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The Pearl Initiative, the leading non-profit organisation promoting a corporate culture of accountability and transparency across the Gulf Region Private Sector, announces its continued commitment towards fostering a corporate culture ofaccountability and transparency through its flagshipAnti-Corruption Best Practices programme launched in 2015.

The global pandemic and the complications of navigating business through the complex social, economic and environmental complexities has resulted in a growing focus on the joint responsibility between the business functions of compliance, legal, and human resources regarding the direction of a company’s culture and whether the organisation and its employees act with integrity.

As part of its programme delivery, the Pearl Initiative in collaboration with GoodCorporation, a global ethical-business consultancy, held eight webinars to address the importance of anti-corruption practices within organisations. The webinar series, titled ‘Combating Corporate Corruption’ covered key topics around Due Diligence, Risk Assessment, Finance and Procurement, Whistleblowing and more. These discussions were supported by over one hundred, extensive, anti-bribery and corruption research assessments conducted to date.Participants also had the opportunity to engage with subject matter experts.The series along with other webinars related to the programme and the activity of the Pearl Initiative can be viewed on-demand at Pearl Initiative’s YouTube channel – www.youtube.com/pearlinitiative

The successful webinar series demonstrated the impact thatcan be achieved through rigorous and well-embedded Anti-Bribery and Corruption programmes and encouraged organisations to take note of the increasingly higher standards needed, to fully adopt these frameworks.Organisations that flounder in their endeavours to implement an effective Anti-Corruption Best Practices Programme will experience stagnancy in the sustainable growth of their organisations.

Through the Anti-Corruption Best Practices Programme, Pearl Initiativestakeholders are made aware of the pressing issues in the Anti-Corruption sphere, can obtain a deeper understanding of corporate ethical practices and acquire the necessary skills to adapt their ABC frameworks.

Yasmine Omari, Executive Director of the Pearl Initiative, said, “to end corporate corruption, we need to promote transparency, accountability and integrity both individually and collectively across all levels of business. The Anti-Corruption Best Practices Programmehas proven to be successful in initiating the dialogue among business leaders and it is imperative for businesses to continue to engage with Anti-Corruption related initiatives, particularlyduring a global pandemic.”

Omari added: “There is a lot more to be done in this space, and we are extending an invitation for organisations across the Gulf Region to join our network and benefit fromhaving a deeper understanding of corporate ethical practices and key pressing issues in the anti-corruption sphere. Our initiative provides tools to support organisations to independently and confidently evaluate their respective ABC policies and to lead a more open, transparent, stable and prosperous business environment. To this extent, we are convening the ‘Anti-Corruption Integrity Taskforce’ to engage key corporate actors and invite stakeholders to provide strategic inputs on the focus of the programme going forward and areas of concern for practitioners on the ground.”

The Pearl Initiative’s Anti-Corruption Best Practices programme commenced in 2015 in partnership with the Siemens Integrity Initiative. The programme has since advanced discussions as well as provided resources that encourage organisations to understand the inherent value of incorporating high levels of integrity and transparency within their organisation. 

Founded in 2010, the Pearl Initiative is a business–led non-profit organisation promoting a corporate culture of accountability and transparency as key drivers of competitiveness and sustainable economic growth. The organisation develops programmes and publishes regional research reports and case studies to promote the implementation of higher standards of corporate governance amongst business and student communities across the Gulf Region.