08-Jan-2017
Abu-Ghazaleh Receives “Man of the Year Award” for Smart Donations at Donor Institutions Conference in Bahrain
Manama – The events of the 2nd Award and Conference of Donor Institutions under the title "Islamic Donor Institutions with Global Sustainability Standards" organized by the Humanitarian Funds and the Islamic Council of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)have concluded. . HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh won the Man of the Year Award for Smart Donations. He stated that "This award is an expression from the community of its appreciation of people who are doing their duties toward it. It is the community which has led the organization in its progress and its various activities. “One of the most important reasons behind the organization's success around the world is the community's continuous love, support and trust," he added.
Regarding the concept of converting donations to sustainable projects, Abu-Ghazaleh said: "The organization does not provide financial support or direct donations. It runs many programs of capacity building in order enable the individual to become self-reliant. ". He added: "We have the honor of building community skills of forming a productive community that can support itself, rather than waiting for help. The organization depends on technical and communication capacity building to accomplish a future of humanity, wealth and knowledge."
He further stated: "The organization has been working for a half century on a consistent policy in order to play its role in serving the community through allocating half of its annual profits to finance Talal Abu-Ghazaleh International Institute for Social Responsibility and all its programs. It includes thirty institutions specialized in capacity- building through almost three hundred specialized training courses that qualify job seekers to rely on themselves rather than on aid."
He continued: "The organization has been one of the founders of the UN Global Compact since 2000 directed firstly by Vice President Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and then by Ban Ki-Moon."
In addition, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh expressed his pride at being honored by His Majesty King Abdullah with the Order of Independence First Class this year for his contributions in the development of local communities within the framework of social responsibility.
He also attested: "the organization works with donor institutions to achieve the goal of local community development. An example of this work is the partnership with the EU and the British Council to provide the Syrians in Zaatari Camp with the opportunity to obtain academic qualifications from globally recognized universities through digital learning."
The two-day conference aimed to motivate the donor institutions in the OIC Member States to support charitable and community organizations in order to institutionalize their activities, services and community initiatives in accordance with sustainable development standards. It also aimed to encourage partnerships between donor institutions in the OIC Member States and charitable and community organizations and government institutions in order to design and manage community initiatives which would have a positive impact which would be sustainable.
The conference also aimed to share best practice in the field of managing donor institutions at the Arab, Islamic and global levels, in order to increase the development capacities of the structure of charitable and community work in the OIC Member States, according to the principles of sustainable development.
The conference included a number of specialized sessions in which an elite group of workers in charitable and relief organizations participated, to discuss the reality of donations in the Islamic world, the geographic map of donor institutions, the UN sustainable development goals for 2030, the global applications of sustainability in the donor institutions and in the field of donations. It included the goal of choosing the tools appropriate for promoting best practice and sustainable-impact institutional donations to empower the targeted communities and maintain global professional standards in the preparation of donation proposals.