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UBL CSR 2014
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2014 was a benchmark year for UBL in relation to its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. More than ever before, the bank did not only donate more than what it has done in the previous years, but also branched out into various hitherto uncharted areas to further its duty as a responsible Corporate Citizen. The bank ensured that, with time, its activities toward social responsibility become more comprehensive and all-inclusive.
Highlights of UBL’s CSR activities for 2014 are given below:
UBL enjoys a special relation with Forman Christian College through its CSR program. The college provides scholarships to deserving students from across Pakistan who cannot afford to pay for their higher/professional education – in 2014 UBL donated generously to FCC for this program. Furthermore, the bank also donated to FCC towards the university’s recently initiated construction of an extension block for their Business & Social Sciences School. This extension would provide much needed room to the faculty and students of the university with additional classrooms and halls.
UBL holds a long standing relationship with IBA. In 2011, IBA had approached UBL for financial assistance to assist them in upgrading their facilities and infrastructure. This project also included the construction of a new Sports Complex. UBL agreed to partake as a donor to this multi-year project. The Sports Complex once complete will comprise of an international standard cricket stadium, a football pitch, tennis, badminton and volleyball courts along with other facilities. Named the “UBL Students’ Sports Complex - IBA”; donation for this grand project, expresses UBL’s support for the enrichment of education and educational institutes in Pakistan as part of its CSR manifesto.
The Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL) was established in 2010. The school, which strategically collaborates with the Cambridge Judge Business School, was established under the Karachi Educational Initiative as a modern institution which is providing international standard business education to students and ‘create a cadre of capable and transformational leaders for Pakistan.
UBL has supported the Karachi Educational Initiative under its robust CSR agenda to promote quality education in Pakistan. The bank donated PKR 100 million to this initiative for the establishment of KSBL – the last tranche of this pledge was paid off in 2011. In 2014, the bank again donated to the school to ensure that it continues on its path of leadership in education.
The government of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province established the Elementary Education Foundation (EEF) with the objective to reconstruct and refurbish 28,000 schools under the ‘Tameer-e-School Project’. In 2014, EEF signed on UBL as its internet merchant for releasing electronic payments for the project. Under this scheme UBL donated generously towards the reconstruction of the first school under this project. This payment was made as part of the bank’s CSR agenda towards provision and promotion of education.
UBL has been supporting TCF in the past due to their credibility and sound reputation. The latest project for which UBL has been associated with TCF is the one unit secondary school built in Gharo, Sindh. The bank donated generously to TCF in 2013 for the construction cost of the school. With these funds the school has now been built and is operational providing education to students in the city. Within the same project, approval was also given for the bank to donate annually for three years an equal amount in order to cover operational costs pertaining to the school.
AKU has been working since 1983 as a not-for-profit institute that promotes human development through research, teaching and community service initiatives. Admission to all academic programs and AKU is merit-based, however due to the high cost associated with their educational programs, not all deserving students can afford them. AKU heavily subsidizes tuition fees for students for their School of Nursing and Midwifery, the Medical College, the Institute for Educational Development and the Examination Board in Pakistan. UBL assisted in AKU’s efforts by donating to its Student Financial Assistance Program in 2014.
For more than half a century many philanthropists, the Managing Committee, doctors, nurses and staff of the Gulab Devi Chest Hospital in Lahore, have worked together to help underprivileged and destitute patients. These needy patients undergo sophisticated medical tests and receive costly treatment, including operations, totally free of cost.
UBL donates regularly to the Gulab Devi Chest Hospital so that the management of the hospital can incur various operational and other expenses in order for it to operate seamlessly and continue providing selfless service to the impoverished patients who would otherwise be unable to meet their much needed medical expenses.
Shalamar Hospital was founded in 1978 with the aim to create facilities providing efficient and professional healthcare to disadvantaged communities and individuals. Over the years, Shalamar Hospital has earned a reputation of having highly qualified and trained staff, state-of-the-art infrastructure as well as an integrated approach and a focus on excellence. UBL has been donating to the hospital on a regular basis and did so in 2014 also.
Al-Mehrab Tibbi Imdad (AMTI) is a hospice care facility in Karachi, which was registered in 1997. AMTI works as a sanctuary which provides free of cost medical care, professional expertise and residential accommodations to destitute and needy patients suffering from terminal illnesses, particularly cancer. In 2012, AMTI had requested UBL for a generous donation to help them continue the good work they are doing. A donation, spread equally over three years, was approved for AMTI, with the first two installments given out in 2012 and 2013 respectively. The third installment of this project was paid out in 2014.
UBL was supporting MALC through its Garhi Dupatta Triple Merger (TM) Centre in Azad Kashmir and after this centre had served its purpose in meeting the targets for MALC, UBL took up the MALC Bagh Bani Passari TM Centre, district of Azad Kashmir, in 2013. Through this centre MALC aims to continue rendering health related services (free of cost) to a target population of approximately 500,000 in the district for three to four years. Since the bank has been supporting MALC through the years as an active CSR partner, UBL’s patronage of the MALC Bagh Bani Passari TM Centre was renewed, once again, for another year.
There was a widespread dislocation of innocent inhabitants as the Pakistan armed forces forged ahead with their military operation (Zarb-e-Azb) to eradicate terrorists and their hideouts in Waziristan. These internally displaced persons (IDPs), indigenous to the areas being targeted, sought refuge across Pakistan and as a result many government and private bodies/institutions worked jointly and individually to provide a safe haven to these people.
Of the various institutions working towards the rehabilitation of the IDPs, many approached UBL to donate to their cause as part of the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility agenda. From these the bank donated to the following:
To combat the current famine crisis in Sindh’s Tharparkar District, Hisaar Foundation – an NGO, with which UBL has worked extensively with, undertook the project of constructing wells in the area. The wells would help in providing fresh drinking water to the community, reduce water-borne diseases and decrease the time and effort taken by the community, particularly women to get water, as the well will be located closer to the community’s habitat. Each well caters to around 50 households (300-350 people) and 1200 animals. The life of each well is 30 years. The local community takes the ownership rights of the well and provides land for the well without any cost.
UBL contributed to this cause by donating for the construction of five wells.
After the devastating earthquake in Awaran, Baluchistan, UBL announced its intention of assisting the displaced via the building of a UBL Village in the area. Within this village, homes are to be constructed to house the people affected by the quake. In this regard, Indus Earth Trust, an NGO working towards poverty alleviation, was signed on as a partner and research work began for the project.