Do your duty: CSR in Arab World

My professional life requires a constant updating of the reality of various subjects, including CSR, and in that sense I came across some information about this topic in the Arab world. The theme in general is always very interesting and dynamic anywhere in the world, and this area of ​​the globe is no exception. In this theme the social aspect is central and therefore the search for information on cultural research becomes even more interesting. Another aspect, in my opinion, for this type of theme in a society increasingly globalized, is the need to learn and understand fairly different issues, cultural differences and factors that impact the implementation and operation of the CSR.

So when searching for information, through some contacts, I came across some issues I think are interesting to underline and analyze, and in this case, CSR in the Arab world.

Starting with some statistic from Ambreen Waheed and Faiz Shah article “Can Faith Build Competitiveness?”, included in AccountAbility’s “The State of Responsible Competitiveness 2007” report: «The fifty-seven member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) are home to 20% of the world’s population. Between them they provide 70% of the earth’s energy resources, and 40% of the raw materials that global industry relies on. Yet the collective Gross Domestic Product of all OIC members put together accounts for less than 5% of the world’s GDP, and their mutual trade is a mere 7% of the volume of international business. It is not surprising then, that 31 out

of the 57 (54%) are classified as “least developed low-income” countries.» This citation gives us some data about the reality in the Arab or Islamic world. But some of you can start to question “can we even think in CSR issues in these countries, with these numbers?”   

To answer some of these questions we can look at the Second Annual CSR Middle East Survey, conducted by Sustainability Advisory Group (SAG) in 2010. One of the key conclusions from the survey is that regional businesses are increasingly recognizing that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a business imperative rather than a philanthropic add-on. Maria Sillanpaa, Founding Director of SAG, said the survey covered public and private sector organizations 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.

«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 wish to keep up with the powerful international trend.», said Sillanpaa. However, beside these positive signs, there are some issues not so important for businesses in the region, like environmental issues related to water, waste management and climate changes. But in an overall point of view «People issues such as employee well-being, health and safety, recruitment and retention, ethical practices, governance and transparency continue to be rightly recognized as the critical CSR issues businesses within the region must tackle.»

You might say: “OK, but where’s the different aspects?”, “What’s the point?”. Jumping to Sillanpaa’s “My Middle Eastern Sustainability Journey”, that highlights the religion aspects, with the dominant Islamic tradition. Sillanpaa writes: «Although corporate responsibility defined in a Western ‘modern’ sense is still in its infancy, some core ideas are not new to Arab cultures guided by a strict allegiance to Islam as a deep rooted sense of personal duty towards the community and wider society. Therefore the term ‘corporate responsibility’ is still often understood as synonymous with charity – an extension of individual Zakat (One of the Five Pillars of Islam that wants Muslims to donate part of his income to the poor and needy).» Some sources, like the 2007 background paper from “Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Citizenship in the Arab World” conference in Cairo, Egypt, say that «CSR has typically been introduced by multinationals, and passed on through subsidiaries in the region.» And if we think that Corporate Responsibility and Responsible Competitiveness are based on values, the search for values can lead us to culture and religious aspects. Going back to Waheed and Shah’ essay «that looks at the way Islam has sought to enshrine societal good within the paradigm of economic activity.» The authors add that «Islamic teachings seek to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship, but define clear moral and societal limits, to prevent exploitation. Social responsibility is central to Islamic business principles, with well defined responsibilities for entering into contracts, guaranteeing quality, ensuring ethical dealings, and securing accountability.»

Recently, ArabCSR.org (The Arab Encyclopedia of CSR) announced that is to launch “The First Arab Social Responsibility Report” in 2011. ArabCSR.org chairman, Buthaina Hasan Al-Ansari, highlights that the importance and benefit of Arab Social Responsibility «deprive from its ability to entrench the values of CSR in the Arab region, which in its turn will support the national attitude of the countries seeking to accomplish the millennium goals». The report reveals the growth of SR initiatives in the Arab countries, and demonstrates the increasing importance of SR to nation leaders. It underlines some very good examples such as Saudi Arabia, with special attention to CSR activities supported by kingdom rulers. Qatar, that attained most of the Millennium Development Goals, and the launching of the first Arab network dedicated to social responsibility. The UAE, where SR gained an increasing importance over the last 5 years, adopting SR within the strategic view of the federal government. Egypt, with SR enhancing, highlighting the launching of Egypt’s CSR Index in 2010; and Syria, with an unprecedented attention of SR concept supported by launching CSR Syria network. The report doesn’t cover 7 of the 22 Arab countries due to lack of information.

Of course some of this information can start discussions about various points of view. But till now, in a general perspective, we can summarize most of the information as follows:

-     - The Arab world encompasses some regions and a number of countries with huge potential for growth and wealth, as statistics show;

-     - Religious and culture aspects can enhance CSR growth, making it more natural to evolve;

-     - CSR evolution started somehow with west influence, through west companies, but rapidly Arab social responsibility took it own course.

But one of the aspects that call out my attention was an article published in The National, a newspaper from the UAE, had the following title: “Do your duty is the message to business in Emirates”. The article written by Neil Parmar, covered the 8^th CSR Summit in Dubai last April, and had an highlight that says «Companies urged to overcome cost fears and restore projects that help their employees». It called my attention because it focused on employees, it focused on employee’s related projects, and the need to concentrate efforts on that path. The author highlighted what experts were saying: «Businesses can start small socially responsible programmes by focusing on their own employees». And in the Summit’ advertising there was a phrase that means a lot in this theme, from Lebanese explorer Maxim Chaya: «there’s no profit without people or planet».

Just remember on so many CSR programmes, more focused on corporate priorities than on real Social Responsibility issues, some of them forgetting that organizations are about people and not profit, and if you still want to focus on profit, just remember Chaya’s phrase. Remember also that CSR can and should be based on values and culture values, and can even make some bridges with religious values, because their ultimately culture values. We can learn some much from others.

Bruno Slewinski
Orex SM | Sustainable Marketing
www.orexsm.yolasite.com