Dubai: The Pearl Initiative, a Gulf-based non-profit organisation “promoting a corporate culture of accountability”, has launched its latest programme ‘Corporate Governance in the Philanthropic Sector’, with grant support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The announcement comes amid a rise in philanthropic initiatives in the region, demonstrated by the UAE’s declaration of 2017 as the Year of Giving and the Saudi Vision 2030 commitment to developing the non-profit sector, the organisation said.
Badr Jafar, founder of the Pearl Initiative, said: “We are grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for partnering with us in this critical area of our region’s governance landscape. We are honoured to earn recognition for our efforts in promoting corporate governance with this grant for our new Corporate Governance in the Philanthropic Sector programme.”
Robert Rosen, director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said: “With the Pearl Initiative’s success in raising corporate governance standards across the large number of family businesses and corporates in the region, we are excited about the benefits this collaboration will bring to the Gulf Region’s philanthropic sector.”
On the collaboration, Princess Al Bandari A.R. Al Faisal, CEO at King Khalid Foundation, said: “Our partnership with the Pearl Initiative and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is based on our belief that philanthropy, if done strategically and thoughtfully, could play a much bigger role in the region.”
