Social Responsibility took a giant leap forward in the region with the recently concluded conference held under the patronage of HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al-Thani, CEO, Qatar Foundation and under the auspices of Al Faisal Social Responsibility Centre.
The international event attracted a cross-section of audience including ambassadors and over 40 researchers representing 14 countries.
Al Faisal Centre for Social Responsibility will organise the second edition of the conference  under the theme  ‘Corporate Social Responsibility — risks and challenges’ on  March 28-29, 2017.
HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani said: “The unique conference signals a new era in social responsibility and we feel privileged to act as the flagship for such a vital initiative. The absorbing deliberations have thrown new light on the subject and consequently have led to some practical steps that need to be taken to ensure that this filters through all segments of government organisations and private sector companies.”
During the closing ceremony, Sheikh Faisal  and a big number of the audience signed the “Al Faisal Social Responsibility Agreement.”
The conference has come out with several recommendations, including efforts to integrate social responsibility in the mission, vision, philosophy and culture of the institutions and promoting the spirit of social responsibility amongst leaders in the various institutions.
Other recommendations include a national and institutional legal structure to organise legislation and determine the priorities and needs of the social responsibility programmes and raise community awareness of social responsibility issues through official media.
“It was indeed heartening to see the tremendous response from the wide-ranging audience which included academics, researchers, graduate students, training institutions, media and marketing experts, opinion leaders in the community and civil society organisations. Their involvement has contributed immensely to the subject of social responsibility and our consequent recommendations,” said Mubarka Hamad al-Marri, manager, Al Faisal Social Responsibility Centre.
The three-day conference covered a wide range of subjects such as Main platforms for Social Responsibility, Social Responsibility in Education, Social Responsibility and the private sector, Social Responsibility from the legal perspective, Experiences and Practices of Social Responsibility in the Energy Sector, The reality of social responsibility, amongst others.