Dubai Customs affirmed that it takes a great interest in social development being one of its strategic objectives abreast with the economic and security responsibilities. The Department works on merging social and environmental aspects in its work as its contributions in this respect had positive implications over the past years. CSR initiatives launched by Dubai Customs included 4 main fields; Community, Environment, Economy and Job Market, all eventually aimed at contributing to the realization of a sustainable development.
This was part of Dubai Customs participation in the Fourth Social Culture’s Values (Social Responsibility) Forum, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development, under the patronage of H.H Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, Chairman of the Sharjah Executive Council, and in the presence of H.E Abdul Rahman bin Mohammad Al Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development. The forum was held at the Al Razi Auditorium in the University of Sharjah on Wednesday.
Dubai Customs took part in the third session of the forum agenda, under the title (the Role of Organizations in the Development of Social Responsibility). Mr Khalil Saqr bin Gharib, Director of Corporate Communication Department at Dubai Customs, reviewed the department’s experience in committing to the CSR in four fields (Community, Environment, Health and Economy) which come in line with Dubai Government directives aimed at achieving sustainable development and maintaining the excellence and leadership the emirate is accustomed to achieve in all aspects. He said:” We developed social work as per the international model of CSR, which includes employees, job market, customers, environment for reasons that include leveraging Dubai Customs performance socially, economically and environmentally and enhancing its reputation in this field”.
Mr Saqr mentioned that Dubai Customs carried out 304 CSR initiatives and projects benefiting 205 thousand persons in a three-year period from 2009 to 2011 in all four fields. Four years ago, top management at Dubai Customs gave every employee a paid off day to do their choice of voluntary work, boosting charitable and voluntary work culture among its employees. Voluntary work is one of the characteristics of the Emirati society and reflects the principles of social solidarity and cooperation in Emirati people. This initiative results in 30 thousand working hours annually to serve charitable and social corporations in the country.
He added that Dubai Customs has kicked off a number of CSR initiatives that addressed the needs of its employees or the public, inside and outside the country. One of these initiatives is the establishment of the first high profile child care center in Dubai Government departments for Dubai Customs employees aiming at providing social welfare for working mothers and enabling them to strike the balance between their business and family life. Moreover, the Best Working Mother Award was launched in cooperation with Dubai Women Establishment.
In cooperation with charitable organizations at the country, Dubai Customs carried out a number of charitable campaigns to collect donations that were availed by 40 thousand people, in addition to establishing two mosques in Somalia.
Mr Saqr highlighted some of the organizational initiatives and projects launched by Dubai Customs in the environmental, healthcare, charitable and job market fields, which all aimed at contributing to the realization of sustainable development.
For the past four years, Dubai Customs has been committed to release its annual Sustainability Report, which reflects its keenness to further integrate CSR into customs business. Dubai Customs has bagged a number of local, regional and international awards in respect to CSR.