Focus on corporate social responsibility

Dubai: Fifteen companies have already registered to compete for the Sixth Cycle of the Annual Arabia Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award 2013, which recognises companies’ social responsibility efforts in the MENA region.

April 8 marked the official launch of the award this year.

The number of applications is expected to rise to more than 70, as last year saw 58 applications from 17 different sectors from 11 Arab Countries, which were higher than the 2011 figures, which only saw 42 participants from 14 sectors from 10 Arab countries.

The official application submission period started on February 8 and will end on June 30. Applications that are completed after the deadline will lose one point for everyday of tardiness, Youshey Zakiuddin, Project Manager at Arabia CSR Network, said. The final date for late submissions is July 31.

Habiba Al Marashi, President of Arabia CSR Networks, said that the award aims to honour companies in MENA that have put effort in CSR and enforce CSR in general in the region.

“We also want to create a database on best practices in CSR in the region… our database now includes over 400 companies,” she said.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony on October 24.

This year’s cycle is called “Driving Sustainability through Corporate Citizenship”.

The Award is held under the patronage of Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman and CEO of Emirates Group and Chairman of Dubai Airports, and supported by the United Nations Global Compact for the GCC states.

There are six categories companies can apply for; Small-sized enterprises (1-99 employees), Medium-sized enterprises (100-499 employees), Large-sized enterprises (500+ employees), Government authorities and departments, Corporate-NGO collaboration and New business (established within the last 3 years).

“Companies can apply for one of the first three categories — Large, Medium or Small — depending on their size and they can also apply for the Corporate-NGO collaboration award for which they will have to fill out a separate questionnaire,” Habiba explained.

She added that all eligible applicants will automatically be considered for the New business award if they were established less than three years ago.

Habiba said that on April 30, there will be the Annual Arabia CSR Award 2013 Clinic, where applicants will be provided with an outline of the application procedure and can discuss any concerns or queries with some of the judges.