Arab Bank continued its support to the Ramadan initiative organized by the Children’s Museum Jordan as part of its “Community Connections” program, sponsored mainly by Arab Bank since 2014. 

The Ramadan initiative at the Children’s Museum Jordan returns this year under the theme and spirit of the holy month, featuring a variety of activities. These include the old souq, the souq café with a children’s Hakawati who tells stories blending both the past and present, in addition to well-known Islamic figures from the golden era such as the explorer Ibn Battuta, the mathematician Khawarizmi, and many more Ramadan-related activities.

Arab Bank has also sponsored two charity iftars for orphaned children as part of the Ramadan iftar events hosted annually by the museum. Arab Bank employees accompanied the children on a tour around the museum, which included interactive learning activities aimed at teaching them more about Ramadan symbols, as well as a scientific show featuring lab experiments, all within a joyful atmosphere. At the end of the tour, the bank’s employees distributed gifts to the children.

Arab Bank’s support comes as part of its social responsibility program “Together”, which focuses on a variety of areas including education. The bank is the main sponsor of the Museum’s “Community Connections” program, which includes a variety of interactive initiatives and activities that focus on vital topics and special occasions that interest children and the family alike, such as the water month, the Arabic language month and the Arab child month. 

In collaboration with the Jordan River Foundation (JRF), Arab Bank has recently hosted a Ramadan Iftar for 100 children at the JRF’s Queen Rania Family and Child Center. This comes as part of the JRF’s initiatives directed at family and child protection, which aim to reach the largest number of beneficiaries.

A group of 30 Arab Bank employees volunteered in this initiative, which entailed several interactive arts and sports activities to increase children’s awareness around key concepts related to child protection. This included the “Small House” program, the “Salhouf” puppet show, and many other activities. Iftar meals were also provided for the children and the bank’s employees catered by the women of Al-Karma Kitchen, owned by the JRF.

The Jordan River Foundation established the Queen Rania Center for Family and Child in 2005 with the aim of enhancing social, economic, educational, and environmental areas related to child wellbeing. The center adopts a holistic model of services that aims to integrate cultural, societal and familial aspects to secure financial support for children and their protection in partnership with the local communities and JRF partners.

It is worth mentioning that Arab Bank has taken an active role in the community by adopting a comprehensive strategic approach and collaborating with several NGOs to achieve sustainable economic, social, and environmental development. “Together”, Arab Bank’s corporate social responsibility program is a multi-faceted program that works on improving and developing different aspects of the community. Through a variety of initiatives and activities, the program aims to serve the community in areas related to health, poverty alleviation, environmental protection, education, orphan support, and women empowerment.

With the support of Arab Bank, the Children’s Museum Jordan has implemented its "Water Month" program, which aims to educate children on the importance of water preservation through creative thinking workshops, science experiments, storytelling and agricultural activities.

The "Water Month" activities were held under the slogan "Save Water", shedding light on water scarcity and the dangers of poor water consumption. The program entailed diverse awareness activities including “I Pledge” and the “Water the Fuel of Life Show”, which enabled children to learn more about water conservation, in addition to other several awareness activities Over 6,000 visitors benefited from the program’s activities and gained insights into the issue of water scarcity in Jordan.

During the program, Arab Bank participated through its “Arabi Junior” booth to promote and instill sound environmental values and practices among children, especially focusing on topics related to sustainable water management and preservation, given the importance of creating a water-secure future in Jordan and reinforcing such positive thinking at an early age.

Arab Bank’s support of this initiative comes in line with its CSR program, which addresses different aspects that align with the values of citizenship and social responsibility. This includes initiatives and activities that cater to the children’s interests, resonating with the bank’s commitment to this age group by supporting educational and awareness-raising programs. The bank continuously seeks to collaborate with the Children’s Museum through supporting multiple programs such as the “Community Connections” program that was launched in 2012, which encompasses the “Water Month” initiative hosted annually by the museum to coincide with World Water Day on March 22^nd  of each year.

Global Finance, a New York-based international publication, has recently named Arab Bank the "Best Bank for Sustaining Communities in the Middle East 2024” as part of the fourth annual Sustainable Finance Awards for 2024. Arab Bank was chosen by a world-class panel of judges, which included experts in consulting and outsourcing, in addition to the magazine’s team of editors, recognizing the bank’s outstanding sustainability achievements as part of its comprehensive strategy on this front. 

Arab Bank's recognition underscores its robust track record in adhering to environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") standards, alongside its innovative strides in sustainability. These initiatives showcase the bank's influential role in supporting sustainable projects, and highlight its integration of sustainability principles into its operations. This aligns seamlessly with the bank's overarching vision of realizing sustainable development.

Arab Bank was selected for this award based on a specific set of criteria, which included the bank's commitment to sustaining communities as well as its constant efforts in sustainability financing, its excellence in bond issues, community support, resource management, transparency and reporting, infrastructure, and emerging-markets sustainability funding. This is in addition to its ESG governance policies, objectives, and achievements in financing environmental and social initiatives during the past year.

Furthermore, Arab Bank was named the “Best Bank for Sustainable Finance in Jordan 2024” by Global Finance magazine. The bank also received the "Best ESG Integration in Jordan 2022" award by the Arab Federation of Capital Markets in cooperation with The Global Economics magazine.

It is worth mentioning that Arab Bank was the first bank in Jordan to establish a Sustainable Finance Framework, which aims to support the bank’s sustainability commitments and environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) priorities. The bank also successfully issued USD 250 million Additional Tier 1 (AT1) Capital Securities last year. The issuance marks the first and largest sustainable perpetual AT1 issue in Jordan and was listed on the International Securities Market (ISM) and the Sustainable Bond Market of the London Stock Exchange. The proceeds of the issuance will be used to finance a portfolio of qualified sustainable projects, in line with Arab Bank’s strategy to integrate environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) principles across the organization.

Arab Bank has recently renewed its support for the “Sunbulah” initiative, implemented by “Al Jude Foundation for Scientific Care” at public schools in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. The initiative aims to instill a culture of creativity among teachers and students, enhance the school environment and address its challenges using innovative solutions, thus achieving a culture of partnership among teachers, students, the school and society.

Managing Partner of Al Jude Foundation, a non-profit organization, Maher Kaddoura, affirmed that the NGO’s collaboration with Arab Bank aims to promote sustainable development and instill social entrepreneurship skills among teachers and young students to elevate their way of thinking. Last year, the initiative achieved remarkable success, reaching nearly 1,100 public schools across different governorates of the Kingdom, and training no less than 7,000 male and female teachers to acquire new skills and tools in the field of entrepreneurship, creativity, and problem-solving through simple creative methods, as well as acquiring life and scientific skills through the initiative.

More than 800 projects have been implemented, utilizing unused spaces in schools to establish service projects that benefit both the schools students, and reflecting positively on improving the school environment. Additionally, the initiative has achieved community engagement, strengthened teamwork, and promoted cooperation.  

Kaddoura also expressed his pride in collaborating with Arab Bank as a strategic supporter of this initiative and emphasized the importance of this collaboration, which has had a positive impact on the educational environment.

Kaddoura highlighted that the launch of the fourth stage in more than 1,000 public schools across the Kingdom comes in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and with the support of Arab Bank. He also noted that by 2024, there will be competition at the directorate level, increasing the chances of winning awards for schools. The registration is still open for all schools through the website: www.sonbola.org

For his part, Dr. Nawaf Al Ajarmeh, the Secretary-General of Educational and Technical Affairs, said: “The Ministry of Education strongly believes in the importance of partnership and interaction with the local community, as well as between the private and public sectors. The “Sunbulah” initiative has proven this through its positive impact on the school environment, as well as in enabling our schools to acquire knowledge and increase their experience in implementing and designing community initiatives.”

Arab Bank’s support of this initiative is part of its social responsibility program “Together”, a multi-faceted program that works on improving and developing different aspects of the community. Through a variety of initiatives and activities, the program aims to serve the community in areas related to health, poverty alleviation, environmental protection, education, orphan support, and women empowerment.