In Cooperation with Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry
The Dubai Ethics Resource Center (DERC), an initiative of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry, recently honored a number of university students for volunteering their time to take part in a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) internship at the Chamber. The award ceremony, meanwhile, recognized the support and efforts of the Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), Emaar Properties, Jumeirah Group, National Bank of Dubai (NBD), and Sama Dubai, for participating in the program and helping and directing the students in their CSR training.
Senior officials from Dubai Chamber and DERC handed over certificates of appreciation and trophies to the students and companies involved in the CSR internship. The officials also praised the efforts of partnering organizations which contributed to the success of the students' internship, primarily the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management.
Dr. Belaid Rettab, Director of DERC, said "The students, who participated in this voluntary internship over the summer holidays, are from Dubai Women's College, University of Wollongong in Dubai and the British University in Dubai. The three-week internship took place last July as part of the center's Future Leader Program (FLP). The program aimed at introducing the students to the basics of CSR and business ethics while providing them with practical skills they will need for their future career."
He pointed out that five local companies have contributed to the successful training of the students through the provision of information that helped them create their CSR case-studies. In addition, the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management helped the students develop the necessary skills and techniques they require to conduct interviews, work as a team and develop case-studies.
During the award ceremony, the students presented the key findings from their case-studies with the help of the five participating companies, each highlighting a different approach to integrating CSR into their respective business. These companies have initiated efforts to develop comprehensive CSR programs and management systems, and over the coming years, some of these companies will publish the first public CSR reports.
"Previously, the companies involved in this program were mainly international or regional, but clearly there has been a shift in the local market towards CSR, and with this increased awareness, companies are looking to take their responsibilities more seriously, which is demonstrated by the fact that, this year all of the five participating companies were local, UAE-based organizations," Dr. Rettab noted.
"The students' CSR internship is part of DERC's wider program portfolio to support Dubai Chamber's members with value-added research, trainings and advisory services related to CSR issues. DERC hopes that over time the CSR training offering to students will help to develop the local knowledge and capacity of Dubai's youth, generating a pool of high quality, responsible leaders for Dubai's future business community. DERC, in collaboration with Dubai Chamber, conduct these training programs for students to urge them test the real work environment at companies to help enhance their self-confidence and promote the leadership spirit among them."
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© Press Release 2007
