SCHS RELEASES ITS FIFTH SUSTAINABILITY REPORT
Under the slogan (Together towards sustainable leadership), Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services (SCHS) released its annual sustainability report for 2020 in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Global Compact (GRI). The report highlighted SCHS's efforts and achievements in providing services to people with disabilities and adhering to the principles of social responsibility in accordance with international best practices.
Therefore, Her Excellency Sheikha Jamila bint Muhammad Al Qasimi, Director General of SCHS, directed her sincerest thanks to His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah, Honorary President of SCHS. His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan is keen; gave constant support and sound guidance so that Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services stays at the lead in serving the community of the United Arab Emirates.
She stressed that the report expresses the essence of the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services, which was keen to ensure its sustainability as an essential part of its mission to empower persons with disabilities and ensure their independence. SCHS seeks to achieve its vision to be a leading institution in the United Arab Emirates and the Arab world to advocate, include and empower persons with disabilities.
She referred to the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic during the year 2020. It represented a major challenge for Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services on more than one level. In addition to completing plans and reports according to the balanced scorecard, including performance indicators and goals that are consistent with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services attaches great importance to keeping pace with the best practices in its internal operations, designing and implementing services and programs. By this, SCHS aims to improve various fields of work, meet the growing and continuous needs, aspirations and expectations on the part of customers, and provide them with benefits in the services provided, whether (internal) or (external) customers. The number of beneficiaries of the services and programs provided by SCHS in 2020, despite the pandemic has reached (1923). The percentage of employees with disabilities has reached 9% of the total number of employees has amounted to (664) male and female.
In terms of growth and continuous learning, SCHS was keen, despite the pandemic, to implement many initiatives, agreements and partnerships remotely with various government and private local, regional and international bodies and civil society institutions. These agreements played a pivotal role in supporting SCHS’s services and programs more effectively. SCHS signed seven cooperation agreements with some educational, service and medical institutions at the state level and abroad. SCHS aims at enhancing cooperation and exchanging experiences in the field of scientific research. SCHS's research team completed three research studies.
The institution has received accreditation from the International CARF Foundation for the quality of its services in addition to a number of local, regional and international awards. SCHS students have won many awards in various fields inside and outside the country.
Finally, Sheikha Jamila Al Qasimi thanked SCHS’s work team, which worked hard to achieve leadership at the level of institutions working in the field locally, regionally and globally. She also thanked the strategic partners who work with SCHS in order to provide a bright and sustainable reality and future for people with disabilities.
Mrs. Khadija Ahmed Bamakhramah, Planning and Follow-up Officer in SCHS, said, “This report embodies our commitment to global standards of sustainability. The report helps us as an institution concerned with social affairs to empower persons with disabilities and make them able to assume responsibility and independence in their lives. SCHS fulfills all its values and commitments, including transparency. This is what we are working on through the release of the sustainability report, which requires a high degree of disclosure of our social, economic and environmental achievements with a high level of transparency with stakeholders, strategic partners, staffing and resource community. The report accurately discloses the most important issues embodied in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and aims to assess institutional performance in terms of sustainability”.
“SCHS is keen to ensure its sustainability and strives to face challenges and transform them into opportunities for success and excellence. It adopts responsibility at work in order to achieve its mission”, added Mrs. Khadija Ahmed Bamakhramah.
She concluded by saying, “we still have a lot of work to do. We pledge ourselves that Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services will remain keen on achieving success. SCHS will maintain the transparency and credibility that it has adopted out of its deep awareness of the size of the responsibility entrusted to it. We will remain committed to our slogan for this report “Together towards sustainable leadership.”
Those wishing to view the report can visit SCHS's website or enter via the link
(https://www.schs.ae/storage/app/media/sustainability%202020-English.pdf