The Pearl Initiative, a nonprofit organization working to promote increased transparency and corporate governance practices across the Gulf region, has been awarded special consultative status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), making it the first private nonprofit based in the UAE to be granted such status.
By virtue of its special consultative status, the Pearl Initiative is able to appoint and designate authorized representatives to the UN Headquarters in New York and the UN offices in Geneva and Vienna. The Pearl Initiative will also be authorized to attend meetings of ECOSOC as well as all UN bodies that are open to nonprofit organizations, including the General Assembly, thereby allowing the Pearl Initiative to promote its corporate governance activities with decision-makers at the highest levels.
Badr Jafar, founder of the Pearl Initiative, said: “The award is an acknowledgement of the Pearl Initiative’s important contribution toward creating a corporate culture of transparency and accountability.”