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Al Bawaba
15-04-2025
- Business
- Al Bawaba
Burgan Bank Publishes Its Sixth Sustainability Report
In 2024, Burgan Bank made significant headway in environmental sustainability, driven by a commitment to tackling climate change and reducing its environmental footprint. A key highlight was achieving LEED Gold certification (O&M v4.1) for its head office—a recognition of energy-efficient design and sustainable operations. The Bank initiated in 2023 a structured approach to mapping its Green House Gas (GHG) emissions across its value chain and continues to expand the scope every year to include Scope 3 emission categories. The bank is on track to design a long-term decarbonization strategy in line with Kuwait's vision for a low carbon economy. Along with this, the Bank also introduced the ESG Risk Assessment Scorecard for systematic evaluation of ESG risks in lending activities. Further, the Bank is conducting climate-related risk stress testing covering physical as well as transition risks. It is noteworBurgan Bank has released its sixth annual Sustainability Report, marking a major milestone in its ESG journey and reinforcing its excellence in sustainable financial practices. As the first bank in Kuwait to publish its 2024 Sustainability Report, Burgan continues to demonstrate its commitment to transparency and proactive sustainability leadership. The report highlights the Bank's key accomplishments across Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) domains, reflecting the deep integration of sustainable practices into its operations, culture, and stakeholder engagement. The Report was created in alignment with the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) Universal Standards 2021, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), Kuwait Vision 2035, and Boursa Kuwait ESG Reporting Guidelines. 'This milestone reinforces Burgan Bank's proactive and purpose-driven ESG strategy,' said Mr. Fadel Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer – Kuwait at Burgan Bank. 'We are proud to celebrate the significant advancements we've made in 2024. Our ESG journey builds on a strong ESG foundation that began in 2019 and has since evolved into a strategic and bank-wide commitment. From achieving LEED Gold certification to empowering local talent and enhancing our governance framework, our progress reflects our mission to finance responsibly, promote ethical practices, minimize environmental impact, and deliver lasting value to our community.' Sustainability as a Strategic PillarBurgan Bank's ESG strategy is anchored in a long-term vision to be a responsible financial institution that helps build a resilient and equitable future for all stakeholders. At the heart of our approach are four strategic pillars: Good Governance, Responsible Banking, Community Betterment, and Environmental Impact Reduction. These pillars guide the Bank's operations, drive internal alignment, and support delivery of its ESG mission—to finance responsibly, achieve positive community impact, endorse ethical practices and transparency, and minimize environmental impact. The ESG governance framework is spearheaded by the Board of Directors and overseen through the Management ESG Committee (MESGC), chaired by the CEO - Kuwait and composed of senior executives from across business and support departments. The Committee convenes quarterly to set direction, monitor performance, and support integration of ESG into core banking operations. This is underpinned by a comprehensive ESG roadmap, framework, and materiality matrix, which collectively ensure that the Bank's initiatives remain adaptive, pertinent, and aligned with the evolving expectations of its stakeholders.. Close-Up on 2024: Tangible Progress on All FrontsBurgan Bank's sixth Sustainabithy to say that in alignment with its sustainability agenda, Burgan bank was among the first banks in Kuwait to develop a Sustainable Financing Framework in line with internationally accepted part of its broader decarbonization efforts, the Bank made strides in green operations and responsible resource consumption. This included the installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at its head office to encourage cleaner mobility among staff and visitors, as well as the deployment of rooftop solar panels and motion-sensor lighting to optimize energy Bank also reinforced its environmental stewardship through collaborative initiatives. In partnership with Tadwire, the first recycling facility of its kind in Kuwait, Burgan launched a head office waste management and recycling program targeting paper, plastic, and e-waste. Its participation in DHL's GoGreen Plus program—aimed at reducing shipment-related emissions through sustainable aviation fuel—further supported its supply chain decarbonization Burgan played a role in community-based environmental efforts, which included the redevelopment and greenification of a public park in Daiya residential area and internal efforts to phase out single-use plastic water bottles, promoting a culture of environmental responsibility among Sustainability Burgan Bank's social sustainability efforts in 2024 were centered on empowering its people, championing inclusion, and strengthening national talent. For the second consecutive year, the Bank earned the 'Great Place to Work' certification, with employee participation rising to 89%—a clear indicator of improved engagement and workplace satisfaction, reinforcing its stance as an employer of choice. The Bank boasts a gender-diverse workforce, with women comprising 46% of total staff and 11% of leadership positions. Burgan launched the 'Empower Her' initiative aimed to empower women with professional skills, mentorship and networking opportunities. Burgan's human capital strategy is focused on developing our local talent which prioritizes recruitment and development of nationals contributing to Kuwait's socio-economic development. Kuwaitization reached an all-time high of 86%. Burgan focused on investing in the development and career progression of Kuwaiti employees through mentorship programs, succession planning, and tailored leadership development all created to actively prepare high-potential talent for future roles. Programs like Ro'ya, the flagship leadership training initiative, and the Lab Academy—launched with CODED to cultivate future tech leaders—are shaping a pipeline of local expertise aligned with future banking needs. The Bank continued to prioritize work-life balance and employee wellbeing by introducing innovative benefits such as reduced working hours on Thursdays, increased paternity leave to five days, and a birthday leave policy. It also launched wellness initiatives, including the "Rock Your Habits" challenge, and opened a new in-house medical clinic to support employee health and mental wellbeing. Fostering a culture of recognition and excellence, the Burgan Beacon program was launched to celebrate employees for outstanding commitment to employee development remained steadfast, with an average of 33 hours of training per employee in 2024. Learning opportunities were delivered through a blend of digital platforms and in-person sessions, supporting varied learning styles and ensuring inclusive development Engagement and CSRBurgan's commitment to the local community continued to grow in 2024 through a variety of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.. It also actively participated in the Central Bank's 'Let's Be Aware' (Diraya) campaign to enhance public financial literacy and banking awareness. In addition, Burgan supported numerous initiatives across the areas of health, sports, education, and inclusion. Highlights included its continued support for Team Kuwait at the Paris 2024 Olympics, backing youth empowerment through sports and national pride. For 23 years, Burgan has also proudly partnered with the Kuwait Association for Care of Children in Hospital (KACCH) and Bayt Abdullah Children's Hospice (BACCH), ensuring vital palliative care services for children in need. Further community contributions in 2024 included support for the Kuwait Association for Learning Differences, cancer awareness and treatment campaigns, and sponsorship of local sports events that promote wellbeing and social inclusion. The Bank also partnered with several NGOs to provide assistance to families in need, reinforcing its role as a community-first institution. Digitalization: Technology as a Driver In 2024, Burgan Bank made significant strides in advancing its digital transformation strategy, emphasizing accessibility, efficiency, and a user-centric approach to services. The Bank introduced a range of enhancements to its mobile banking platform, offering a more seamless, intuitive, and secure experience that caters to the evolving needs of its customers, reflected in the 15% YoY increase in active online banking users These improvements not only made banking more convenient but also reinforced the Bank's commitment to providing innovative and reliable digital the Bank focused on automating core processes, which streamlined operations and facilitated faster decision-making. By reducing manual errors and enhancing compliance and control mechanisms, the Bank improved its operational efficiency and risk management. These internal advancements also aligned with Burgan's broader ESG goals by promoting greater inclusion, ensuring wider financial accessibility, and fortifying the Bank's operational resilience in the face of an increasingly digital world. Through these efforts, Burgan Bank continues to demonstrate its commitment to innovation, sustainability, and customer-centric SustainabilityIn 2024, Burgan Bank further solidified the governance foundation underpinning its ESG agenda, ensuring sustained alignment with best practices and regulatory standards.. The ESG materiality matrix was updated for 2024-2026 based on stakeholder input to enable more informed decision-making process on sustainability, emphasizing topics of shared importance to the Bank and our stakeholders, and a comprehensive review and expansion of ESG-aligned policies was completed. New and updated policies included those covering Human Rights, Sustainable Procurement, Climate Risk Management, ESG, Debt Collection, and Responsible Lending and Investment. These policies help embed ESG into every level of the Bank's operations and risk management cybersecurity, the Bank has implemented strengthened internal controls, advanced systems, and comprehensive employee training programs to enhance data protection, mitigate digital risks, and maintain customer trust. These initiatives focus on adopting cutting-edge technologies, AI-driven threat monitoring, and proactive incident response protocols to ensure the security of digital transactions and sensitive data. By prioritizing robust cybersecurity measures, Burgan Bank not only protects its clients but also reinforces its operational resilience in an increasingly digital landscape. These efforts demonstrate the Bank's long-term commitment to ethical governance, responsible digital leadership, and maintaining the highest standards of security in the financial AheadWith six reports published and a growing legacy of impactful initiatives, Burgan Bank continues to lead the way in ESG integration within Kuwait's banking sector. In the years ahead, the Bank will continue to expand its impact across environmental action, inclusive growth, governance excellence, and community advancement across all our geographies. With clear direction, committed leadership, and a purpose-driven strategy, Burgan is poised to build a better future for its stakeholders, employees, and the wider community. To access the full 2024 Sustainability Report, visit the Burgan Bank website. © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
The Guardian
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
UK child sexual abuse survivors take standup comedy courses
Survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) are taking courses in standup comedy to help process their trauma, in the first such scheme in the UK. The comedian Angie Belcher, the first person to get standup comedy prescribed on the NHS through her project, Comedy on Referral, ran the two-day programme in Bristol last week. 'Comedy is often tragedy plus time, and these are people who have already gone through major counselling, are in recovery and are now looking to do something different to keep themselves busy,' said Belcher. 'Saying that something is funny doesn't mean it's not sad or serious,' she said. Standup comedy can be part of recovery because it gives power back to the victim by laughing at their oppressor. So instead of going, 'Oh God, that was terrible', they can say: 'You know what? The guy who raped me was a prick. Let me tell you why.' And that's funny.' There are an estimated 11 million survivors of CSA in the UK. A recent report by the child safeguarding practice review panel found at least one in 10 children would be sexually abused before the age of 16. CSA can lead to problems in later life, including addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder and personality disorders, long-term clinical psychiatric diagnoses and suicide. Belcher has used comedy to address issues around CSA before. She has twice compered at the annual conference for the Green House, a Home Office-funded charity providing specialist support for CSA survivors. It was that event that led her to start mentoring survivors after young people at the conference asked for her help writing standup comedy for a Green House CSA festival. Gemma Halliwell, the chief executive of Green House, said: 'Survivors need to find ways to hold the pain alongside hope, positivity and healing, and that's where comedy can help. It's really important that we support survivors to find their voice in a way that's right for them: we don't all need talking therapies or medication.' Commissioned by the charity Southmead Project's Active Recovery scheme in Bristol, 12 survivors used their trauma as a starting block to wrote comedy on Belcher's course. She taught the young people to write jokes, discover their 'comedic persona' and use their 'inner comedian' in their everyday lives. Ryan Moore has learned standup with Belcher through Green House and Active Recovery. 'No pill that doctors have given me makes me feel as good as when I get on stage and talk about all the difficult things that have happened in my life,' he said. Moore said that while there was 'absolutely nothing funny about CSA', he found it necessary to tell audiences about it as part of his act so they could understand the context of his 'wild' later life. 'I don't have one single joke about the abuse but it's the context of my crazy adulthood, which is very funny,' he said. 'When I'm so transparent and honest with the audience, I build a rapport. That's so therapeutic that when I get off stage, I'm buzzing for the next week and feel so much more proud of myself than if I had to take a pill to survive.' Jemima Foxtrot, the director of Kindreds Creatives, which runs creative workshops for survivors of CSA, said turning trauma into standup comedy was a 'high-risk strategy' but one that for her had reaped 'huge rewards'. 'When the abuse happened to me, I could barely say the words: when I told my mum, I had to write it down,' she said. 'But because I've now tackled it repeatedly in my stage shows, I've finally got to a place where I can talk very openly.' Viv Gordon, the artistic director of UpFront Survivors, a creative arts organisation that works to increase the visibility of adult CSA survivors, said: 'Humour is a really big survival strategy for our community.' She added: 'For me personally, it was always a way of surviving, a way of being with unbearable pain and with the challenges and difficulties of having an experience that I couldn't talk about.' James MacKinnon from the charity Survivors UK also welcomed the course. 'It's not a one-size-fits-all approach but comedy can provide a powerful sense of agency and release, and a different perspective on difficult experiences,' he said.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Mission accomplished: McAlilly retiring after 31 years at helm of Methodist Senior Services
TUPELO – On Monday, Steve McAlilly won't have to go the office at 109 S. Broadway, where for the past 31 years he led Methodist Senior Services. That's because Friday was his last day as president and CEO, and now McAlilly is ready to enjoy retirement. McAlilly will no doubt be remembered for his unwavering support and implementation of the first Green House home project, andinnovative skilled nursing model that now has 400 similar homes worldwide. How he became the leader of MSS started in Meridian where he practiced law for 14 years. "Then CEO of Methodist Senior Services wanted to expand their reach and build a campus in Meridian, and his name was Bill Carroll. I had known him for a while, but he was looking for a free lawyer," McAlilly said with a smile. "He had a knack for calling on his friends for free professional services and he asked me to get get it up and running." MSS opened Aldersgate Retirement Community, and McAlilly served on its community volunteer board, and then later joined the MSS board. In the summer of 1993, Carroll announced he was retiring effective Jan. 1, 1994. "I saw the job description and thought I could do that and be a lot more useful on a day to day basis," McAlilly said. "Somehow I convinced the board, and they hired me. Knowing what I know now I probably wouldn't have hired me back then, but I've learned a lot." McAlilly moved from the Queen City to the All-America City in 1994, "and it's been a wonderful life," he said. His signature project, the Green House homes, got their start after seeing a presentation by New York geriatrician Dr. Bill Thomas. At the time, Thomas called it the Eden Alternative, and with it came a set of principles to help eliminate loneliness, helplessness and boredom from the lives of elders. "He believed in surrounding them with plants, animals and children, and lives would be better for both children and elders," McAlilly said. "The first time I heard it I knew that was what we needed to be doing." McAlilly read a book by Thomas and emailed him, vowing that he would do everything he could to have Mississippi seniors live in places practicing the Eden principles. Thomas called a few days later, and the two have remained friends since. When MSS began developing its plans for Traceway, McAlilly was happy to tell him of some of the features that were planned for the 140-bed nursing home. "I told him it was going to have pods with 20 people, a town hall in the middle, a pharmacy, a barbershop, a beauty shop, a convenience store and all these cool things, and he said, 'I'm not sure that's what we should be building anymore,'" McAlilly said. "Talk about knocking the wind out of your sails." At the time, Thomas didn't have the concept of the Green House quite figured out However, a year later Thomas had gotten a grant to provide funding for the now fully developed Green House project and asked of McAlilly and MSS would like to accept the grant. McAlilly and the rest of the MSS team were into their iteration of what Traceway would be, and the Green House idea was exactly what McAlilly thought was needed. He just had to convince the board that this was the way. "I told them if we build what we're planning to build it would be obsolete by the the time we open the doors and we would have created a $12 million mistake" he said. "The board had the courage to stop, evaluate the Green House concept and say 'go.' It was a big gamble, but could not have done it by ourselves. That shows the importance of a nonprofit board and its leadership and guidance." There were four national grants given, but MSS was the only one to follow though with its Green House homes. "And that's how we became the first Green Houses in the country," McAlilly. "Like Elvis, the Green Houses were birthed in Tupelo." At Traceway are 10 Green House Homes, each equipped to house 10 or 12 residents, for a total of 112 residents. MSS has a total of 20 Green House Homes offering skilled care, assisted living and memory support services. In 2023, McAlilly was honored with the Center for Innovation Trailblazer Award to mark the 20th anniversary of the Green Houses. The CFI is the nonprofit parent organization of the Green House Project and the Pioneer Network. "I call Steve McAlilly the Godfather of Green House, because without his vision, the model never would have made the transition from a concept to bricks and mortar," said Susan Ryan Center for Innovation CEO after McAlilly was presented the award. "The entire elder care reform movement owes an incredible debt to Steve for having the vision, courage and dedication to go beyond the status quo and commit to creating a better world for elders." During McAlilly's tenure, MSS saw four new senior communities added, services have expanded on existing campuses, and a campus destroyed by Hurricane Katrina was rebuilt. In addition, contract therapy services were introduced to MSS healthcare campuses; an in-house pharmacy opened to reduce direct costs for elders; and the Beth and Henry Brevard Celebration of Leadership Academy was created to provides leadership development for employees. The leadership academy meets four times a year and meets statewide. "That's going to make a big difference in the long-term, I believe," he said. In addition to the leadership program, the MSS network includes 12 campuses offering housing and services for seniors, along with five service divisions, including Meals on Wheels of Lee County, NextAge Mississippi, SeniorTx, and SeniorRx. Clearly, under the leadership of McAlilly, much was accomplished. "There are a lot of things that make my heart warm," McAlilly said. "The Green Houses certainly are a part, and part of that was my parents were able to live in a Green House home, and the love and care they got was personal to me." Another notable achievement was the creation of a liability insurance company, with 18 organizations similar to MSS pooling their resources. "The premise was that not-for-profit companies should have better results than traditional market in nursing home insurance," McAlilly said. "Because we're operating from a sense of calling and trying to do the best we could. That panned out. We were able to flatten the curve on rate increase. I say it now that it's a risk management company with a component of insurance with it. "The focus is risk management because first it takes care of people to try to eliminate the risk in their lives, and second, that reduces the claim and the costs. Since the beginning we now have 80 members and because we're a member-owners MSS has gotten close to $4 million in dividends over the 20-plus years. And again we couldn't have done that without a team and board of directors." Retirement will mean more time to spend with grandchildren and more time to travel, but McAlilly will stay active serving with various volunteer organizations. His successor is Christy Vance, who has been with Methodist Senior Services for more than 20 years and who was named COO in 2020. McAlilly said the organization is in fine hands. "She knows me, she knows who we are, and my only advice is to keep the DNA that we are alive and well," he said. "I know she'll be a successful CEO. We joke about if you cut us we bleed Methodist Senior Services blood, and she's that way. She believes in the mission. She's committed to excellence and I forward to what new and exciting things will happen under her leadership."
