The Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Chambers, His Excellency Dr. Khaled Hanafi, participated in the activities of the International Congress on Social Responsibility 2024, which was held in the city of Salalah - Sultanate of Oman, under the patronage of His Highness Marwan bin Turki Al Said - Governor of Dhofar, on August 8, 2024, at the Rotana Salalah Hotel.
Dr. Khaled Hanfy stressed that “the Union of Arab Chambers always calls and urges local chambers and companies in the Arab world to adopt initiatives and develop the spirit of sustainable social responsibility in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and to motivate companies by launching the award for the most socially responsible companies in the Arab world in various sectors and in cooperation with internationally accredited certificates.”
He pointed out that "the Union of Arab Chambers, as the true representative of the Arab private sector, pays great attention to the issue of social responsibility and people of determination in order to empower them economically and socially, by working with the relevant authorities in the Arab world, in order to ensure that they obtain opportunities and experiences that enable them to live independently. In this context, we are proud of the Union’s launch of the “Independent Living Initiative to Support People of Determination” competition, in which entrepreneurs with disabilities or those who have ideas and projects that serve people of determination and help them live independently and face the challenges that will arise in Arab and international societies in the future participate.”
He expressed his pride in the close cooperation between the Union of Arab Chambers and the Regional Network for Social Responsibility, as we always look forward to more effective cooperation and coordination in the coming phase, in order to achieve our lofty goals in terms of community development.
He pointed out “We live in a changing time, and from this standpoint, it is necessary to adopt methods that are compatible with the changes taking place in order to enhance the reality and role of corporate social responsibility. In line with the digital and industrial revolution, blockchain, the Internet of Things, and other modern concepts that have replaced old concepts, which will contribute to improving the services provided to the community, creating real job opportunities, paying fair wages, ensuring the safety of workers and employees, and participating in finding solutions to social and environmental problems.”
The Secretary-General of the Union explained that “in order to achieve sustainability and transparency in the relationship that is supposed to take place between the private sector and civil society organizations, these organizations must provide a clear, transparent, effective and straightforward model of their work in organizing social assistance campaigns, and transparency here is a necessary condition for sustainability, and the ultimate goal will inevitably be to enhance and generalize social responsibility.” Considering that "despite the important and prominent role of the private sector in this field, it cannot perform this role alone, as there is great importance in strengthening the partnership in the field of social responsibility between the public and private sectors as well as the banking sector and international financing institutions, by encouraging voluntary initiatives to cover development areas, which leads to strengthening, supporting and combining all efforts that contribute to achieving development among communities and within families and individuals."
He stressed at the end of his speech that “the social responsibility of the private sector in Arab countries is of great importance as it is an important tool to mitigate the control of globalization, as the private sector and companies represent the largest and most essential part of the national economic system. Accordingly, attention to social responsibility has become a basic requirement to reduce poverty through the commitment of economic institutions to provide the appropriate environment, not to waste resources, to carry out recruitment and training operations, to raise human capacities, and to empower women and raise their capacities and skills in a way that qualifies them to participate in the sustainable development process.”
Source (Union of Arab Chambers)
