Some people believe that the increase in charity work in our country is natural due to the religious and humanitarian values Saudi society has. They also believe that the different qualities and the quantity of charitable work projects cater to the needs of many sectors and are in line with the country’s efforts to spread the idea of social services. Therefore, addressing this issue is a necessity in order to enhance the culture and awareness of society.
On the other hand, some say that a fast growing society such as ours needs a number of individual initiatives within the frame of one institutional work that adopts long-term programs and achieves unity and organization to reach targeted groups of people.
As for another vision that appeared in the past few years, it is establishing the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to be a base for charity and social and humanitarian projects. CSR is a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment in all aspects of their operations. This responsibility is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees organizations voluntarily taking further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large.
On this basis, the Sultan ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Saud Foundation formed a team for CSR as part of its charitable institution that aims at developing society. The team’s duty is to find methods to implement and help get the private sector involved in serving the social and charitable work and study international and regional programs and experiences to adopt successful CSR ideas.
The team will also study different fields in which CSR programs can be implemented to benefit from the contributions of the private sector. The team has already done a great deal of work by approving a proposal to build a national database to support and activate social responsibility to sustain the development in the Kingdom. As the head of this team, I look forward to increased cooperation and enthusiasm from the private sector to see the concept of CSR blossom and achieve its objectives.
