A free 600 ml bottle of Aquafina water was given to every Dubai bus commuter who boards at a major station, including Gold Souq, Sabkha, Hor Al Anz, Al Qusais, Rashidya, Satwa, Al Ghubaiba Qadima, Al Ghubaiba Sadida, Al Ghubaiba Inter-city bus Station, Al Ittihad Square, Ibn Battuta and Mall of the Emirates. 

DRC has been providing free Aquafina to Dubai’s bus commuters every July since 2008.  During the first two years of the initiative, more than 480,000 free bottles of water were distributed and the company anticipates giving away a further 240,000 bottles this July.

adjsuetdejuniorevent77

Dubai, 27th July 2010: e-junior, the exclusive UAE kids channel from E-Vision, had a grand celebration on the occasion of Haq Al Lailah with hundreds of kids getting together with e-junior officials at Dubai Children’s City to experience the joy of this wonderful tradition.

Prior to the event, e-junior had organized a creative art contest where it had requested kids to give full rein to their creativity and design their own hand made candy bags using recycled material.  All kids were then requested to bring their individually designed handmade bags to the e-junior Haq Al Lailah event, where the best bags won e-junior goodies and sponsored vouchers from Candylicious,  a Dubai based candy store.

Making it a truly memorable day for all the kids who attended, e-junior also organized a candy race with loads of goodies being won by the winners. The kids also got the chance to meet some of their favourite cartoon characters  “Dana & Friends” & “Murshid” at the event. They sang along with them and also got their pictures taken with these cartoon characters. On the occasion, the kids also participated in a fashion show contest comprising of traditional UAE national dresses.

“For e-junior, the magic of Haq Al Lailah is a great occasion to get together with kids and help them enjoy the festival to the fullest,” said Fatiha Bensalem, Manager, e-junior. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for kids here to connect with their roots and U.A.E traditions while having fun. At e-junior, we look forward to many more happy occasions like these in order to play an integral part in the lives of our loyal fan base. ”   

She added,” We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors-Dubai Children’s City, Candylicious, Mamy Snacks, Tiffany and Unikai for making this such  a successful and fun-filled  event for kids.”

Haq Al Lailah which literally means “For this Night” is a cultural festival in the UAE and across GCC 15 days prior to the holy month of Ramadan, where kids wear traditional dresses and go around to people’s houses asking for candies and treats.

Eng Training Course

Dubai, 25 July 2010: The Community Development Authority in Dubai (CDA) concluded a 6-week English training course for people with disabilities willing to join the workplace. This initiative, which is organised by the CDA’s Social Care Sector in co-operation with Dubai Club for Special Sports, is part of its “Elkayt” programme to empower people with disabilities and develop the quality of community services.

Specialised lecturers led the training course with 10 participants from the beginner and intermediate levels. Each level had two sessions on a weekly basis.

“CDA works with government and private institutions to unify efforts and launch initiatives that aim at empowering people with disabilities. The training course was met with great success as the ‘Elkayt’ programme team designed it according to the requirements of the participants, and evaluated their levels of language prior to attending the course,” said Sheikh Maktoum Bin Butti Al Maktoum, CEO – Social Care, CDA.

“Despite the considerable efforts and the many initiatives in the area of integrating people with disabilities in the community, there are still a limited number of available jobs in the labor market to this group. We encourage governmental and private institutions to co-operate with CDA to empower people with disabilities by creating opportunities for them to join the workforce and by providing appropriate training in order for them to strengthen their skills,” added Sheikh Maktoum.

Participants in the course expressed their joy for taking part in the educational and interactive sessions that provided them with summer training job opportunities. The Social Care Sector in CDA intends to organize more training courses in the near future that will focus on computers and the development of skills required for entering the labor market.

Not only does the “Elkayt” programme provide job opportunities for people with disabilities over the age of 18 but it extends to rehabilitation and training and mentoring and developing the skills that contribute to personal and professional development.

The Elkayt programme complements CDA’s efforts to making a difference to the lives of people with disabilities and providing them with a strong platform to highlight their talent and skills.

Outstanding Guide programme

Sharjah, 25 July, 2010: The Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization recently concluded the second cycle of its “Outstanding Guide” programme. The four-day programme was organized in co-operation with the Youth Centers in Sharjah for children aged 12 to 15 years to spread awareness about the Museum and explain the various aspects of how to become a successful museum guide.

The programme is devised in line with Sharjah Museums Department’s commitment to encourage children to use their spare time creatively and positively, especially during summer, and acquire new skills in a fun-filled learning atmosphere.

The ‘Outstanding Guide’ programme not only opens doors for the young participants to appreciate the Arab-Islamic heritage found in the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, but also offers unique insights into serving as a guide. By reaching out to the youngsters, Sharjah Museums Department also seeks to enhance awareness about Sharjah’s heritage and culture.

Fatima Al-Hosni, Hamda Zarouni and Fadl Ibrahim, guides at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, provided the 16 participants from the Sharjah Youth Centers with an overview of being a guide and the qualities necessary to become an outstanding guide. The children toured the museum and participated in many activities and competitions. At the end of the programme, the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization honoured the children with certificates for their successful participation.

The Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization aims to display, interpret, research and further develop the collections for a wide range of local, national and international audiences, and to stimulate knowledge, appreciation and enjoyment of Islamic art, history, science and culture.

The Sharjah Museums Department, established in 2006 by His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, aims to promote the emirate’s rich legacy of arts, heritage and culture. For more information on the Sharjah Museums Department, please visit www.sharjahmuseums.ae.

July 22, 2010

The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and the Sharjah Social Empowerment Foundation (SSEF) recently hosted a charity exhibition showcasing handcrafted products made by orphan girls, at the SCCI headquarters recently. The exhibition, which is part of the local chamber’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) and services initiatives, aimed at offering a wide array of hand-made products and accessories to chamber employees, clients and visitors who visited the exhibition. Proceeds of the event will be used for the benefit of the orphan girls who are under the care of SSEF.

All products that were showcased at the exhibition are a result of the Foundation’s production workshop program, which seeks to teach the orphans how to create products for a livelihood. Showcased products included Arabic-themed living room accessories and handmade fabrics like table linen, bedroom linen and prayer carpet sets. The exhibition reflects the SCCI’s continued commitment to support the government’s key social and humanitarian programs and also complements the chamber’s thrust towards implementing CSR based initiatives that can be of great benefit to the local community.

Hussein Mohammed Al Mahmoudi, Director General, SCCI, said, “We are pleased with the positive response received from hosting this charity exhibition; not only were we able to showcase the talent and creativity of the orphans who are presently under the SSEF’s care but we were also able to help raise funds for their benefit. The event reflects the chamber’s continued commitment towards various humanitarian issues and our efforts to strengthen and promote productive social involvement programs for the UAE community. The SCCI affirms its support to the SSEF and its aim to provide assistance and care to orphaned children. Moreover, hosting the event complements the SCCI’s thrust towards communicating with the society - directly and effectively – and participating and rendering support to various activities organized by social organizations and entities, and reinforcing our partnerships with government agencies, foundations and other key organizations in the emirate.”

Mona Bin Huda Al Suwaidi, Director, SSEF, said, “The SCCI’s show of support for this exhibition demonstrates the chamber’s strong commitment towards humanitarian efforts and initiatives. Their efforts will surely help the Foundation’s aim to improve the status of orphaned children by providing them with the necessary educational, social, health and psychological support. Allowing us to hold the exhibition at the SCCI headquarters provided us with the two-fold opportunity of showcasing the skills and creativity of our orphans and increasing public awareness on the Foundation’s humanitarian mission and implementation of programs for orphans in Sharjah and the rest of the UAE. The SSEF extends its heartfelt gratitude to the SCCI for the assistance and support that they have provided not only to us but also towards other social foundations with similar goals.”

The Sharjah Social Empowerment Foundation was established under the directive of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qassimi, Member of the UAE Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, in 2002. The center’s role is to give educational, social, health and psychological services to orphans in Sharjah. The center specializes in making orphans more active in their society via anything that they may need in order to create social Empowerment. The SSEF vocational and career empowerment programs provide its wards with the necessary training and rehabilitation that will develop skills, confidence and self-reliance — preparing them to take up business and career opportunities in the future.  

Dubai, UAE, 17th July 2010: Cass Business School hosted its inaugural Alumni World Forum yesterday with events in the UAE, China, Colombia, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Spain and USA all built around a day of lectures, seminars and masterclasses at Cass’s Bunhill Row Building in London, UK.

Cass has over 30,000 in 154 countries who are active in all areas of business. The Alumni World Forum has been designed to bring together this diverse group on one day to share ideas, network and hear from world-leading business thinkers.

The Dubai alumni reception was held at the Capital Club in the Dubai International Financial Centre, where Cass Business School hold their Dubai Executive MBA programme. At the event the region’s alumni came together to meet with fellow Cass students, network and make new connections.

Alumni around the world were also able to contribute during the day via social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The London panel sessions were also streamed live via the Cass Business School website.

Theresa Dzendrowskyj, Head of Alumni Relations at Cass Business School said: “We are very lucky to have such a tremendous relationship with our alumni all over the world. Cass is a truly global business school and our aim with the Alumni World Forum was to provide a forum for our alumni to meet, share ideas, learn and have fun. Cass is truly committed to a life-long relationship with our students and this event is just one of the many events and activities we run all over the world each year.”

Cass Business School Dean, Richard Gillingwater CBE says: “Cass is proud of our world class alumni across the globe and we want to continue to strengthen our ties with them. The reputation and momentum of business schools is built on the engagement and enthusiasm of alumni, and we are truly grateful for the support we receive at all levels. The Alumni World Forum has been a significant undertaking for staff and our alumni volunteers who have put together a formidable event both in London and in other regions too.”

Dubai, UAE, 18 July 2010: With the summer heat getting more intense, Dubai Refreshments (P.S.C) - sole franchisee and distributor of PepsiCo products - in cooperation with the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has launched its annual initiative to help the public quench their thirst and rehydrate as temperatures rise.

Each day until the end of July, a free 600 ml bottle of Aquafina water will be given to every Dubai bus commuter who boards at a major station, including Gold Souq, Sabkha, Hor Al Anz, Al Qusais, Rashidya, Satwa, Al Ghubaiba Qadima, Al Ghubaiba Sadida, Al Ghubaiba Inter-city bus Station, Al Ittihad Square, Ibn Battuta and Mall of the Emirates.  The Aquafina July Great Water Giveaway runs daily from 9:00am to 5:00pm until the end of the month.

Mana Al Mulla, DRC Managing Director said:  “Commuting by bus can be quite difficult in the summer months, so we are doing our bit to make people’s daily journeys a little bit more bearable.  By giving away bottles of Aquafina water, Dubai’s bus passengers can stay cool and refreshed. 

“DRC is pleased to be able to be of service to the community once again this summer, and is delighted to be partnering with the RTA in this initiative for the third consecutive year.”

Furat Al Amri, Buses Director of RTA’s Public Transport Agency hailed this gesture:  “We welcome DRC’s initiative and it reflects the company’s concern for the commuting public and to the community as a whole.”

DRC has been providing free Aquafina to Dubai’s bus commuters every July since 2008.  During the first two years of the initiative, more than 480,000 free bottles of water were distributed and the company anticipates giving away a further 240,000 bottles this July.

A'alat ENOC

Dubai; July 18, 2010: Fifteen students joined their parents as interns at ENOC this summer as part of an internship programme titled ‘A’ALAT ENOC’ or ‘ENOC Family’, open for children, aged 15-18 years, of ENOC staff. The four-week summer internship will conclude on August 5.

The internship programme focuses on developing the students’ soft and technical skills, and features courses on computer skills, problem solving, customer care and English language classes. They will also be assigned a mentor and will gain exposure to different departments and ENOC subsidiaries.

Saeed Abdullah Khoory, ENOC’s Group Chief Executive, said: “As a company committed to the development of the UAE, we believe it is our responsibility to provide youngsters with real-life work skills that will help build their confidence. ‘A’ALAT ENOC’ goes one step further in bringing them closer to their families, thus helping promote work-life balance. Our unique internship programme is also a perfect way to offset the summer boredom by gaining valuable work experience and applying what is learnt in the classroom into practice.”

ENOC recently launched a training programme for 15 special needs youngsters, ‘ENOC Challenge IV’. The annual comprehensive training programme provides disadvantaged individuals with the unique opportunity to acquire critical professional skills and prepares them to join the workforce.

Maria Sillanpaa, Founding Director of SAG

UAE, Dubai; July 17, 2010: Regional businesses are increasingly recognising that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a business imperative rather than a philanthropic add-on, and a large number of executives now agree that properly conceived and managed CSR will result in a wide range of benefits including business reputation, innovation and growth. 

These are the key conclusions of the Second Annual CSR Middle East Survey conducted by Sustainability Advisory Group (SAG), an international alliance of sustainability strategists and specialists. The SAG network has been actively engaged in helping businesses define CSR and Sustainability programs in the Middle East for more than three years.

Maria Sillanpaa, Founding Director of SAG, said the survey covered public and private sector organisations in eight countries in the region. More than 60 percent of the respondents are based in UAE and the rest are located in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Jordan and Egypt. The survey drew a balanced response from organisations in terms of size, and a 50-50 split between public and private sector companies. The largest respondent group according to industry sector was Energy, followed by Utilities and Agriculture.

Over 90 percent of respondents expressed the opinion that credible CSR programmes can enable companies to build and maintain a strong reputation, over 80 percent asserted that CSR can attract new customers and foster innovation, and over 70 percent believed that CSR can help capture new markets and market share.

“We are clearly witnessing a shift in attitudes towards CSR in the region – previously CSR was perceived as a bit of a fringe issue, perhaps a ‘nice to do’ activity if time and resources allowed. Now executives are increasingly agreeing that it should be integral to their business strategies.  We see this reassuring level of sophistication in the regional understanding of CSR as a sign of maturity and a desire to keep up with the powerful international trend,” Sillanpaa said. 

However, these positive findings are tempered by worrying signs that businesses are still complacent about some of the critical issues facing the region. For instance, a relatively high number of business leaders continue to rate water conservation, climate change and waste as un-important to their business. “As we indicated in our report last year, given current predictions for the region in relation to water scarcity and climate change, this is an alarming result, which continues to suggest that a number of regional businesses are not yet fully prepared to deal with the shifting business context,” Sillanpaa noted.

The figures related to poverty alleviation have also become more worrying compared to last year’s findings, with an increase of 10 percentage points in the number of business executives regarding poverty as unimportant to their business (up to 38 percent from 28 percent last year).

Sillanpaa, who is internationally recognised as a leading CSR and sustainability practitioner, and has been ranked number three in CSR International’s Global Top 100 CSR Leaders advisory category,  listed five key findings of the survey, most of which are in line with the international thinking on the subject:

1. Executives in the region are struggling to relate environmental issues to profitability and long-term business impact
2. CSR is becoming increasingly important for business
3. The attitude to CSR in the region is maturing 
4. The need for effective CSR should be driven from inside rather than by governments and regulators
5. CSR is gaining increasing recognition as a framework for future growth

“People issues such as employee well-being, health and safety, recruitment and retention, ethical practices, governance and transparency continue to be rightly recognised as the critical CSR issues businesses within the region must tackle. However, environmental issues such as water conservation, climate change and access to resources are much lower down the corporate radar although these issues have gained considerable media attention in recent times.

“For us at Sustainability Advisory Group, this is one of the most important lessons from the survey.  There have been considerable efforts in this part of the world from governments as well as civil society to strengthen awareness about environmental issues and relate them to practical business risks that will have an increasing impact on business performance and profitability. Considering the fragile ecology and the geo-political context in which we live, Sustainability Advisory Group as well as many of the survey respondents believe that these issues require urgent attention in the coming years,” Sillanpaa said.

Elaborating the other key findings, she noted that the responses to the survey clearly showed that CSR is increasing in importance, year on year, to businesses in the region. Compared to last year, the number of respondents who believe that CSR is more important in a difficult economic climate has gone up from 50 to 60 percent.

The results of the survey suggest that the general business understanding of CSR is moving away from that of traditional approach of ad hoc goodwill gestures, charitable giving and philanthropy, to a more comprehensive understanding of the benefits CSR can offer a company as part of its overall business strategy. Less than 8 percent of respondents viewed community investment as the core definition of CSR, down from 17 percent last year. 

“This maturing attitude is also evident in businesses’ perception of the government’s role regarding CSR.  Contrary to last year’s results, there is a considerable increase in the number of organisations which say that CSR is not just a government agenda, one for them to comply with, but an internal one, which will ensure the sustainability and long term success of their business,” explains Sillanpaa.

Interestingly, businesses in the region have also begun to realise that effective CSR programmes can help in attracting new investment and capturing new markets as well as strengthening existing market share. There has been a significant jump in the number of respondents holding this view.  Supporting this growing feeling that CSR can be used as a framework for future growth are the 86 percent of respondents who either agree, or strongly agree, that CSR can foster innovation and the 82 percent who believe it can help to attract new customers.

Although over half of the respondents claimed that they have a clearly articulated CSR strategy signed off at the highest level, these numbers go down dramatically when it comes to systematic management of the agenda. For instance, only 14 percent of the responding organisations have formal CSR-related KPIs in place and 11 percent consider CSR performance as part of their bonus schemes.

One hundred and fifty-one organisations participated in the survey, which was conducted over a period of 6 weeks in May and June.  Significantly, the number of respondents who described their role and title as CSR or Sustainability related almost doubled this year to 37 percent from last year’s 19 percent; 36 percent were from the general management category against 14 percent last year; 30 percent described their role as strategy and business development, up almost three times from last year. 

“These figures clearly suggest that regional businesses are taking the corporate responsibility agenda seriously, and is paying more attention to creating relevant positions in their organisations,” Sillanpaa said.  The rest of the survey responses were from a cross-section of business functions.

July 15, 2010

SKOPOS Consulting, a leading Organization Development (OD) solutions firm in the Middle East and Africa, has called on businesses and organizations in the Middle East to focus on executive coaching to improve the performance of executive employees and stay competitive in the current environment. SKOPOS Consulting referred to recent studies that have shown that the development of leadership skills, multi-tasking skills, and particularly soft skills development from managers can have a significant impact in boosting performance across all levels of the organization. SKOPOS Consulting also pointed out studies showing that 92 per cent of managers feel that the ability to work across different departments becomes more important as they rise through the ranks.

Dr. Hussein El Kazzaz, Managing Director of SKOPOS Consulting, said, “Executive Coaching must form an integral part of a company’s strategy for Organizational Development. This is because Executive Coaching is a more effective development approach than training in unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their own performance. Executive Coaching can guide new managers rising through the ranks of an organization that may have a gap in inter-personal skills or basic management skills required in their new roles. Coaching in the past was intended for problematic leaders, whereas today about 90 per cent of coaching is aimed at high achievers to release their further potential.”

“The Middle East is a priority area for SKOPOS Consulting because of the region’s strong business and growth potential. The executive coaching solutions offered by SKOPOS are customised to serve as a powerful tool in boosting executives’ effectiveness and performance in the GCC,” added El Kazzaz.

Organizational Development through executive coaching is particularly important amongst GCC countries, because many regions of the Gulf are focusing on nationalization policies for their local residents. The UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman in particular are pursuing nationalization policies to empower their local population.

SKOPOS Consulting has also noted that increasing numbers of firms in the Middle East and North Africa region are seeking executive coaching solutions to help with employee retention. This is crucial considering that employee turnover has been proved to be a costly and time-consuming exercise, which affects the performance effectiveness of business organisations.

SKOPOS Consulting uses both soft and hard management tools to implement organizational change with its clients in the Middle East and Africa. The company utilizes a mix of coaching, conflict management, team building, leadership development, communication, succession planning, performance management and other proven organisational development tools to help its clients become highly effective. Originally founded in 1991 in San Jose, CA, SKOPOS Consulting moved to establish its Middle East presence in 2002. It is now fully owned, managed and operated independently by the Middle East team. It currently offers its services across a range of industries, including technology, government and telecommunications. The company has offices in Dubai, Cairo, Bahrain and Kenya.