Promoting corporate employee volunteering in the UAE

The Dubai Chamber Centre for Responsible Business launched ENGAGE Dubai is the only program that promotes corporate employee volunteering in the UAE. Set up in November 2008, ENGAGE Dubai is an international programme that brings together businesses and community organisations around in Dubai to increase the quality and amount of employee community engagement in their local communities.

Organised as part of the Center for Responsible Business's Strategic Partnership Programme, the idea behind the setting up of ENGAGE Dubai is to provide active support for Dubai businesses to fully understand and act on their role in community development by building strategic partnerships with community organisations in the Emirate and to transfer skills from companies to the wider community. Currently there are six companies and four community partners active on the programme.

For the 2009/2010 cohort, the companies and community partners chose specific themes of strategic importance to their organizations. Such themes are: Sustaining entrepreneurship; Youth and sustainability education; Environment and Inclusion of people with special needs in the workplace. Of these areas, the largest project is the 'Youth and Sustainability Education' that consists of two activities including Faculty for Day and Manager for a Day.

The first activity of Faculty for a Day allows corporate volunteers to lecture students at the University of Dubai, imparting real world experience and views on CSR to Strategic Management and International Marketing. To date, 195 students from various BBA streams, attended these sessions with five companies sending in volunteers for 33 volunteer hours in total.

The University of Dubai, that is a community partner in ENGAGE Dubai, is also linked with the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education Initiative (UNPRME) which aims to 'inspire and champion responsible management education, research and thought leadership globally'. The companies that participated in this project are: DLA Piper, Barclays, Unilever, Dubai Chamber and TNT. One of the volunteers Wafa Tarnowska, Regional Manager for CSR and Arab Initiatives said, "The students showed such interest in CSR it was very heartening to speculate that future UAE managers would implement Corporate Social Responsibility Programs in the companies they will manage."

According to Dr Belaid Rettab, Executive Director, Economic Research and Sustainable Business Development Sector, Dubai Chamber, ENGAGE Dubai's ideology is to not leave everything to the Government but to get companies to step in and contribute through their CSR activities thus contributing to the overall programme as good residents and as concerned global citizens.

"As part of the Chamber's strategic objective of creating a favourable business environment, the programme provides networking opportunities for like minded companies and organisations and gives opportunities to companies and community partners to develop long term partnerships."

The benefits of participating in ENGAGE Dubai are numerous including exposure to international companies that demonstrate best practices in community social investment; increased motivation to employees enriching their work lives by actively contributing to the success of Dubai; enhanced company profiles for new local and international candidates for employment and networking opportunities with like-minded companies and organizations.

Participating community partners benefit by sharing time and resources from experienced people in their fields; learning to identify and communicate non- financial needs and exposure to an international arena of best practices in the field of community social investment.

The ENGAGE programme has been established since 2002 in London by the Business in the Community organization and is operating in other major cities such as Paris, Frankfurt, Istanbul, and Hong Kong. The programme's aim is to inspire, engage, support and challenge companies on responsible business, working through four areas: Community, Environment, Marketplace and Workplace.