Social Responsibility..s. A Duty and Obligation
Sharjah City Municipality (SCM) attaches great importance to promoting its corporate social responsibility, strengthening partnership with all sectors of society and opening new horizons for their participation in community development in sustainable ways. The SCM is keen to enhance the CSR concept among its employees. It believes that this can be reflected in the way they deal with customers and community members.
In this context, the SCM has devoted a large portion of its activities and initiatives to consolidate the concept of social responsibility in the society and make it a daily culture and way of life. It believes that social responsibility is an integral part of the comprehensive development of societies. It has no doubt that this will not be achieved without close cooperation and solidarity of community members and strategic partners.
The SCM social responsibility policy is based on four pillars that comply with the best international standards in this field. These pillars are in line with the strategic directions of the Government of Sharjah and the local environment in the United Arab Emirates.
The four CSR pillars at the municipality are:
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Society, especially categories that are more eligible to support and care, such as people with disabilities, the elderly, needy families, etc.
- Health, Safety and Environment.
- Workplace, including staff, laborers, material and technical resources.
- Stakeholders (i.e. customers and partners from public and private sectors).
Society
The SCM seeks to improve the quality of life and well-being in the city of Sharjah within its strategic vision. It is committed to launching initiatives that support humanitarian causes for the local community. It uses all possible means of communication with the community members in order to touch the issues of direct concern to them and to identify their needs and aspirations.
The SCM attaches special importance to providing support and care to the most eligible and deserving categories, such as people with disabilities, the elderly, needy families, etc. It is keen to coordinate efforts with all concerned parties in order to empower these categories and enhance their role in sustainable development
Workplace
The SCM is committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment for its employees and creating a happy and ideal work environment for them. This ideal workplace is characterized by positivity, cultural diversity, female employees’ empowerment and youth support. It ensures the provision of specialized training programs and all possible means of support for employees at all job levels.
The SCM is also keen to boost resources and provide facilities that enable employees to increase their productivity and achieve their career aspirations. It encourages them to follow a healthy lifestyle.
The municipality has won many awards in the CSR field, such as the Sharjah Excellence Award – CSR category in 2019, and the Happiness @ Workplace Award in consecutive years.
Environment
The SCM is committed to promoting environmental awareness, supporting environmental protection and benefiting from the best practices in this field. Expansion of green areas and improvement of per capita share of cultivated area in the city are at the top of the SCM strategic priorities. This goal is achieved while depending on treated wastewater for irrigation of plants. The compost is produced at the SCM operated plant from agricultural residues and sludge generated from sewage treatment. The SCM also adopts the best and most modern irrigation methods in order to preserve water and natural resources.
Stakeholders
The SCM is keen to cooperate and create partnerships with both public and private sectors. It is committed to continuous coordination with stakeholders to achieve sustainability in infrastructure projects, service activities and others.
The SCM is also keen to develop its services and increase reliance on digital technologies in order to facilitate its services and ensure that transactions are completed quickly and with high quality. It exerted great efforts to enhance the electronic connectivity with all concerned authorities to ensure customers complete their transactions easily.
The SCM is keen to exchange best practices and expertise with its suppliers and partners in a way that enhances cooperation with them. It makes sure that these partners are maintaining the general appearance of the emirate and are more relying on renewable energy sources in operating its projects.
Annual Events Program
The SCM is keen to expand the scope of its participation in social activities and interaction with events and occasions that highlight its role as a leading corporation in social responsibility programs.
Therefore, the SCM prepares and implements an annual program of events and initiatives that includes social responsibility initiatives and activities. This annual program is aimed to instill and strengthen the corporate culture of social responsibility among employees and community members, and encourage them to engage in the initiatives organized by the municipality through social media and internal communication channels.