By Alex Malouf, Corporate Communications Director MEA at Schneider Electric

Some of you may remember the UAE’s CSR law, which was passed into law roughly three years ago. The law hasn’t been implemented, but that looks set to change, with the recent establishment of a federal body named the CSR UAE Fund (we’re going to name this body CSR UAE).

I had the opportunity to meet some of the CSR UAE team recently, and it’s fair to say that the authority has lofty goals to meet. First among them is establishing the UAE as a global leader in corporate social responsibility. And they’re going to seek to do this through three steps, namely by raising awareness about CSR, activating partnerships between the public and private sectors, and developing CSR frameworks.

CSR UAE’s mission, to quote directly, is, “To establish a platform that encourages the business sector to actively engage in socially responsible practices that lead to a positive economic, social and environmental impact in line with the UAE’s priorities and sustainable development goals.”

They’re going to do this through six initiatives that’ll target the public sector, businesses, not-for-profits, social enterprises, and the community. The six initiatives are below.

 

First up is the CSR committees. There’ll be two committee types. The first is at an Emirate level (reminder, there’s seven Emirates in the UAE), and the second is at a national level. Both types will look to ‘streamline and coordinate efforts in CSR as well as developing policies and benchmarking best practices in CSR and Sustainability.’ As per CSR UAE, “The Committees set the agenda for each emirate and monitor them at the national level to be in line with the national priorities and UAE sustainable development goals.”

For these committees, my hope is that they’ll be representative of the groups they intend to serve, and will be both diverse and inclusive. That means including people from the private sector, from charities and NGOs as well as government, and ensuring a healthy mixture of nationalities and a gender balance.

Second up is the CSR UAE Label. This is similar to the Dubai Chamber CSR Label, and helps describe that you are committed to CSR through your strategy, policies and practices. The difference is that there are three levels – Silver, Gold and Platinum. Assessment criteria are economic, social and environmental. What’s especially interesting is that there are practical benefits for companies who quality for a CSR UAE Label from the government (more details on that will be forthcoming).

The third pillar is CSR funding for not-for-profits and social enterprises. Projects should be aligned with the UAE’s CSR agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, and all projects go through a committee review based on set criteria. Any approved project will be able to use CSR UAE Fund branding, and will be publicized on the CSR UAE website. Funding will be for both new and existing projects.

The fourth pillar aims to encourage awareness through a Knowledge Square. This will be an online repository of data on all things related to CSR, including publications and best practices, dialogues, training courses and interactive workshops. It’ll be interesting to see how much of this is local (hint, there’s not much), versus regional and global.

Finally, there will be a focus on social enterprises. This is very exciting for me, as social enterprises have slipped through the cracks here in the region. In many countries there’s simply no definition of what is a social enterprise, and many budding social entrepreneurs have to register their organizations as a business. This focus aims ‘to develop and generate innovative experts in the field of CSR & Sustainability and support entrepreneurs and organizations to develop, fund and implement solutions with an impact on social, cultural, or environmental dimensions that serves the National priorities of the UAE & the Sustainable Development Goals.’

I’m torn about CSR UAE. I’m delighted there is now a federal body dedicated to this issue. My big concern is the need for diversity and inclusion. If the body isn’t diverse enough in its makeup, in terms of including both locals and expats, those from the private sector and charities, we’re not going to realize everything that could be achieved when it comes to sustainability in the country and the wider region.

We already struggle when it comes to an understanding of what CSR and sustainability is, especially when comparing global firms with local entities, and moving from the private to the public sector. We’re also not where we should be on the charity side – it’s rare for charities here to accept skills-based training versus financial donations and time-based volunteering.

CSR UAE has a daunting agenda to tackle, and I do know some of the advisors who are involved; they’re exceptional people who will help guide the new entity. What I hope to see is the organization really taking on these issues through communication and awareness, both in the government and the private sector. The UAE has set itself an ambitious agenda regionally and globally when it comes to social issues, and I’ll be both hoping and helping the CSR UAE as it sets about improving what the government, private sector, NGOs and social enterprises can do to improve society and the environment.