CSR Awards Criteria

The CSR Summit Awards is GCC’s Awards programme on corporate social responsibility. The programme recognises and honors GCC companies for outstanding, innovative and world-class products, services, projects and programs implemented in 2007/2008. These projects should demonstrate the company's leadership, sincerity and on-going commitment in incorporating ethical values, compliance with legal requirements, and respect for individuals, communities and the environment into the way they do business.

The Award categories for this year are:
Best Environmental Excellence Award
Best Community Programme Award
Best Workplace Practices
CSR Leadership Award

Companies can enter as many projects as they wish in one or more of these categories. The awards criteria do not favor large or small companies and all company sizes have equal chances to win. The winning company, regardless of size, is simply one which in the opinion of the judges, best meets the criteria for each category.

CATEGORIES AND CRITERIA

Best Environmental Excellence Award
The Company that has successfully implemented a major project or program in areas such as: Energy Efficiency, Extended Product Responsibility, Green Product Design, Waste Reduction, Sustainable Business Practices and Water Conservation.
The company that has integrated environmental performance into its sustainable development strategy and delivering proven business benefits.

Best Workplace Practices
This category includes employee ownership plans. The company that has policies and programs in place that show the respect they have for their employees and how much they value them. How far has the company gone in taking care of its employees by way of dependence care, layoffs and closing, Health and wellness, privacy, in employee training, fostering lifelong learning, in improving the quality of life at work and in implementing employee ownership plans on a sustainable basis.

Best Community Programme Award
The company that has successfully implemented a community project that has resulted in poverty alienation, better education, business growth or community engagement. Does the company believe in uplifting education of those who cannot or helping individuals to get away from poverty? How well does the company back up its belief and commitment to the community? How sustainable is the project or program?

CSR Leadership Award
This award will be awarded to an individual who has contributed in promoting all aspects of corporate social responsibility including environment, sustainability, community partnerships, education, poverty alienation etc.

Awards Ceremony
The Awards ceremonies will take place during the Gala Dinner and Awards Night of the CSR Summit on 15 June 2008. Hundreds of senior executives and professionals on corporate social responsibility from government, business and civil society from the region, and the media will be present.

Selection Process
There is an in-depth search and selection process for the Awards composed of generating entries, initial screening, comments by advisors and final judging.

The Judging Panel
The judging panel is made up internationally recognised and respected judges from a variety of industry sectors and disciplines. The panel is carefully selected to ensure the selection process is fair and objective. The judges are bound by a strict confidentiality agreement and are required to declare any conflict of interest in entries over which they deliberate and to stand aside from deliberations concerning those entries.
Generating entriesCompanies from all over the region are encouraged to nominate themselves and enter their favorite projects or programs. There is no limit to the number of entries per company.
Regional and international organisations, including NGOs, advertising agencies, management consultants and suppliers of products and services are also invited to nominate companies in the Award categories for specific projects, programs and services that showcase their CSR commitment.

Each submission must include the following information in hard copy:

• Nomination Entry Form.
• An outline of the reasons why the nominee deserves to be recognised with a CSR Summit Award, highlighting any relevant, unique or outstanding characteristics based on the key criteria for the Award category entered. Maximum 1,000 words.
• A brief biography (for individual awards) or company profile. Maximum 300 words.
• Supporting material which you feel best validates your nomination- financial results, press clippings, campaign examples, testimonials must be supplied in soft copy.
• Nominations can be made by sending the appropriate supporting information to
  Kosta Petrov
  Senior Conference Manager CSR Summit
  IIRME
  PO Box 21743
  Dubai, UAE
  by the closing date of 6pm (UAE Time) 2pm (GMT), Thursday, 22 May 2008!.

Fast Facts!

Fast Facts For Some Of The Speakers And Companies Presenting At This Year's CSR Summit

• Serge de Gheldere is Al Gore’s Climate Change Ambassador In Belgium
• Dr Mohamed El Ahsry is 2006 United National Environmental Porgramme Prize Winner
• Gabrielle O’Donovan’s book Corporate Culture Handbook is in the top 1% of best business books for 2006
• Nawras Telecom won the 2007 CSR Business Excellence Award at Leaders In Dubai
• Novo Nordisk is the first company in the world to publish a sustainability report
• Aramex is the first Arab company to publish a sustainability report

Please visit http://www.thecsrsummit.com/ for more info about our expert speaker panel and the corporations presented at this year’s Summit.

The Dow Chemical Company Sponsors IIR's 5th CSR Summit

It has just been conifmed that Dow Chemical Company will be the supporting sponsor for IIR's 5th CSR Summit.

The Dow Chemical Company is a diversified chemical and plastics company that harnesses the power of innovation, science and technology to constantly improve what is essential to human progress. Dow offers a broad range of products and services to customers in around 160 countries, connecting chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personal care products. Built on a commitment to its principles of sustainability, Dow has annual sales of $54 billion and employs 46,000 people worldwide.

In the Middle East, Dow has lived up to its vision to “think globally and act locally.” Dow’s commitment to the region started with the establishment of two manufacturing facilities and representative offices in the UAE and Egypt. More than three decades later, Dow continues to enjoy regional presence and recognizes the strength of its local joint ventures in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as a key success driver. Dow will continue to pursue a strategy of local partnership to transform the regional petrochemical landscape by setting up state-of-art petrochemical complexes in the Middle East region.

Dow believes that the health of its business is intertwined with the health of the communities in which it operates. Dow actively supports the social and economic aspirations of these communities and enables their success by forging alliances with non-profit organizations through educational programs, training and multicultural exposure.

Dow’s presence in the Middle East will continue to demonstrate industry leadership, technical innovation and expertise, with a commitment to sustainability to help transform the region into a key player in the global petrochemicals industry. Dow as an industry leader is focusing all its efforts towards being an active social and community member and an employer and partner of choice.

More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com or by contacting the regional headquarters in Dubai at +971 4 332 8866. References to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted.

5th CSR Summit: 14-19 June 2008, JW Marriott Hotel, Dubai, UAE

UNDP Supports IIR's 5th CSR Summit

The United Nations Development Programme joins the list of supporters of IIR's 5th CSR Summit, taking place from 14-19 June 2008 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai, UAE.

UNDP is the UN's global development network, an organisation advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. They are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges.

Khaled Alloush, Resident Representative of UNDP in UAE is set to present on the topic of Community Partnerships at the upcoming summit.

Please visit http://www.undp.org/ for more info about UNDP.

As already announced, this year's summit is also supported by CSR Middle East, EEG and Dubai Center For Corporate Values.

Novo Nordisk's External Affairs Manager To Address Delegates At 5th CSR Summit

Vibeke Burchard, External Affairs Manager at Novo Nordisk, one of the most prominent pharmaceutical companies and the first company in the world to publish an enviorenmental report, will present at the upcoming 5th CSR Summit to be held at JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai, UAE from 14-19 June 2008.

You can find out more information about their community programms at www.novonordisk.com

MTV's Foundation Director To Speak At IIR's 5th CSR Summit

Thomas G. Ehr is the Chief Executive/Executive Director of the MTV Europe Foundation, the independent charitable foundation of MTV Networks Europe, which he conceived and launched with senior MTV management in 2003. Based in London, Tom oversees all of the Foundation's activities designed to educate young Europeans (chiefly via MTV's European broadcast network) regarding the critical social issues facing them and their peers, and inspire them to action.
Tom is the Executive Producer of MTV EXIT, MTV's multiplatform European campaign to End Exploitation and Trafficking. He also represents MTV Networks Europe in various corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, including the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights, chaired by former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson.

Prior to joining MTV, Tom headed multimilliondollar economic and legal transition projects for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Serbia and Kazakhstan, under contracts held by international management consultants Booz Allen Hamilton and IBM Business Consulting Services. From 19992000, Tom served as President and Executive Director of international children's assistance organization War Child USA, where amongst other accomplishments he conceptualized, secured, and oversaw implementation of $1 million donation from Luciano Pavarotti to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to assist Kosovar refugees.

Before War Child, Tom served for a decade as attorney and Senior Counsel at the United States Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C., where he acted as chief legal adviser on complex international negotiations including the WTO Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft and the Agreement Between the United States and the Russian Federation Concerning the Disposition of Highly Enriched Uranium Extracted from Nuclear Weapons. He also served on United States delegation for the Business Development Committee of the United StatesSouth Africa Binational Commission (chaired by then Vice President Gore and Deputy President Mbeki).

Tom also volunteered as an Elections Supervisor in the 1996 elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and as an Elections Observer in the historic postapartheid 1994 South African elections. He gained his law degree from the University of Georgia in 1988, and his B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1984

BBC's Deputy Head Of Corporate Social Responsibility To Speak At 5th CSR Summit

Yogesh Chauhan is the BBC's deputy head of corporate social responsibility (CSR). His work involves helping develop, coordinate and promote the BBC's ethical, community, environmental and corporate citizenship activities. In addition, he's in charge of specific projects, such as reporting and benchmarking the BBC's CSR performance. Prior to joining the BBC, Yogesh worked in both the commercial and charitable sectors on management and organisational development issues.

Nawras Telecom's Mohamed Al Hasany To Speak At 5th CSR Summit

Mohamed Mubarak Al Hasany, Head Of Corporate Affairs at Nawras Telecom, the CSR Business Excellence Award Winner for 2007, will present at the upcoming 5th CSR Summit, to be held from 14-19 June 2008 at JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai, UAE.

More about Nawras Telecom's 2007 CSR Award:

The award, given in recognition of the Nawras Goodwill Journey, was presented at the Leaders in Dubai Business Forum 2007 gala dinner held on November 18th. The event was attended by the region’s leading professionals, Government officials, regional media and included Noble Prize winners and international entrepreneurs.

Nawras Head of Corporate Affairs, Mohamed Al-Hasani was on hand to collect the award and in doing so, shared his thoughts and delight on this magnificent achievement. He explained, “A lot of hard work was invested in the Nawras Goodwill Journeys which have taken place during Ramadan over the past three years. I know that all the volunteer team members and everyone at Nawras is thrilled that so many people in Oman have benefited from this pleasingly different charitable initiative.

What began as an employee idea generated during a brainstorming session, has gone from strength to strength since then, clearly showing how much Nawras cares.”Al-Hasani was anxious to stress the point that, “Most importantly, this award puts the spotlight on all companies in the Sultanate to play their respective part and take their responsibility to society seriously. If the Nawras Goodwill Journey and this prestigious award can help to emphasise this and inspire others to follow suit, then our efforts will have succeeded on many levels.”

This Middle Eastern Business Achievement award follows another great tribute received by Nawras in September, naming this customer-friendly communications provider as the Middle East Mobile Operator of the Year 2007. The company’s dedication and commitment to the Nawras Goodwill Journey was a factor considered by the judges involved in determining who would receive this award, too.

Nawras has acted in a manner that goes far beyond its financial and legal obligations and since the initial Goodwill Journey in 2005, has continued to carry out a very ambitious CSR role. Nawras will continue to highlight the great work carried out everyday by Oman’s charities and runs a permanent SMS donation service for the Oman Charitable Association (OCO). Customers can make a donation of 209Bz at any time by simply sending a free SMS with the keyword Donate to 90095. All funds collected are passed in their entirety to the OCO.

Nawras currently covers 96% of the population with its reliable world-class network, using national roaming where necessary and always with Nawras great value.

Gabrielle O Donovan, The Acclaimed Author Of "The Corporate Culture Handbook" Joins IIR's 5th CSR Summit

Gabrielle O’Donovan has worked with major blue-chip companies for many years on OD/change management and is a Visiting Lecturer at Hong Kong Polytechnic University where she lectures at masters degree level.

She developed her initial repotire of skills by working on a range of major initiatives for Cathay Pacific Airways. Her recent HSBC culture change programme won an ASTD Excellence in Practice Award in 2005 and her articles have been published in Corporate Governance International, Banking Today and Best Practices Management. She is a graduate of the University of Bolton and received her M.Ed. in Training and Development from the University of Sheffield.

Gabrielle is a member of numerous professional societies including the Society of Leadership & Change, the ASTD, the Society of Authors, the Institute of Management Consultants, the Strategic Planning Society and Mensa. She wears multiple hats and is a practitioner, business author, conference speaker and university lecturer. Gabrielle is also Associate Editor of the International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management.

About her much acclaimed book "The Corporate Culture Handbook" - Listed in "The 100 Most Popular Business Books" by Bookjive, USA

"The Corporate Culture Handbook is in the top 1% of best business books for 2006" .
John Fayed - CEO, Business Book Review, USA

Corporate culture remains an enigma for many a strategic management team, and successful culture change remains but a myth for most organisations. The Corporate Culture Handbook dispels much of the mystique surrounding the subject, outlines the business case for corporate culture management, puts forward a field-proven strategic implementation plan that incorporates best practice and lessons learned and presents pioneering work on the measurement of a culture change programme.

Please visit http://gabrielle083.vox.com/ for more info!

A WWF Representative To Present At 5th CSR Summit!

Overview Of WWF UAE Office

The WWF UAE Project Office was established in February 2001. Although it was the first WWF office to be set up in the Middle East, WWF’s association with the region can be traced back to the early 1960s where WWF helped establish the 'Arabian Oryx World Herd,' which succeeded in breeding the Oryx in captivity and returning them to reserves in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Thanks to 'Operation Oryx' the Arabian Oryx was saved from extinction.

Emirates Wildlife Society (EWS)

EWS is a national (UAE) environmental NGO. EWS is established under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, to implement conservation actions for the protection of local biodiversity. In the UAE, EWS works in association with WWF. The EWS is governed by a Board of Directors that also serves as the WWF UAE Project Office Board. EWS-WWF has been active in the UAE since the beginning of 2001 and has initiated several conservation projects in the region.

Role of the WWF UAE Project Office

The WWF UAE Project Office in Abu Dhabi established the first presence of WWF in a Gulf state. Today WWF also have offices in Dubai and in Fujairah.

The mandate of EWS-WWF covers:

• Species


• Habitats


• Climate Change


• Ecological Footprint


• Natural Resources

Our work in the region is implemented through conservation, education, awareness and policy recommendation.

EWS-WWF has a valuable role to play in:

• Protection of biodiversity in key sites, species of special concern and ecological processes critical for the region


• Raising awareness and advocating actions to reduce the Ecological Footprint of the UAE (this is among the highest in the world per capita)


• Promoting a sustainable lifestyle in the UAE


• Contribution to the shaping of a still evolving, institutional framework in the UAE, so that local, regional and global environmental issues are addressed together


• Highlight the responsibility of the UAE on the international conservation scene.
  

Protection is Vital

The UAE and the region support a rich biodiversity, particularly in marine and coastal ecosystems. At the same time, developmental pressures are enormous. Habitats are destroyed and species are disappearing. The WWF UAE is making sincere efforts to assist in creating protected areas so that biodiversity may be preserved before it is subjected to irretrievable stress and damage.

IIR Chooses ALL AS ONE As Official CSR Summit Charity!

ALL AS ONE provides complete care to Sierra Leone’s most vulnerable children at their facility in Freetown.

All As One was established in 1997 as an international charity. They are a non-governmental organisation registered in Sierra Leone, whose Dubai office is a nonprofit organisation licensed through Dubai International Humanitarian City. Their mission is to respond to the critical dilemma of the orphaned, abandoned, abused and destitute!

Please visit http://www.aaodubai.org/ or http://www.thecsrsummit.com/ to see how you can help!

Dubai Centre For Corporate Values Supports IIR's 5th CSR Summit

The Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority (DTMFZA), the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority (DAFZA) jointly formed the Dubai Centre for Corporate Values (DCCV), the centre that aims to promote the awareness and practice of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the business sector. DCCV will work to foster the integration of social, cultural and environmental concerns in the business activities of companies in Dubai and beyond.

DCCV will develop a Dubai CSR Model that relates to the UAE’s social and economic environment. The model will be based on international frameworks and guiding principles but would focus on regional socio economic criteria.

The vision of DCCV is:

“CSR is based on the principle of contributing to the welfare of the society and community that companies belong to, which in turn benefits them in the long run,”
Ahmad Bin Byat, Director General of DTMFZA.

“Jointly with our alliance partners, Dubai International Financial Centre seeks to raise the importance of corporate social responsibility in Dubai’s business agenda,”
Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, Governor, Dubai International Financial Centre.

“To foster a strong socio-economic environment in Dubai and the region. Our commitment to corporate social responsibility is an expression of Dubai’s own core social values,”
Dr. Mohammed Al Zarouni, Director General of DAFZA

CSR Middle East Supports IIR's 5th CSR Summit

CSRMiddleEast is a non-profit platform that promotes corporate social responsibility in the region and network of CSR professionals based upon the sharing of CSR solutions and shaping the modern day business.

CSRMiddleEast platform is the leading source of corporate social responsibility and sustainability news, reports and information in Middle East. CSRMiddleEast members are companies and NGOs, agencies and organizations interested in communicating their corporate citizenship, sustainability, and socially responsible initiatives through CSRMiddleEast’s network and weekly CSR Digestives.

CSRMiddleEast content covers issues of Diversity, Philanthropy, Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) Environment, Human Rights, Workplace Issues, Business Ethics, Community Development and Corporate Governance.

Our Vision

• Promoting Corporate Social Responsibility in Middle East Region
• Providing information about CSR issues-Providing expert CSR knowledge to businesses and their stakeholders
• Contributing to the sustainable development of the region -Incorporating Middle East perspectives in the global CSR debate
• Mission to help companies achieve profitability, sustainable growth and human progress by placing corporate social responsibility in the mainstream of business practice.
  
  

Contact:

Susanne Emery
contact@csrmiddleeast.org

UNEP 2006 Prize Winner Will Present At IIR's 5th CSR Summit!

Dear CSR Professionals,


We are very proud to announce our new speaker for the upcoming 5th CSR Summit, taking place fom 15-19 June 2008 at JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai, UAE.



Mohamed T. El- Ashry, UNEP's Enviorenmental Champion Prize Winner for 2006, currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation. Prior to joining the foundation, Dr. El-Ashry served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). He served as the GEF Chairman between 1991 and 2002, and was appointed the first CEO and Chairman of the GEF in 1994. Under his leadership, GEF grew from a pilot program with less than 30 members to the largest single source of funding for the global environment with 173 member countries. In 2002, donors cast an extraordinary vote of confidence by replenishing GEF's trust fund by nearly $3 billion-the largest amount ever.


Dr. El-Ashry came to the GEF from the World Bank, where he was the Chief Environmental Advisor to the President and Director of the Environment Department. Prior to joining the World Bank, he served as Senior Vice President of the World Resources Institute (WRI) and as Director of Environmental Quality with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). He has held teaching and research positions at Cairo University, Pan-American-U.A.R. Oil Company, Illinois Geological Survey, Wilkes University, and the Environmental Defense Fund. He has also served as Senior Environmental Adviser to UNDP, as Special Adviser to the Secretary General of the 1992 U.N. Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), and as a member of the World Water Commission.


Dr. El-Ashry received his Bachelor od Science degree with honors in 1959 from Cairo University and his doctorate degree in geology in 1966 from the University of Illinois. He has received numerous international awards and honors and is the author of three books and more than 200 papers.


Dr. El-Ashry is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is listed in "American Men and Women of Science" and "Men of Achievement".

Al Gore's Ambassador To Present At 5th CSR Summit

Dear CSR Professionals,



We can now confirm that Serge de Gheldere, Al Gore's Climate Change Ambassador for Beligum will speak at the upcoming 5th CSR Summit to take place from 15-19 June 2008 at JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai, UAE.



Serge de Gheldere, 36, is ceo of Futureproof/ed, one of the first companies to exclusively focus on products/ services that reconcile sustainability, design and quality.


Serge has a degree of electromechanical engineer from Group T in Leuven (B), with a master in polymer and composites engineering. For his masters thesis, Serge worked for 4 months in Adriaan Beuker’s Advanced Structures and Materials Lab at the faculty of Aerospace engineering of the Technical University Delft. Before co-founding Futureproof/ed, de Gheldere spent seven years as product development engineer at Baxter R&D Europe, where he worked in a global team developing the industry’s first system to eliminate blood-borne pathogens in platelet transfusion products (for which he was awarded two patents).


De Gheldere's insight in product development, materials technology, mechanical and electrical engineering, and manufacturing has proved essential in shaping and growing Futureproof/ed, whose offerings are threefold: 1) Attractive, life-enhancing products with a minimal environmental footprint; 2) Ecological intelligence applied to product and space design; 3) Experience-driven workshops, training programs and consulting to help transform the way things are made.


In addition to his work at futureproof/ed, Serge is currently designer-in-residence in the xDesign program at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Yale University



http://www.futureproofed.com