The Arab Organisation for Social Responsibility recently recognised Vodafone Qatar with the Golden Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) award.

Receiving the award at a ceremony held in Dubai, Dana Haidan, head of CSR & Sustainability at Vodafone Qatar, said: “We’re very honoured for being chosen out of many companies to receive this prestigious accolade. As a Qatari company with very local roots, CSR ranks high on our agenda and our aim is to continue to make a real contribution to society.

“At Vodafone Qatar, we use our expertise in communication technology to make a positive social impact. We also believe we can help to build a more sustainable future by delivering commercially viable products and scalable services that transform and improve the quality of lives and enable positive economic, social and environmental outcomes for our stakeholders.”

Haidan added: “At Vodafone Qatar, we firmly believe that CSR should stretch well beyond the mere charitable activities to encompass our integrity in everything we do and to ensure that the initiatives we spearhead are of true and genuine value to the larger national vision of 2030.”

Vodafone Qatar has recently launched the fourth edition of its annual programme, World of Difference, which gives financial grants to a number of people to carry out their creative ideas that generate tangible benefits for the community.

The programme was launched in 2011 and awarded four passionate individuals who helped address a number of social issues in Qatar. In 2012, the programme awarded two winners who helped disabled individuals in Qatar to be engaged in sport through swimming and diving, and brought attention to the issue of animal welfare in Qatar.

In 2013, Vodafone Qatar selected three Qatari winners out of 150 applicants, a 35% increase in the number of Qatari applicants from previous years.

The winners championed programmes to help the visually impaired; to unlock youth’s potential; and to spread awareness of road safety. Winners this year are yet to be announced.

Vodafone Qatar also launched, earlier this year, AmanTech, the company’s aid programme for online child and youth safety.

Additionally, Vodafone Qatar places strong emphasis on the health and safety of its employees and its community.

For example, the company kick-started this year, an annual Employee Wellness Programme.

Furthermore, Vodafone’s CSR approach involves a great focus on continually giving back to the community through a number of initiatives including a long-term partnership with Reach Out to Asia.

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