The Authority of Social Contribution (Ma’an) launched today the second edition of the “Exchange”, a social innovative platform, at the Galleria, Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi.
Salama Al Ameemi, Director-General of Ma’an, participated in the opening ceremony of the programme themed “Collaborate for Good”, which will run until 29th March.
Al Ameemi said, “Ma’an is committed to providing various sectors of Abu Dhabi society with innovative platforms that enable them to actively participate in programmes that deliver a measurable social impact to fulfil Abu Dhabi’s social priorities. To achieve this goal, we mobilize our collective efforts through strengthening the partnership between public, private, and third sectors.
“In Abu Dhabi, our wise leadership is keen to provide all society segments with equal opportunity to participate in building a cohesive and collaborative community where everyone enjoys the highest quality of life. Through this social innovation space, we aim to offer a platform for all our partners and stakeholders, especially the Abu Dhabi community, to explore and contribute to the efforts being made to tackle various social priorities.”
“The platform allows us to engage with community members, entrepreneurs, start-ups, third sector enterprises and passionate people with creative ideas to turn them into innovative projects and support the Abu Dhabi community in its efforts to address various social priorities. It also enables us to collaborate with prominent experts, speakers, and investors who care about social issues to benefit from their expertise, knowledge and investments to deliver social impact and enhance community participation,” she added.
On the opening day, Ma’an launched the UAE’s first social certificate to ensure the sustainable growth of companies with a social impact in their competitive markets. The certificate supports companies with a social purpose to be recognised as social enterprises locally and internationally and to become part of a network of social enterprises in the UAE.
By having the social certificate, companies will be recognised as a social enterprise that gives their business a unique selling point and differentiates it from the regular business, besides being part of a bigger network of social enterprises, it boosts their market credibility while providing access to several incentives and benefits offered by Ma’an.
Other advantages of the certification include access to mentoring and guidance from experts in the social sector, financial support, office space and related facilities, education and development support, and affiliation to an exclusive network of social enterprises.
The event is open to the public from Wednesday, 18th March to Tuesday, 29th March 2022, from 10:00 – 20:00, on the 2nd floor of The Galleria Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi.
Source: Emirates News Agency