The Kuwait-based Zain Group recently released its 2016 Thought Leadership Report at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The report, titled "Bringing the Future Closer with Innovation: Pursuing Innovation as a Means to Overcome Challenges in the MENA Region," makes a case for innovation as a valuable tool for addressing social and economic deficits that affect the overall push toward sustainable development.
“Corporate social responsibility and sustainability initiatives represent an integral part of Zain Group’s strategy and are taken very seriously at all levels of the organization," Zain Head of Corporate Sustainability Jennifer Suleiman said. "Our thought-leadership efforts are an opportunity for us to review the factors that can aid socio-economic development from a technological standpoint and also gives us a chance to draw attention to our own efforts given our position as a leading regional innovator.”
Challenges addressed by the report include high unemployment, inadequate growth, one-dimensional economies, social exclusion and inequality, displacement of the population because of conflicts and vulnerability to climate change.
The Zain report attempts to provide examples of successful responses to these issues by highlighting nine of the company's own projects, including a smart school initiative in Jordan, an ideas competition in Kuwait and a reunion project in South Sudan and Jordan that reconnects displaced peoples.
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