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Arabia CSR Network holds Arabia CSR Awards 2011 Clinic

A complimentary 'Awards Clinic' was held by the Arabia CSR Network on Sunday, 24th July 2011, at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai. The Clinic aimed to inform the applicants of the Arabia CSR Awards 2011 i.e. the application procedure etc, while sharing experiences of the previous award winners.

Addressing the audience, Ms. Habiba Al Marashi, President of the Arabia CSR Network, stated, "The Arabia CSR Awards seek to identify good Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices in the MENA region and give them the projection for the whole world to see. We applaud companies that have demonstrated outstanding leadership, business ethics, transparency, sustainability and corporate governance and have treated the environment and human stakeholders as key resources rather than disposable assets."

The Arabia CSR Awards - instituted by the Arabia CSR Network and supported by the United Nations Global Compact - is inviting entries from government departments, corporate organizations and NGOs for the fourth cycle of the Awards which were launched on 24th April 2011. The Arabia CSR Network, initiated under the patronage of HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President, Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman and CEO Emirates Group, Chairman, Dubai Airports, is one of the very few multi-stakeholder forums in the MENA region that aim to share CSR best practices for recognition and replication.

In its past three years, the Arabia CSR Awards have witnessed tremendous response from all sectors of corporate organizations across the entire Arab world. The first three cycles of the Awards saw more than 215 entries from the GCC, Levant and Northern Africa. The Awards are open to organizations from both the public and private sector, with different categories based on the size of the organization. Both Arab and multi-national organizations are encouraged to apply to these Awards, as long as they have operations and CSR initiatives in any of the Arab countries.

This year, the Awards have developed with a number of exciting changes. For the first time, the participants are required to self-assess their organizations and score themselves. This allows for benchmarking and target setting, both externally with other organizations as well as internally, within one's own organization. The Arabia CSR Awards will also be bringing out a research report that will feature case studies based on the award winning submissions.

Dr. Gracia Ugut, Member of the Jury of the Arabia CSR Awards facilitated the Clinic. Dr. Ugut is currently the Associate Dean of the Executive Education and Lifelong Learning (EXCELL) Center. Her research focus is on her fields of expertise: risk management and capital markets development. She is a resource speaker on sustainable banking in Asia CSR Forum since 2004 and has also conducted research on Corporate Governance, particularly for Banking and Financial Institutions in Asia.

During the clinic, the 2010 Awards finalists, Dubai Customs, First Select and Aldar Properties came on board to share their Awards experience, the challenges they faced and the benefits gained from the whole Awards experience. These winners also advised the participants on how to submit a winning application. They emphasized the importance of proving to the judges that they are actively measuring and refining the outcomes of their CSR initiatives for a larger and sustainable impact.

The Arabia CSR Awards Clinic 2011 was supported by the Jumeirah Emirates Tower.

The presentations were followed by an interactive question and answer session which was chaired by a panel consisting of Ms. Al Marashi, Dr. Ugut and the winners of last year's awards. The informative workshop was appreciated by all potential application who actively asked questions to ensure that their application had a chance to win this prestigious Award.

Arabia CSR Network holds Arabia CSR Awards 2011 Clinic

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