VZCZCXRO4009
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHJI #0224/01 0771144
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 181144Z MAR 06
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8928
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 6280
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 JEDDAH 000224 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR 
TSOU; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARPI AND MEPI 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2016 
TAGS: EAID ECON EFIN ELAB PGOV SA SOCI KMPI
SUBJECT: SAUDI ARABIA: CORPORATE DONOR TAKES PROGRESSIVE 
APPROACH TO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 
 
REF: A. 05 JEDDAH 03712 
     ¶B. JEDDAH 00199 
     ¶C. JEDDAH 00216 
 
Classified By: Consul General Tatiana C. Gfoeller for reasons 1.4 (b) a 
nd (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY: This is the second in a series of cables 
profiling community service activities funded within the 
Kingdom by Saudi corporations.  These programs are both 
indicative of the country's emerging civil society and 
illustrative of the challenges facing Saudi Arabia, including 
unemployment, the disenfranchisement of women, and the weak 
educational infrastructure.  This cable focuses on the Savola 
Group's holistic and progressive approach to community 
assistance, involving local stakeholders to affect change in 
youth education, the lives of the disabled, and the 
employment opportunities for disadvantaged families. END 
SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  (C) The Savola Group is Saudi Arabia's second largest 
industrial enterprise with assets of over 2.2 billion USD 
(see reftel A).  The Group established its Corporate Social 
Responsibility (CSR) division in 2004 at the urging of 
chairman Adel Fakeih and is overseen by a four-member board, 
including Savola CEO Abdulraouf Mannaa and Vice President 
Mahmoud Abdul Ghaffar. CSR is responsible both for 
implementing a company-wide code of ethics derived from 
Islamic traditions (see reftel B) and for a series of 
community development projects.  (NOTE: Company 
representatives would not disclose CSR's overall budget, 
though they said it was a set percentage of annual profits.) 
In contrast to the Abdul Latif Jameel Company (ALJ), which 
Savola representatives admit is the most well-known community 
development funder in the country, the Group strives to take 
a more comprehensive approach by involving local stakeholders 
and partners to affect change (see reftel C). Savola calls 
this the Bridges Program. 
 
¶3.  (C) The company uses a quote from the "Hadith" (the 
sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) to serve as the overarching 
message for this campaign: "None of you truly believes until 
he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself."  The 
Bridges Program is comprised of nine core areas: training new 
graduates, service learning, assisting special needs, 
micro-financing, social education, professor sponsorship, 
civil servant education, ethics and values training, and 
national employment.  According to CSR manager Mazen Redwan, 
the program concentrated on the first four areas during its 
inaugural year.  "Each project in the Bridges Program must 
meet three criteria," explained Redwan in a recent meeting 
with ConGenoff. "It must be innovative; it must result in 
what we call 'self-help,' meaning that it helps people become 
independent in the long-term; and it must be wide-reaching." 
Savola uses a mixture of trainers for each project, including 
those already employed by its internal training department 
and outside experts who undergo a Savola skills course. 
 
TRAINING NEW PROFESSIONALS 
 
¶4.  (U) Savola acknowledges the pressing challenge of 
unemployment presented by the country's demography. 
According to the company's figures, 40 percent of the 
Kingdom's population was born after the first Gulf War, and 
two million jobs will need to be created over the next 10 
years to compensate for this.  Under the Bridges Program, 
Savola has launched a series of training courses to develop 
professional skills among young men and women.  In 
cooperation with the Saida Khadija Center at the Jeddah 
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), Savola has trained 
100 recent female graduates in leadership, time and project 
management, business writing, and presentation skills to 
better prepare them for the work place.  Under the "Pioneers 
Program," the Group has also partnered with the college of 
business administration at Jeddah's King Abdulaziz University 
to train 40 new male graduates in similar skills but with 
more emphasis on team-work. That project will begin at the 
end of March. 
 
¶5.  (U) Savola orchestrated a third program with the World 
Islamic Organization that focused on mentoring 20 male 
orphans to help them to identify strengths and weaknesses, to 
build self-confidence, and to anticipate and overcome 
obstacles.  Ranging in age from 17 to 22, the participants 
were recruited out of foster homes and orphanages.  Though 
 
JEDDAH 00000224  002 OF 003 
 
 
many had dropped out of school, the majority hoped to return. 
 The second phase of the program will begin in mid-March, 
when the previous participants are given aptitude tests. 
Afterward, Savola will offer guidance as to what educational, 
professional, or vocational field to pursue. 
 
AT SCHOOL BUT ON THE JOB 
 
¶6.  (U) Though related to skills training, Savola's Service 
Learning Program partners private enterprise with the public 
education system.  In cooperation with King Abdulaziz 
University's women's section, Savola has created a series of 
projects that soon-to-be graduates can undertake as part of 
their course work yet give them practical exposure to the 
"real world."  Students in the computer science department, 
for example, recently designed Savola's new Website in 
coordination with its IT and marketing managers.  A similar 
program with the department of research had students 
documenting the "best practices" of international companies, 
while another with the department of art allowed a group of 
young women to re-design Savola's headquarters.  In each, 
Savola experts mentored the students and provided a structure 
for their ideas.  The participants ultimately received 
letters of recommendation signed by the Group's CEO for use 
in job applications, and the top three students in each 
department were given cash awards. 
 
AIDING THE DISABLED 
 
¶7.  (U) Savola operates two special needs projects under the 
Bridges Program to assist physically-challenged people in the 
community.  The first project gives seed funding to the Ebsar 
Foundation, a non-profit group that aims to improve the 
self-sufficiency of the blind.  Sixteen men and 16 women are 
currently enrolled in courses to enhance mobility and develop 
computer skills.  The most successful students are then given 
a software package worth several thousand dollars that 
facilitates the use of computers for employment.  Savola 
conducts an assessment of the program's effectiveness each 
quarter, and based on previous results, the Group plans to 
continue funding Ebsar until it can operate on its own. 
 
¶8.  (C) The second project is a plan to open a special needs 
help desk in partnership with JCCI.  Two operators with 
access to a jobs database will staff the desk and guide 
callers to positions that meet their particular strengths. 
Redwan asserted that most physically-challenged people are 
currently unable to find work, and if they are, it is usually 
only to fill new quotas established under the Saudization 
campaign.  The goal of Savola's program is to match workers 
with employers in environments where they can excel.  Redwan 
explained, for example, that autistic people tend to remain 
committed to repetitive tasks over the long-term, making them 
perfect for factory work when they may ordinarily not be 
employed at all.  To lay the groundwork for this project, 
Savola will soon launch a public awareness campaign to 
educate human resource managers on special needs employees 
and dispel fears of hiring them. 
 
BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR FAMILIES 
 
¶9.  (U) The Productive Families Program, which shares a name 
with its ALJ counterpart (see reftel A), is nearly identical 
in its design.  The micro-financing projects give small loans 
to disadvantaged families, particularly those with single 
mothers.  Savola works with the Prince Majid bin Abdulaziz 
Center for Social Services to identify participants from poor 
communities, who use the money to start small, home-based 
businesses following a training course.  Savola and the 
Prince Majid Center regularly guide the families, whose 
enterprises center on handicrafts, in marketing and selling 
their products. 
 
¶10.  (C) COMMENT: Savola Group has taken a progressive 
approach to being a "good corporate citizen" by addressing 
social issues such as orphans and the physically-handicapped 
that are not often discussed in this conservative country. 
By including other stakeholders and thus lending them 
credibility, Savola is creating a multiplier effect that is a 
tentative step toward greater empowerment of civil society in 
Saudi Arabia.  Having focused on the four areas detailed 
above, Redwan indicated that the Group will focus on 
environmental protection and the professionalization of civil 
servants in 2006, both of which could have a significant 
influence on the interplay between government and society. END 
 
JEDDAH 00000224  003 OF 003 
 
 
Gfoeller