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KUWAIT CITY, Apr 23: Zain Group, a leading provider of innovative ICT and digital ‎lifestyle communication services operating in eight markets ‎across the Middle East and Africa, released its 14th annual ‎sustainability report, entitled: ‘The New Paradigm Shift,’ ‎reflecting the company’s dedication to responsible business ‎practices. Zain remains one of the most transparent and ‎accountable corporate entities in the entire Middle East and ‎North Africa region with respect to the publication of its ‎sustainability programs and their outcomes.‎

As in previous years, the report reflects Zain’s commitment to ‎meaningful connectivity that leads to equitable systemic ‎change and empowers the communities that Zain proudly serves, ‎which is at the center of Zain’s Corporate Sustainability ‎strategy on development and economic empowerment. ‎

‎‘The New Paradigm Shift’ highlights the numerous ‎sustainability programs and their outcomes implemented under ‎the four pillars of Zain’s corporate sustainability strategy – ‎namely ‘Climate Change; Operating Responsibly; Inclusion; and ‎Generation Youth’; that embrace and emphasize the material ‎importance to the company of addressing issues related to ‎preserving the planet and safeguarding it for future ‎generations; access to connectivity and reducing the digital ‎literacy gap; displacement; as well as employee development ‎and social well-being, given the rise in geo-political and ‎economic issues regionally.‎

Commenting on the publication, Zain Group Chief Sustainability ‎Officer, Jennifer Sulieman said, “We are in an era of ‎technological innovation that allows us to develop and ‎introduce initiatives that are the most impactful they have ‎ever been. Zain takes responsibility as a regional pioneer in ‎bringing the latest technologiesthat drive positive societal ‎development and meaningful connectivity across our footprint.”‎

Suleiman continued, “What Zain does matters, and we continue ‎to implement ESG principles, climate action, children rights, ‎displacement, connectivity, advancing digital transformation, ‎literacy, and stakeholder collaboration to build resilience, ‎so that amid socio-economic challenges and regional conflicts, ‎Zain may remain a beacon of hope, delivering life-changing ‎solutions for the benefit and upliftment of current and future ‎generations.”‎

Key highlights

During 2024, the company’s agenda continued to be driven by ‎efforts to address socio-economic and environmental challenges ‎across its footprint. Zain cemented the four pillars of its ‎sustainability strategy through a comprehensive engagement ‎process with various stakeholders. These included:‎

Climate Change:Focused on decarbonizing the business and ‎transition towards Net-Zero by 2050 by receiving official ‎approval from SBTi on its Net-Zero targets, Zain developed its ‎water management plan to the unique conditions of each country ‎operation. The plan detailed specific measures aimed at ‎improving water usage across all of Zain’s markets that saw ‎the company achieve a 5.89% reduction of water consumption in ‎comparison to 2023.‎

Furthermore, Zain continued in its commitment to CDP and ‎provided its Climate Change Action, demonstrating a commitment ‎to biodiversity conservation and nature preservation as ‎integral components of its broader dedication to climate ‎action. For example, Zain Omantel International (ZOI) requires ‎its partners to conduct thorough environmental impact ‎assessments aligned with regulatory and international ‎standards. ‎

Operate Responsibly: Embedding Environment, Social, and ‎Governance (ESG) principles across the entire value chain, the ‎company further developed and scaled the supplier training ‎program, launching its second training video highlighting the ‎importance of upholding human rights, promoting ethical labor ‎practices, as well assetting up grievance mechanisms. Zain ‎trained 185suppliers in 2024 in Zain’s Supplier Code of ‎Conduct, human rights and anti-corruption. Additionally, Zain ‎continued its Supplier Self-Assessment questionnaire process ‎with604suppliers groupwide to validate their commitment and ‎alignment to sustainability policies and ethical principles.‎

In addition, the company continued to contribute to employment ‎opportunities through Zain’s distribution channel, in 2024 the ‎company generated around114,000 jobs across its value chain.‎

Inclusion:Aiming to reduce the digital inequality gap, the ‎fourth cycle of ‘Women in Tech’ program launched inKuwait, ‎Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Sudanto better address ‎the needs of the target community through focus groups, ‎surveys, and feedback sessions. A total of 485young women ‎joined the program across the Group, reflecting a 16% increase ‎from 2023.Similarly, to better serve customers from the ‎disability segment, the company provided specialized bundles ‎for this demographic in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi ‎Arabia. ‎

Zain continued to place a high priority on enhancing the ‎skills of its employees either by upskilling or reskilling its ‎workforce in line with the company’s 4SIGHT digital ‎transformation strategy. The Zain Inclusion, Diversity, & ‎Equity University (IDEU) continued its collaboration with the ‎prestigious IE University in Spain with the aim of extending ‎learning opportunities to 2,000 Zain employees to participate ‎in an inclusive online Digital Transformation program, also ‎offering the possibility of attaining a master’s degree. ‎

Generation Youth:Aimed at building resilience across ‎communities by targeting 16 million children and youth, the ‎company was recognized amongst 3,000 of the largest ‎corporations globallyon key children’s rights categories, ‎whereby the company scored higher than the sector and industry ‎averages, tripling the ranking of many regional corporates. In ‎the benchmarking rankings, Zain scored 8.4/10 overall against ‎a sector average of 5.6/10 and a regional average of 2.8/10. ‎The average of all companies benchmarked was 4.3/10.‎

As an advocate for children's rights and in alignment with the ‎UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 16.2, which aims to end all ‎forms of violence against children by 2030, Zain continued to ‎support the cause by introducing a powerful campaign in ‎response to the rising global violence that is impacting ‎children disproportionately. This initiative followed the ‎escalating crises and conflicts worldwide, where children are ‎bearing the brunt of severe hardships and violence, affecting ‎their physical and mental well-being.The campaign, titled ‎‎#EveryChildHasRights, was designed to highlight the critical ‎threats faced by children in conflict-affected regions and ‎support for their protection. It included a compelling video ‎underscoring the urgent need to safeguard children’s rights, ‎engaging audiences in meaningful and emotional dialog. Through ‎this campaign, Zain aimed to create a global call to action ‎and foster a deeper understanding of the pressing issues at ‎hand. The campaign successfully garnered 16.5 million ‎impressions across Zain's footprint during 2024, amplifying ‎its message and driving significant awareness on this crucial ‎issue.‎

Also in 2024, Zain launched a two-phase campaign on excessive ‎screen timefocusing onboth children and parents, reaching 43.9 ‎million impressions and prompting 82% of viewers to set screen ‎time boundaries. Polls undertaken of the successful campaign ‎indicated a 100% increased awareness on managing screen use.‎

Moreover, Zain continued its partnership with Child Helpline ‎International (CHI), advancing its three-year MoU to support ‎and improve the effectiveness of child helplines across Zain’s ‎footprint. This collaboration strengthens engagement between ‎helplines and key child protection stakeholders, including ‎governments and regulators, while advancing platform ‎technologies and expanding services to instant messaging and ‎social media.‎

Towards the end of 2024, Zain unveiled a new enhanced five-‎year corporate strategy, ‘4WARD-Progress with Purpose’. The ‎new program builds on the success of the 4SIGHT strategy and ‎is focused on continuity, acceleration, collaboration and ‎innovation, and is designed to foster value creation by ‎accelerating the company’s evolution from a predominantly ‎mobile centric operator into a purpose driven and ‎sustainability focused technology entity. Zain looks to ‎maximize its full potential as a customer-centric, future-‎proof, and impactful leading regional TechCo conglomerate, and ‎its sustainability strategy will be adapted accordingly. ‎