Environment, Social, Governance

empty Description of term "Environment, Social, Governance"

Governance Practices in GCC Family Firms

The Pearl Initiative has launched a new piece of regional research focused on family firm governance. The Report “Family Matters, Governance Practices in GCC Family Firms” is based on research carried out jointly by the Pearl Initiative and PwC.

The research is based on interviews with over a hundred family firms across the GCC.

Djibouti develops framework for Islamic Microfinance

The central bank of Djibouti develops a regulation for Islamic microfinance as it is seen as a strategic tool to fight poverty. The Agence Djiboutienne de Développement Social (ADDS) aims to establish a widespread network for Islamic microfinance.

Ithmaar Bank B.S.C. : Ithmaar support for Education Scholarship Fund

Ithmaar Bank helped support a local charity that provides an Education Scholarship Fund (ESF) for children of financially challenged families. Ithmaar Bank Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board, Mohammed Bucheerei, presented the cheque for the ESF to Azra Mohammed Mohsin, President of the Pakistani Women's Association (PWA) which established the fund. More than 100 children are receiving support from the ESF in the current academic year .

How Islamic finance and a more ethical capitalism go hand-in-hand

Muslims live their lives in accordance to the teachings of their founder, Muhammad, whose business dealings were strongly linked to humanitarian values. Therefore, today’s Muslims are encouraged to keep their wealth in constant circulation, either into the business, or into local communities. Comparatively, a social enterprise is an organization, which focuses on environmental, social and economical well-being with a profit-making business model. These two types of businesses have community interests in common and are also faced with similar issues due to the constant circulation of money.

Don’t grab land, invest in the locals

Multinational corporations and nations buy up land in foreign countries, most of them intending to export the production. Oxfam recently published a report about this phenomenon, called land-grabbing and its problems for the local societies. However, the Oxfam’s study also gives recommendations for a possible solution to the dilemma.

Funds@Work: The Best of all Worlds – Towards a more Sustainable Financial System

Paper by Funds@Work regarding Islamic Finance vs. Sustainability from a network perspective insight; "Our aim was to show that we should never look at phenomena in an isolated manner. Islamic, ESG as well as conventional investors can greatly learn from each other by being more open. Islamic Finance should not be looked at from a religious perspective but rather from what it brings to the table from which ESG and conventional investors can profi t. Our fi nance and investment system globally will be more resilient if individual participants approach each other more openly and share ideas converging into a mainstream “sustainable fi nance system” which borrows the best of all worlds. From a network analytic perspective we should be aware that openness leads to greater innovation and stability and creates more opportunities to interact. In this context we need to address prejudices which stem from mere ignorance and act as barriers to cooperate. Because ultimately what the world needs is a greater integration of networks such as the Islamic Finance, ESG, and conventional investments communities to make their individual achievements accessible to a broader audience.

Egypt turns off streetlights to cope with power shortage

15 Egyptian power stations have ceased to produce electricity due to fuel shortages. That is why Egypt is turning off half its streetlights in order to save 700 MW. This move is a follow-up to a previous initiative, by requirement of the government, shops and restaurants closed earlier. Even though the closing time rules did not enjoy popularity among most of the public, they went into effect in December 2012.

MENA governments need to engage the private sector to help address the growing crisis of affordable housing: Ernst & Young

In a report titled "The growing crisis of affordable housing in MENA" Ernst & Young explain that the growing crisis of affordable housing can be fought if regional governments involve the private sector in the matter. Even though a number of countries in the MENA region have made commendable efforts, affordable housing is still far from enough and the demand is continuously rising. The government is not able to deal with the issue of supplying affordable housing on its own. That is why both supply-side and demand-side strategies should be used to mobilize the private sector and thus expand government resources.

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: African Charitable Society for Mother and Child Care of Sudan Obtains $100k for Microfinance from Islamic Solidarity Fund of Palestine

According to a recent report, the African Charitable Society for Mother and Child Care has signed an agreement which allows access to USD 100,000 from the Islamic Solidarity Fund. The Palestinian fund serves the purpose of elevating the living standard of Muslim people around the world. The money will be used for the establishment of 225 microfinance projects which will support widows and poor women in the outskirts of the capital city of Khartoum. No information is available on whether the financial help is a loan or a grant.

Jordan’s Nakhweh Relaunches as a Regional Hub for Social Ventures

Nakhweh in Jordan works in the field of social entrepreneurship; seeking as NGO trying to make volunteerism popular (or at least simple) for Jordanian youth. Now, the site is pivoting into an entirely new era, relaunching as a comprehensive directory for social work in the Middle East and North Africa.

Under its Organizations tab, the site will list all social ventures (including NGOs, nonprofits, social enterprises, and initiatives) in a searchable list, while still offering its signature volunteer matching services.

Gassner's picture

Outlook & Review 2012/2013

Dear Reader,

Islamic finance had another great year. Many of its market segments progressed, like for example the Sukuk market gaining more maturity. Despite the ongoing debt crisis a good sign of hope and happiness.

Nevertheless we are - as an industry - still not satisfied with the achievements. Islamic finance shall grow stronger in terms of social impact and in terms of substance:

Hence, please allow me to re-iterate my call for participating in international initiatives beyond just our own industry to learn and spread knowledge and experience:

Calling Islamic financial institutions to become member of the United Nations Finance Initiative
http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/811

Inshallah we see more Islamic financial institutions taking a lead in SRI, Social Impact Investing and other approaches while contributing with Islamic finance knowdledge to the conventional industry. The time is now; and there are signs that Malaysia aims for a lead:
http://www.islamicfinance.de/?q=node/4151

Environmental Reporting More than Doubles

The number of of S&P 500 and Fortune 500 companies in the area of environmental and social responsibility as well as governance has doubled from 2010 to 2011, according to Governance and Accountability Institute. More information on the topic you can find in following article.

Anti-Corruption Day, Ban seeks universal adherence to global convention

In the context of the International Anti-Corruption Day, the Secretary-General of the United Nations - Ban Ki-moon - made a call for full global acceptance of an international convention. The purpose of it is to make corrupt practices around the world cease. Mr. Ban sees corruption as a non-inevitable issue. He further pointed out that universal adherence was particularly necessary.

Migrants' advocate: Workers need social action, not talks or conferences

According to a statement by a panelist at the 5th World Social Forum on Migration (WSFM) held November 26 to 30, migrant Filipino workers need concerned groups to take action instead of just talk on conferences. Regional representative of worker union Building and Woodworkers International - Ambet Yuson - pointed out that specific programs and following actions are necessary for the migrants and their families. He claims that the key to solving the problem is mobilization. Specific programs addressing issues like trafficking, job safety, and security of workers must be developed and turned into action.

Zeti: Islamic finance must include lower income group for more balanced growth

Malaysian Governor calls to a more balanced global economic growth. She claims that the Islamic finance must include lower income groups in order to ease the access of financial services to all segments of society.

The newly endorsed Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition

The goal of the Global Strategic Framework (GSF) for food security and nutrition, which was endorsed by the FAO Committee on Food Security (CFS), is to make improvements to coordination and to guide synchronized action by a wide range of stakeholders. This way, global, regional and country-led actions aimed at the prevention of future food crises, elimination of hunger and ensuring food security and nutrition for all people are supported. The GSF is designed in such a way that the document allows dynamic updates by the CFS Plenary based on regular CFS processes and policy debates.

Islamic Csr Framework Ready For Adoption Next Year

It is expected by early next year that the Islamic corporate social responsibility (i-CSR) General Practice framework will be ready for adoption by Islamic financial institutions. The framework has been developed by the Accounting Research Institute (ARI) of Universiti Teknologi Mara. It is now almost completed. ARI researchers at the UITM-ACCA Asia-Pacific Centre of Sustainability (APCeS) worked in collaboration with Universiti Sains Malaysia, and Indonesia's Sebelas Maret University and Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta. According to Professor Dr. Normah Omar - director of ARI - Shariah players including local Ulama (Islamic scholars) will be engaged by the institute in order to firm up a couple of details on the framework in a two-day workshop beginning on November 29th.

Report “Believers in the Boardroom. Religious Organisations and their Shareholder Engagement Practices” by 3IG

The practitioners report “Believers in the Boardroom. Religious Organisations and their Shareholder Engagement Practices” by 3IG is online. Please access the practitioners report by clicking on the following link :

http://issuu.com/3ignet.org/docs/3ig_rse_practitioners_report_final_2012...

The report also remains available as hard copy: http://www.3ignet.org/documents/OrderRSEresearchnow.pdf

Sharjah’s young art talent get major platform

In time for the 41st UAE National Day celebrations, seventy Sharjah children will have the opportunity of a 10-day debut display of their artworks. The children are aged between 8 and 18 and attend 13 public and private schools. They are part of the 140 participants at the ongoing media arts seminar-workshops conducted by the FUNN-Sharjah Media Arts for Children and Youth. Since the establishment of FUNN under the patronage of Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, children from various school all over the emirate have been taking part in the seminars and workshops on photography, digital arts, filmmaking, animation, and graphic design.

Gassner's picture

Debt to Equity in Microfinance

Dear Reader,

The issue of debt vs. equity is now going to be increasingly recognised - in microfinance - as I found out today on the cfi blog:

"Debt to Equity. The demand for equity and subordinated debt is huge and continuing to grow, mainly coming from mature MFIs. More MIVs are moving away from debt toward equity, being driven in part by a desire to be more involved in governance, to play a larger role in risk management, and because the regulators are requiring more capital. Also, fund investors increasingly want to know how much of a fund’s return is coming from debt versus equity. Some of the larger DFIs need to disburse large amount of funds, so they have to make debt investments, leaving an unmet demand for equity."

http://cfi-blog.org/2012/11/19/microfinances-new-normal/

An important food for thought beyond microfinance itself in my opinion.

Best regards,

Michael Saleh Gassner

Syndicate content