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Corporate Social Responsibility, the buzz word in prominent business circles has garnered a lot of attention in the corporate corridors of the western world. More recently, countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the broader Arab region have been riding high on it as well.

To discuss some of the pressing social responsibility issues such as reduction of the carbon footprint and to honor companies who are serving as good role models in the Arab world, a Corporate Social Responsibility summit was convened last month in Dubai, UAE.

This year, the 5th CSR summit was developed to best suit the needs of all CSR inspiring individuals, involved in corporate social governance, sustainability, compliance or public relations varying from CEO's to Regional Heads, PR Managers etc.

5th CSR Summit Awards

The highlight of the Summit however were the CSR Awards which identified and rewarded the best corporate citizens in the region who via their business contributed further than their statutory obligation and worked ethically for the betterment of employees, customers, stakeholders, channel partners and the community at large.

Categorization for these awards warrants a special mention as these accolades have been created to cover all aspects of social service.

This year's awards were branched out in 4 classes – the Best Environmental Excellence Award, Best Community Programme Award, Best Workplace Practices Award, and CSR Leadership Award. For participation purposes, the companies could submit multiple projects in multiple categories and the recipient of these awards are simply the companies which best meet the criteria of each category.

5th CSR Award Recipients – 2007/2008

Awards were handed out during a gala dinner in which the Environmental Excellence award went to Tadweer, the UAE based recycling and environmental waste management company.

The Best Community Programme Award was conferred on Vodafone Egypt for brilliantly implementing community projects, resulting in better education, business growth and communal prosperity.

The Best Workplace Practices Award went to The Dow Chemical Company's Middle East division. To bag this award, it was imperative for the company to show respect to their employees by installing suitable policies and programmes valuing the taskforce. Savola Group was also a top contender in this category and was highly recommended.

Illustration by DinarStandard.com

Lastly, the CSR Leadership award was co-won by Saudi Telecom and National Commercial Bank. Both Saudi based companies were lauded for working on various social aspects such as corporate citizenship, environment, sustainability, community partnerships, and education.

The awards function was graced by the presence of Her Excellency, The first lady of Sierra Leone, Mrs. Alice Sia Koroma and the event helped raise awareness of the plight of the children in Sierra Leone and the much needed funds for their medical, social and educational needs.

This event was deemed as a successful forum to applaud the companies for their relentless social excellence during 2007/2008 and to motivate other companies in the region to tread the same path. Hence, major firms across various business verticals backed the summit and associated themselves with it. The lead sponsors included heavyweights like The Dow Chemical Company, Dubai Properties and Microsoft. Supporters included CSR Middle East, Dubai Centre for Corporate Values, the UN Development Programme, Greater Good and Dubai Drums. Etisalat was the Telecom partner whereas the lead media partners were Trends and Gulf Marketing Review.

Commenting on the role of the corporate sector in the Middle East region, Kosta Petrov, Conference Manager, 5th CSR Summit said "Despite the image sometimes portrayed of regional companies, more and more are demonstrating their leadership by advancing responsible corporate citizenship."

5th CSR Summit – Workshops & Scholarships

In addition to applauding socially inclined firms, the 5th CSR summit also fostered young CSR inspired professionals at all levels. This year's summit conducted 5 different pre and post summit workshops namely, Mastering the Essentials of CSR, CSR Opportunities & Risks in Construction, Maximizing Your CSR Reporting Through Global Report Initiative (GRI), Leveraging on your CSR foundations & Analyzing The Importance Of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI).

To provide opportunity to aspiring individuals in addition to these workshops, 4 forum scholarships were handed out to individuals.