'CSR in Action', an initiative organized by Al Ahli Holding Group's Corporate Social Responsibility division and in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), Entourage, Microsoft and Stanton Chase International celebrated its success in an award ceremony held yesterday evening announcing five new CSR initiatives.

The celebration took place at the Dubai Marina Yacht Club and was attended by the Ambassador of the United States to the United Arab Emirates Michael H. Corbin and the CEO of Al Ahli Holdig Group Mr. Mohamed Khammas who delivered the keynote speeches, in addition to partners, participants, academics, stakeholders, and a number of government and private sector representatives.

Participants began the program in October 2011 through an intense 10-day workshop on the fundamentals of corporate social responsibility. The program brought together 25 UAE national participants, fifteen from various private sector and government organizations including TECOM and DU, (government private sector and banking) and ten university students who joined to learn more about CSR. 

During the program, the participants received training related to the underlying principles of CSR, and then were divided into teams and given the task of designing and implementing five micro CSR projects.

Speaking during the ceremony, Mr. Mohamed Khammas, CEO of Al Ahli Group said: "We are extremely proud of how successful this program was in achieving its goals and in spreading the awareness about the importance of CSR and promoting its sustainability and the greatest example of how the program was perceived by the stakeholders is that we've just put pen to paper to move the CSR in Action experience to other countries in the region starting with Lebanon and Jordan."

And about their opinion on how successful this initiative has been, Mr. Nathan Carter, Director of the Gulf Regional Office for the Middle East Partnership Initiative said, "The eagerness of the participants and the novelty of their initiatives is a reflection of the growing interest and excitement around the topic of CSR here in the UAE. The proud 'graduates' of the program will now begin the more difficult phase of the project by working to make their new initiatives a reality. They are well-equipped for the challenges ahead having benefited from the excellent training and mentorship of this program."

Once the training was completed, the teams designed and presented CSR projects to a distinguished judging panel to choose the winning team, which was awarded last night with a CSR best practices tour in the United States presented by Microsoft.

And speaking on their involvement in this initiative, Azza El Shinnawy, Microsoft's Citizenship Lead for the Gulf region said, "It is with great pleasure that Microsoft partners with CSR in Action, to widen the base for social entrepreneurship as well as be a mentor to these vibrant and promising young entrepreneurs. Unleashing the constructive potential of social entrepreneurship is a responsibility that Microsoft is proud shoulder."

The CSR in Action is an initiative set to develop and enhance the practice and awareness of CSR activities among practitioners in the UAE and simultaneously augment student conceptual understanding. Through capacity building mechanisms, the project aims at engaging the Private Sector, Academia, and Government entities in formulating strategies that are more responsive to community needs.

Al Ahli Holding Group also works on a number of initiatives via its own Corporate Social Responsibility division focusing on the development, support and empowerment of Arab youth and on the dissemination of thought leadership in the region through different internship and fellowship programs.a