The Pearl Initiative, the leading non-profit organisation promoting a corporate culture of accountability and transparency across the Gulf Region, is launching a new webinar series highlighting best practices from the private sector in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises.

Leveraging insights from the Pearl Initiative’s extensive regional network, the series will showcase actions and initiatives being taken by different businesses from across the Gulf Region to ensure health and safety and enhance their own resilience and sustainability. By sharing these experiences, members of the regional business community can learn from one another while seeking to navigate periods of uncertainty and economic strain as smoothly as possible.

Beginning on Thursday, April 2, the first webinar in the series, entitled “The Corona Effect: Understanding governance and risk during unprecedented times”, will provide practical information for private sector professionals in the Gulf on internal and external implications for their businesses, and deliver useful advice and tools to help navigate the short and medium-term impact of the current pandemic across their value chain.”

Eleven online webinars have been planned for the month of April, that include: “Best Practices in Waqf Management”; “Digitalisation for MSMEs: Harnessing Business Potential”; “Passing the Torch: Succession Planning for Family Business Resilience”; and an online workshop is also scheduled on “Making the Business Case for Diversity”.

Information on how to sign up at no cost for these online events and others is available at the Pearl Initiative’s website or via the organisation’s app that is available for both iOS and Android.

Yasmine Omari, Executive Director of the Pearl Initiative, said: “During these uncertain times, the vision of the Pearl Initiative has never been more relevant. By connecting individuals and organisations from across the Gulf Region to share best practices in corporate governance, we believe that we can provide our stakeholders and partner companies with timely insights that could serve them well both now and in the future.”

The launch of the new webinar series is consistent with the Pearl Initiative’s own digital transformation plan activated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These actions are enabling the Pearl Initiative to continue to deliver all of its planned events – including meetings, seminars and workshops – while adhering to evolving public health guidelines, through the effective use of information technology and flexible working practices.

Omari added, “We remain fully committed to delivering on all our programmes and will continue to actively strive to engage our community of stakeholders and partner companies. Once it is advisable to do so again, we greatly look forward to fully resuming our in-person events and gatherings across the region.”