“SAVING THE
FUTURE” IDENTIFIES DUNIA’S EFFORTS TO EMPOWER PEOPLE, SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT AND
MAXIMIZE FINANCIAL RETURNS
Abu Dhabi – January
2014: Dunia Finance, a leading UAE-based finance company, announced that it
has published its first ever corporate sustainability report, in line with its
focus on building a robust best practice and corporate governance environment.
Since its inception in September 2008, dunia adopted sustainability in the
heart of its business, as part of its belief in being a good corporate citizen.
To achieve this objective, dunia took a
long-term strategic view of its business and markets. They undertook a strategy
that drives their sustainability framework, helping them focus on the core
areas to run a sustainable business, and fulfil their responsibilities towards
all their stakeholders.
Themed “Saving the Future”, dunia’s
sustainability report followed a ‘triple bottom line’ concept that measures Profits
but also the organizational impact on People and the Planet. The
basis of this approach is that all companies are responsible to all their
stakeholders – not just the shareholders but everyone the company deals with
and has an impact on.
Opening with their values to enrich, enable
and empower, dunia’s report goes on to describe their social, economic and
environmental initiatives. Since many of these initiatives were started almost
at the onset of dunia’s operations five years ago, the report also highlights
the fruits that dunia’s initiatives have borne in the recent past.
Commenting, Rajeev Kakar, Managing Director and CEO of
dunia, said: “At dunia, we are truly committed to
sustainability. We have built a strong and resilient business, which is focused
on protecting the environment, empowering people, enabling success and
enriching lives. We want this company to continue making a difference to the
people and communities we serve.”
“We
are passionate about being responsible corporate citizens in the UAE. This approach and aspiration obviously comes
with greater responsibility towards ensuring that we weave good practices into
all aspects of our business, and in everything that we do. This has led us to
recognize the importance of social responsibility initiatives for the
betterment of the communities we operate in.”
The report, which was prepared based on the
comprehensive G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and Implementation Manual,
outlined the various programs and initiatives that dunia runs, including their
approach to empowering, educating and nurturing talent within the organization
and supporting the development of individuals in their communities. The report
describes dunia’s customer-centric approach and their focus on diversity and culture,
as it does detail how dunia invests heavily in its people, enhancing leadership
and particularly developing UAE-national talent.
dunia’s first sustainability report also
lists the many green initiatives it has implemented to help protect the environment,
including reducing their ecological footprint with compact branches, recycling,
automation, reducing waste and promoting energy efficient lighting even for
their branch signage. It also explains the importance of profit, out of their
belief that profits they generate will benefit all their stakeholders as they
create more job opportunities and enhance the lives of more customers in their
communities.
Kakar added: “dunia has always adopted and implemented business practices that ensure
that we do good as we focus on delivering financial returns. In fact, by
rooting our practices in remaining a force for good, we have found that it
actually enables, rather than hinders our ability to make financial returns.”
Since it is dunia’s first ever sustainability
report, an overview of their sustainability approach since their inception in
2008 is provided. Dunia Finance intends to publish their sustainability report
on an annual basis.
