At the heart of United Bank Limited’s (UBL) sustainability agenda is the desire to help the less fortunate by supporting causes that empower communities. The bank embodies the highest standards of social responsibility by building a comprehensive and all-encompassing sustainability agenda. In the years ahead, as in the past, UBL intends to further build on its sustainability efforts and continue on its mission towards a self reliant Pakistan.
In 2015, UBL’s sustainability efforts focused on the key sectors of education and health in partnership with specialist organizations.
During the year, education, especially higher education was the core area the bank focused its sustainability efforts on. Forman Christian College (FCC) in Lahore was assisted in the construction of its School of Business & Social Sciences. Furthermore, the bank also contributed to the university’s scholarship program which indentifies and sponsors deserving students for the various programs offered by the institution.
The Institute of Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi was also one of the leading recipients of the bank’s donations. UBL had been assisting IBA with the construction of a new state-of-the-art Sports Arena. In 2015, the bank made the last tranche for this project to IBA. Other educational institutions the bank donated to included LUMS, Namal College and The Aga Khan University. The bank also continued supporting a secondary level school in Gharo, Sindh under its collaboration with The Citizens Foundation (TCF).
UBL also supported health-care causes across Pakistan during 2015. Gulab Devi Chest Hospital in Lahore and the Sindh Institute of Urology & Transplantation (SIUT) in Karachi were the leading health-care institutions the bank donated to in 2015. Donations were also given to Shalamar Hospital in Lahore, the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Center for one of its clinics in Bagh Banni Passari in Azad Kashmir, the Family Welfare Cooperative Society in Lahore and The Kidney Center in Karachi, among others.
Disaster Relief was another area of concentration for the bank’s sustainability efforts in 2015. One of the main projects in this area was the rehabilitation of the people displaced by the devastating earthquake in Awaran, Baluchistan. UBL worked with a local NGO, Indus Earth Trust, to build homes for the dislocated families and helped provide them a secure shelter. Further efforts in this area were through donations to Hisaar Foundation, SOS Children’s Village and Edhi Foundation among others.
2015 saw a significant enhancement in UBL’s sustainability agenda. Carrying forward the momentum, the bank intends to start 2016 with an even stronger affirmation to increase its sustainability efforts and investments.