Coinciding with the first Social Responsibility Day celebrated by the Kingdom, the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development launches "National Social Responsibility Platform"

Today, in Riyadh, HE Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, Engineer Ahmed bin Sulaiman Al-Rajhi, launched "National Social Responsibility Platform", coinciding with the first Social Responsibility Day, which falls on 23rd March of each year. The ceremony was attended by HE Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Eng. Abdul Rahman Al-Fadhli, HE Minister of Economy and Planning, Mr. Faisal Al-Ibrahim, HE Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Development for the Development Sector, Mr. Majid Al-Ghanemi and a number of officials.

In a speech delivered on this occasion, Al-Rajhi expressed his sincere thanks and great gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister (May Allah protect them) for their support and care about social responsibility, culminated in the approval of the Council of Ministers to mark 23rd March of each year as Social Responsibility Day in the Kingdom.

Al-Rajhi added that the Social Responsibility Day shows integration between the government, national institutions and companies, and members of society in construction and development, contributing to the comprehensive national development, strengthening the values of citizenship established in giving and social solidarity, and expresses the state of maturity of society and its institutions. In addition, Al-Rajhi recalled the great efforts and achievements that have been made since launching the Social Responsibility Strategy and forming the National Social Responsibility Committee.

Al-Rajhi stated that the celebration of Social Responsibility Day enhances the maximization of the economic, social and environmental impact in a vital society of an ambitious nation and the creation of stories and attitudes reflecting the values and culture of Saudi society. Such celebration also opens the way for the future to invest the opportunities in quality, innovation and global competition. Al-Rajhi explained that the launch of the "National Social Responsibility Platform" is an important stage of the transformation to use the technology in the best way, and continuing efforts to enable social responsibility in the private sector, showcase its developmental impact and measure its objectives in integration with all sectors.

Furthermore, Al-Rajhi pointed out that in 2019, the statistics referred that the percentage of large companies’ participation in social responsibility was 30%, while it was 60% by the end of 2022. He added that the percentage of the Kingdom’s private sector’s contribution to the total social spending in 2019 did not exceed 1.19 %. Today, the percentage of such contribution have reached 3.5%. Al-Rajhi also stressed that these indicators make us optimistic about what the social responsibility of the private sector can provide in driving development in all its social, economic and environmental axes.

The launching ceremony featured a review of the social responsibility journey in the Kingdom, announcement of a number of partnerships and honoring a number of partners.

It is noteworthy that the "National Social Responsibility Platform" provides all social services to the private sector establishments, contributes to raising awareness of the importance of social responsibility in society, and encourages the establishments to realize the SDGs within the Kingdom's Vision 2030, and provides many services, the most prominent of which are development opportunities, including the environmental, economic and social aspects, a knowledge center for research and evidence and an idea bank for sharing proposals.

The Platform features a program for classifying companies, and an index for measuring practices of the private sector. The Platform highlights activities and initiatives related to social responsibility. It also provides a database that includes experts in this field in all sectors, focuses on the most prominent joint stock companies, and provides the private sector with a development map showing the opportunities available across the various regions of the Kingdom. Moreover, the Platform is a reference for private sector establishments for actual implementation of social responsibility practices.