $5 million to programs that address water needs in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan. This is targeted at providing new sources of clean water to those displaced by the fighting and on building water and sanitation projects that allow people to return to their homes.

We believe these actions are more effective than public statements because they improve lives on the ground and address one of the underlying causes of the conflict.

In addition, we are working with others in the search for longer-term, socio-political solutions. Through the UN Global Compact, the UN Development Programme and the International Business Leaders Forum in London, we are working to bring stakeholders together to focus on business's role in building sustainable communities in Sudan.

We hope that by convening forums with Sudanese businesses and government entities, international and Sudanese non-governmental organizations, academics and UN agencies we can help advance peace and development efforts.

As the longest continuous Olympic partner, we believe in the purposes and objectives of the games: a venue intended to be free of conflict, a forum for non-political engagement, fair play and celebrating the greatest in individual sporting achievement.

We understand the power of the games. We understand the concept of the "Olympic truce," which allows nations with disparate points of view to come together in free and open sporting competition. We also understand that the games offer a global stage that is attractive to those who want to use it for their own issues.

We would ask those groups and individuals to find a way to use the openness of the Olympics in a positive way, rather than to attack and undermine one of the world's last remaining unifying events.

For the complicated situation in Sudan to be resolved, every element of society must play its part. Criticism of Olympic sponsors from well-intentioned people will not stop the violence in Darfur.

We encourage concerned people to join us in supporting the NGOs that are providing critical assistance to those in need and working with others to build more sustainable communities in Sudan.