“Launch of the 11th cycle of the Arab World’s Own CSR Benchmarking Tool”

The region’s premier CSR and Sustainability Awards was officially launched in the United Arab Emirates this morning at the Grand Millennium Hotel, the venue supporter of the event. Currently in its eleventh cycle, the Arabia CSR Awards have been successful in unveiling best practices of public and private establishments across the Arab region. With an objective to bring the latest international CSR and sustainability developments, trends and standards to the Arab world, the Awards recognise organisations that demonstrate outstanding leadership and commitment to Corporate Sustainability. With introduction of a new sector specific category, the Awards will be spanning twelve categories this year. The categories are Public Sector, Large, Medium, Small, Energy, Financial Services, Social Enterprise, Construction, Hospitality, healthcare, New Business and Partnerships & Collaborations.

In its 10 prestigious years history, the Arabia CSR Awards have been re-shaped several times to make it the best and leading award scheme in the region.  It is in collaboration with the UNEP and externally verified by DNV-GL. The criteria of the award are derived from global and regional frameworks and standards, namely, the UN Global Compact Ten Principles, GRI and the European EFQM business excellence model. 826 organisations representing 31 sectors have registered to participate in the Awards, with more than 1000 applications recorded, 13 countries have been covered and 161 awards have been conferred on the CSR champions of the Arab.

Speaking at the press launch, Arabia CSR Network President and CEO Habiba Al Mar’ashi said, “The Arabia CSR Awards are seen as the Arab region’s own benchmark in CSR and sustainability. Using the application process, hundreds of organisations have been able to upgrade their CSR and sustainability practices and brought it into alignment with international standards and best practices. ”

Mrs. Habiba Al Mar’ashi presented the winners of the last year’s cycle of the Arabia CSR Awards. The 2017 winning entities spoke of their experiences and shared how the Awards had taken them the extra mile on their sustainability journeys, and had significantly boosted their CSR implementation and ultimately their sustainability performance.

The sponsors and supporters of the of the Awards so far include: Gulf Petrochemical Industries company (Gold Awards Sponsors), Emirates Environmental Group (Environmental Partner), Wasm CSR( country partner in KSA) and Newtonology ( country partner in Kuwait).