CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY

Rule XI: Focus on the Importance of Corporate Sustainability

The aim of the Corporate Sustainability Policy is to ensure that the sustainability strategy and direction is embedded across the organization to achieve the company’s goals and targets in a holistic and inclusive manner. The purpose of the policy is to provide an official statement that affirms Zain’s commitment to achieving sustainable development across its footprint. The corporate sustainability policy provides further guidance on how to develop inclusive sustainable business practices while simultaneously monitoring the environmental footprint resulting from its operations. The policy further focuses on addressing deficits and provides guidance on how to implement initiatives in an effective manner.

Key focus areas include capacity building, youth and women empowerment, climate change, sustainable business practices, job opportunities, and poverty reduction. The company further focuses on broadband connectivity that can lead to the abuse, trafficking, violence, and exploitation of children.

Furthermore, Zain’s strategy is aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, the company adjusted the responsibility matrix where the Chief Sustainability Officer is determined to ensure that the company’s Corporate Sustainability Policy is in line with international best practices and standards on both an internal and external basis.

As with any policy, a further revision was done during 2019 to ensure key developments in the area of sustainability were captured and included in the policy. For Zain, the policy is a key document that provides guidance and frames the company’s sustainability approach in relation to its business activities, stakeholders, and communities. The revision of the Corporate Sustainability Policy was made in alignment to the latest developments that reflect issues associated with rapid advancements in technology (Fourth Industrial Revolution and technological disruptions) related to mobile connectivity and associated socio-economic and environmental development.

A selection of Zain’s Corporate Sustainability activities/initiatives/projects

Zain Bahrain

Girls for Tech camp

In partnership with the Supreme Council for Women and Clever Play, Zain Bahrain launched the “Girls for Tech” Camp with aim of equipping 1,000 girls with coding skills. This program runs for four months starting from December 2019 – March 2020. Targeting girls aged 8-13 years old, this program provides each girl with 10 hours of training in coding. The program will provide girls with the following skills: critical thinking, computational thinking, complex problem solving, and robotics. Through this program, the girls will also be exposed to future career paths that are in the STEM field, including environmental science, software development, computer analysis robotics engineering, and data science.

E-waste campaign

In 2019, Zain Bahrain revived its e-waste campaign, which was first launched in 2011. The company recognized the important role it plays in selling products that turn into e-waste and has taken it upon itself to tackle the issue. The company partnered with the Supreme Council for the Environment and Crown Industries to come up with sustainable, long-term solutions to this growing challenge. Crown Industries is considered a strategic partner of the initiative as it is a pioneer in recycling in Bahrain and possesses the full spectrum of capabilities to recycle plastic, metal, obsolete machinery, and electrical and telecommunication cables and equipment. The below is a list of activities that were conducted across Bahrain:

1. Zain Bahrain first launched an internal awareness campaign to its employees and held an awareness session that was conducted by Crown Industries.
2. Launched a school campaign and competition by conducting 50 awareness sessions in schools.
3. Collected e-waste over a period of six months from schools.
4. Published mass campaigns through social media on the impact of e-waste and what Zain is doing to address this issue.
5. Created a competition within schools, with winners selected based on the largest amount of e-waste collected, best marketing campaign, and digital innovation for e-waste.
6. Call-to-action for the public to collect e-waste and place it in bins located on Zain’s premises.
7. Encouraged other corporations to participate in collecting e-waste.

Zain Iraq

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Entrepreneurship Workshop

In partnership with the Leader for Change – Iraq, for its second consecutive year, Zain Iraq supported the SDGs and Entrepreneurship Workshop. The workshop aims to provide the youth of Iraq with leadership skills that will allow them to become future agents of change. During the workshop, Iraqi youth were able to pitch ideas that revolved around providing technological solutions that can contribute to the SDGs and overall societal development. Around 1,000 youth aged 18-24 years old attended the workshop.

Back to School Campaign

Zain Iraq continued its efforts to improve the quality of education in the country by ensuring that school students have the proper equipment and tools to attain their education. Under the Back to School Campaign, the company executed three different projects reaching different age groups ranging from elementary students to university students. The first project focused on providing local schools across Iraq with printers and e-Go devices.

The second project concentrated on providing schools located in the South West region of the country with desks and smartboards. During 2019, Zain Iraq was able to provide 3,400 school desks and 30 smart boards. The last project ran for two months in collaboration with an NGO called Imprint of Hope. This project focused on renovating 25 external fences and internal corridors for primary and secondary schools. Overall the Back to School program benefited 2,000 students.

Zain Jordan

110 Families and Children Helpline

Zain Jordan in partnership with the Jordan River Foundation established the 110 Families and Children Helpline in 2007. This toll-free helpline is available across Jordan and operates seven days a week. The Helpline offers psychological support for children or family members facing abuse as well as providing consultation and referrals. This initiative aims to alleviate the risks of children facing abuse and provides them with the resources and guidance on how to address such issues. In 2019, the hotline received 18,270 calls from across Jordan.

Mobile Clinic for Children

Since its establishment in 2002, the Mobile Clinic for Children continues to provide underprivileged children living in rural and remote areas with health and dental services. This program offers children a fully equipped medical team including free medication. The Mobile Clinic for Children also uses the Ministry of Health’s network affiliates to transfer patients to different health care centers and hospitals. The Clinic treats children up to 15 years old and has served 200,000 children since its establishment.

Zain Mobile Maintenance Center

Zain launched its first Mobile Training Center in 2008 and throughout the years established a total six training centers across Jordan. The training centers operate under the shared value model, addressing the need for mobile equipment maintenance services while simultaneously providing underprivileged youth and marginalized communities with training and access to job opportunities. The growth and sustainability of the program indicates the success of the program. In 2019, Zain Jordan opened a new center located in the As-Salt governate, and provided 1,000 students, 22 individuals from the deaf communities and four refugees training in mobile equipment maintenance.

Zain Kuwait

Zain Great Idea 5

Established in 2010, the Zain Great Idea (ZGI) Program operates on a biannual basis and in 2019 marked its 5th edition. The initiative is run in partnership with Brilliant Lab, a startup accelerator service and Mind the Bridge, an innovation advisory firm that brings startups and corporates together. The aim of the program is to help foster the growth of an entrepreneurship ecosystem in Kuwait. In a study conducted by the Berkeley Research Group (BRG), commissioned by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancements in Science (KFAS), the research identified key barriers impacting the entrepreneurship community’s ability to contribute to Kuwait’s economy

• Kuwaiti business’ inability to leverage on local purchasing power
• Kuwaiti startups targeting external markets such as Dubai
• Kuwait’s weak local entrepreneurship ecosystem
• Government programs and initiatives in Kuwait are not aligned with the startup’s needs

The company’s ZGI program targets Kuwaiti nationals who have a tech business idea that they would like to develop. The categories include but are not limited to apps, websites, online services, e-commerce services, fintech, gaming and tech products. Due to Zain’s own experience transforming into a digital service provider, it recognizes the importance of developing the tech startup community in Kuwait. Since the establishment of ZGI, the company has been able to influence over 500 tech entrepreneurs in Kuwait. The program operates in five different stages in which applicants must undergo a selection process in order to reach the ZGI Accelerator program in San Francisco.

Partnership with LOYAC

Since 2005, LOYAC, a non-profit organization that aims to work towards the overall development of youth, has been a strategic partner of Zain Kuwait. Over the years, this partnership continues to mature to ensure it is creating a meaningful impact for youth. Below is a list of initiatives that were conducted in 2019.

• Thailand Orientation: Zain Kuwait supported LOYAC and organized a trip to Thailand for 10 girls from public and private schools aged 14-18 years old. The trip’s program was designed to offer participants a chance to learn about Thai culture, explore Bangkok, its markets, as well as distant Thai villages through volunteering. The trip features many activities, including making of bamboo utensils and pot making, Thai cuisine cooking lessons, community service to renew and build homes for the elderly and underprivileged families.
• AC Milan trip to Italy: In partnership with LOYAC, Zain Kuwait contributed to sending four teams consisting of 55 players of ages ranging between 2-24 years to compete at the International Youth Peace Tournament in Rovereto, Italy. The International Youth Peace Tournament is considered to be the biggest youth tournament in Europe with more than 3,000 athletes in attendance. This opportunity allows players to gain exposure and compete against international teams from all over the world.
• KON: The KON program is a social entrepreneurship program that was brought to Kuwait in collaboration with Babson College. The program targets adolescents aged 12-18 years old. KON provides participants with exposure to business and entrepreneurship opportunities to meet community leaders and other successful entrepreneurs and explore challenges the community faces from a social and environmental perspective. In 2019, 65 students joined the program.

touch Lebanon

touch Innovation Program

The touch Innovation Program aims to contribute and develop the startup ecosystem in Lebanon. This program selects high-potential entrepreneurs as “touch Innovators” and offers them mentorship, workshops, exposure through touch’s social media channels, a working space, and opportunities through touch’s B2B network. This program, which was launched in 2018, selects and supports six startups every six months. To-date, the program has supported 19 startups.

MIT Pan Arab Enterprise Forum

touch partnered with MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) Pan Arab Association for the 12th edition of the startup final award ceremony and conference, which was held in collaboration with the World Bank as an international partner and the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL). The competition categorizes startups into three main tracks: Startups, Ideas and Social Entrepreneurship. The annual competition is designed to empower entrepreneurs and foster an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Arab region. The winning teams are awarded USD 160,000 in equity free funding and benefit from a range of other activities including top tier training, mentorship, coaching, media exposure, and networking opportunities.

Zain Saudi Arabia

Student Internship Training

In partnership with Nokia, Zain Saudi Arabia provides a COOP training program that is designed to give students the opportunity to enhance and develop their skills to better prepare them for the labor market. Before joining the program, the company conducts a rigorous selection process and assesses applications to ensure students meet the criteria of the program. This eight-week program provides students with a wide range of skills from soft skills such as teamwork and problem solving to skills that focus on programming and data science. In 2019, the company selected nine interns to join the program.

Zain Volunteering Program

In 2019, Zain Saudi Arabia launched the Zain Volunteering Program, which is aligned to the country’s Vision 2030 goal to reach one million volunteers annually. The program, organized in collaboration with Bunyan Charity and Prince Sultan Medical City, aims to provide employees with opportunities to volunteer and contribute to the betterment of society. During the year, employees volunteered in programs during Ramadan where they helped prepare and distribute Iftar meals to people in need. Similarly, during Eid celebrations the company supported children and injured soldiers. During the year, 700 employees joined the Zain Saudi Arabia Volunteer Program.

Zain Sudan

Areas impacted by heavy rainfall and flooding

Sudan was affected by heavy rainfall and flash flooding in August 2019, with 193,800 people impacted. In total, 25,437 homes were destroyed, and 12,202 homes were damaged. According to OCHA, the majority of people affected by the crisis needed emergency shelter and non-food items such as water and hygiene services, health and draining of stagnant water. As such, Zain, in partnership with Nafeer Organization and the Ministry of Health, provided support to the families impacted in Khartoum and the White Nile State. Through the partnership, Zain was able to positively impact 6,000 people by supplying them with blankets, tents, and agricultural pesticide pumps.

Ramadan Program

During the month of Ramadan, Zain Sudan organized activities targeted at marginalized communities. In partnership with the Union of people with disabilities, the company provided Iftar meals to people with disabilities. Furthermore, Zain distributed Ramadan bags to refugees based in the Darfur State, supporting 2,648 individuals.

Zain South Sudan

National Unity Day

Zain South Sudan in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports hosted a sports competition on National Unity Day. This event aimed to promote inclusion, promote peace and social cohesion by including communities from across different areas in South Sudan. During the National Unity Day, a sports competition in football and volleyball was held with a total of 398 participants and attendees. During the event, free HIV/AIDs tests were provided to people attending the competition. The company used its reach to promote the event through bulk SMS and media channels.

Inter Secondary School Competition and World Teachers Day

Zain South Sudan hosted the Inter Secondary School Competition on World Teachers Day to raise awareness of the importance of education and address the overwhelming teacher absenteeism in the country. According to UNICEF, teaching in South Sudan is one of the lowest paid jobs in the country due to unpredictable inflation that leads to unstable salaries. In order to raise awareness on the issue, the company hosted a sports competition that included 12 schools with a total of 4,200 students to show appreciation for the roles of teachers. Zain South Sudan supported the event by providing bulk SMS, exposure through media channels, and presenting students and teachers with certificates.