Dubai: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been integral to the operating philosophies of companies for many decades, who align philanthropy and volunteering as part of their company goals while fulfilling their business purpose.
In the UAE, many companies believe they have a responsibility to make towards both the community and environment and have been committed to include CSR as part of their corporate culture.
Having been 2017 declared as the Year of Giving, corporate entities were asked to share the vision they have for the coming year and explain how they have aligned the nation-wide initiative with new CSR programmes in the coming months.
Malabar Gold and Diamonds is one, who said it has firmly believed in contributing towards uplifting the less privileged in the society where it operates. Malabar Group CSR initiatives, which is the social wing of the Malabar Group, focuses on conceptualizing and implementing the CSR initiatives of the group.
A Dh50.31 million CSR programme saw a three year plan devised by the Group to deploy the funds earmarked for CSR initiatives based on the business projections, which are mandated and guided by the CSR policies of the company.
A Dh10 million donation was made to Al Jalila Foundation to support research in genetic diseases and disorders last year, which the Group said affects more than 350 million worldwide.
The company said it has a strong corporate responsibility scheme embedded in its system from the time of its inception in 1993. Over the years, their charitable trust has provided lifesaving drugs for over 650,000 patients and over 10,000 homeless benefited from it till date.
“Our CSR initiatives are directed towards serving communities through various projects in the areas of health, education, environment, women empowerment, and housing,” said Shamlal Ahmad, Managing Director of International Operations at Malabar Gold and Diamonds, noting that Malabar Gold and Diamonds is committed to spending 5 per cent of its profit in CSR activities through implementing projects in these areas.
He said the company’s CSR initiatives in the UAE have been active since they started operations in UAE in 2008 and continue to strengthen every year.
“We have always been keen supporters of philanthropic activities in our regions of existence and will continue being so. We strongly hope that ‘Year of Giving’ initiative will bring about more opportunities in during the year for companies like us to work with likeminded entities and contribute for the larger benefit of the society. We certainly will be a major part of this movement whenever possible across all three factors of the ‘Year of Giving’ initiative - social responsibility, volunteering and serving the country,” he said.
