Boeing wins top honor at Arabia Corporate Social Responsibility awards

The Boeing Company recently received the Arabia Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Network’s top award for its partnership with, INJAZ Al Arab, a leading non-profit organization, for co-developing a program to reduce unemployment in the Middle East.

“Helping to address key issues such as economic development, education, health and protection of the environment, is as important to Boeing as our expertise in aviation and technology,” said Jeffrey Johnson, president of Boeing Middle East.

“As a company, we are committed to using our business expertise to support regional organizations and community initiatives in a way that ensures sustainable and measurable outcomes. Our philosophy extends beyond philanthropy and this prestigious award is a testament to the success of our partnership-driven approach.”

The prestigious awards, now in their fifth year, are considered one of the most respected and credible corporate social responsibility awards in the Middle East. In 2012, 58 applications from 17 industry sectors and 11 Arab countries competed for awards.

Boeing has partnered with INJAZ Al Arab on a variety of initiatives since 2009. Most recently it supported the extension of a program designed to help address regional youth unemployment by teaching high school students how to start and run their own business.

“Against the backdrop of the world’s highest youth unemployment rates, Boeing’s partnership with INJAZ Al –Arab has pushed us to an unprecedented level of impact in our efforts to empower young Arabs,” said Soraya Salti, INJAZ Al-Arab Regional Director and Junior Achievement Senior Vice President MENA.

“By championing the Startup Program, they have helped us to bring the Company Program full circle – transforming student business ideas into fully-fledged companies that create jobs and new economic opportunities. Boeing’s corporate incubation model defines a new method of corporate social responsibility in the region, one that must be learned from and replicated in the interest of our young people.”

The Growth of Company program was piloted in Egypt and is now being expanded to other parts of the Middle East. Boeing initially supported the program to help reduce regional unemployment but overtime expanded the initiative to university level students versus only high school students and introduced program elements to help the best student run companies launch their businesses.

Since 2005, Boeing has funded education programs and entrepreneurship training for more than 2,500 people across the region, principally through projects organized with local non-profits including INJAZ, INDEMAJ, Action Care and the Emirates Environment Group in the UAE, Qatar, Palestinian Authorities and Jordan.

Boeing also recently invited applications from community partners to apply for grants to support science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, workforce development and employment placement programs in the UAE and Qatar. The initiative supports Boeing’s broad efforts to nurture STEM education at the primary and secondary education levels while providing teachers with tools to creatively engage with their students.