YOUSUF AL-MOHAIMEED
Al-Jazirah
SEVERAL days ago, the deliberations of the 4th forum on corporate social responsibility began under the title “Saudi banks — the development of a nation”.
Despite this important and attractive title, symposiums and workshops focused on the mechanism for organizing sustainable work between banks and charitable societies to support their programs. This is a good move and nobody will disagree on this.
However, the CSR officials representing the banking sector must realize that social responsibility is not restricted to supporting charitable societies alone. It should include supporting other agencies in the fields of culture, literature, arts and child development as well.
As is well known, many wealthy people and businessmen support charitable societies by giving donations, zakat and sponsorship.
Not only the wealthy but even people in the middle income groups support charitable societies. The rest of social organizations, unlike charitable societies, do not have the capability to carry out their mandated activities and roles. Despite this, we do not hear about any efforts by the banks to support social groups even if they carry out useful activities in the fields of science, knowledge and arts, all of which are important in raising the level of awareness in society.
Big companies including banks are responsible for such matters globally. They support culture in general, especially arts, literature and museums because ultimately it is an indirect support for man. The existence and proliferation of art galleries and museums in any country sees a lift in its people’s level of cultural awareness. In other words, care and attention to fellow humans should not be restricted to filling stomachs, but it should extend to the nurturing of his mind by raising standard of education, culture and thinking.
Sometimes I ask why local banks do not support the visual and performing arts, especially since we do not have the financial capabilities to hold exhibitions and workshops.
Why don’t these banks strive to serve Saudi children and support their literature, either by publishing, staging dramas or producing animated films?
The reason may be that such products for children in the fields of literature and arts are subject to certain conditions. The products should be of a high quality and the majority of private agencies and individuals fail to accomplish them according to the required standards.
If these specialist forums do not raise such key questions, why do we hold such workshops in the first place? Why do we discuss familiar fields of corporate social responsibility without coming up with recommendations that can change the very concept of CSR and make it more inclusive?
This is because our forums decide beforehand the social groups that deserve support and restrict assistance to these agencies. No new fields will be added giving false pretexts. Among these is the argument that the state spends so much on such societies and activities, despite the fact that the cultural and artistic ambitions of these societies are much bigger than their capabilities. They require the cooperation and support from big companies, including banks, which should provide continuous backing to achieve the social roles expected of them.
