Over the past seven years, corporate social responsibility, or CSR, in Dubai has gained significant ground amongst the business community.

Companies today increasingly value the importance of corporate governance, sustainability and CSR in building reputation, creating a motivated workforce and ultimately boosting profits.

Behind the scenes, one organisation has played the lead role in assisting this change in mindset — the Centre for Responsible Business, or CRB, an initiative of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which is celebrating its seventh anniversary this month.

A pioneer in the region, CRB was established as the Dubai Ethics Centre in 2004 to promote decent and conscientious business practices in Dubai. Towards the end of 2007 it was restructured to become an integral part of Dubai Chamber and one that contributed to the organisation’s strategic objectives of creating a favourable business environment, supporting the development of business and promoting Dubai as an international business hub. At that time it was renamed the Centre for Responsible Business to reflect its broader mandate beyond just ethics to include CSR, sustainability and corporate governance.

One of the early awareness-raising initiatives by CRB was the launch of its specialised newsletter CSR Al Youm in 2007. The newsletter was designed to encourage companies to explore opportunities that CSR has to offer, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Over the last few years CSR Al Youm has featured many inspiring initiatives and introduced various tools, resources and ideas to assist companies apply CSR schemes within their operations.

CRB quickly realised that raising awareness alone was not enough to convince companies in Dubai of the benefits of CSR and sustainability. The need for specific programmes and training courses was also necessary and the demand for these types of initiatives was also evident. To meet this growing demand, CRB partnered with the UK-based not-for profit organisation, Business in the Community (BiTC) in 2008 to launch ENGAGE Dubai, a volunteering programme open to companies in Dubai. Since its launch, 845 volunteers from 35 companies have given 4,406 hours of volunteering to benefit 2,025 causes. And even now, it is the only organisation in the region to join the international ENGAGE programme.

Following this successful launch, CRB detected a clear need for a regional business conference focusing on CSR and so launched the Dubai Responsible Business Dialogue in 2009. This biannual sustainability conference, which is the largest of its kind in the GCC, has created a forum where diverse stakeholders come together to hold a transparent dialogue on key CSR and sustainability issues, initiatives, policies and strategies. In 2010, CRB celebrated the successful launch of the Dubai Chamber CSR Label, which helps companies incorporate CSR best practice in their operations. Alongside raising awareness, the CSR Label assists businesses address broad environmental, ethical and social aspects of their everyday business and helps them develop a culture of CSR.

The year 2011 was an equally busy year for CRB. The Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network was launched to reinforce Dubai Chamber’s position as the CSR leader in the country.

CRB is also helping to support the business community by providing quality research and publications on the state of CSR in Dubai and the UAE, as well as toolkits and guidebooks on how to implement CSR, sustainability and corporate governance practices. To date, CRB has compiled 22 research studies, covering topics such as green purchasing, corporate governance, and corporate volunteering, and released 13 products including the CSR Toolkits to help Dubai Chamber members integrate responsible practices into their day-to-day operations.

The organisation’s reach is growing and it is managing to raise its profile internationally through social media sites, celebrating its significant milestone of having provided services to more than 2,000 organisations with the launch of the CRB LinkedIn Group.

Dr Belaid Rettab, senior director of economic research and sustainable business development sector at Dubai Chamber, said: “From community engagement and employee volunteering, to GRI reporting, and building a sustainable future, we strive to give Dubai-based companies the opportunity to experiment and innovate with the principles of CSR, and explore the benefits that it will bring.

By: Abdul Basit