MUSCAT, SEPT 25 - Riyada (The Public Authority of Small and Medium Enterprise Development) in collaboration with the National Youth Commission has partnered up with Destination Sustainability, a company incubated at the National Business Centre (NBC), with the aim of evaluating and measuring the impact of Riyada services and programme supporting entrepreneurs and SMEs using the Social Return On Investment (SROI) framework.
Khalid bin al Safi al Huraibi, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Riyada, said: “Riyada focuses on facilitating four types of accesses for SMEs: Access to entrepreneurial ideas, access to resources and finance, access to growth opportunities and access to markets.
Riyada, based on its tasks and functions, implements various constructive programme and events aimed to support and develop small and medium enterprises through support, consultancy, and technical training courses, workshops, field visits and a mentorship programme, in addition to organising events aimed at promoting and marketing SME products and services.
We are delighted to partner up with Destination Sustainability, the Omani SME, on producing our first formal measurement using the Social Return of Investment (SROI) framework.
This report will help us in Riyada to enhance or change existing programme, guide future strategies, demonstrate successes and challenges transparently with stakeholders and partners, and empower current and future stakeholders to make more informed, fiscally responsible decisions.
The results of this study will be complimented by the results of Bader Youth entrepreneurship study by the National Youth Commission and Riyada.”
Shaima al Lawati, Founder and Managing Director of Destination Sustainability, commented: “The team of Destination Sustainability offers personalised expertise in Stakeholder Engagement that reflects a very essential part when comes to such projects.
We will be meeting with over 200 owners of Small and Medium Enterprises that benefited from Riyada programme and services to hear from them.
Social Return On Investment tells the story of how change is being created by measuring social, environmental and economic outcomes — and uses monetary values to represent them. By revealing social value, it will help guide decisions and influence investment decisions.”
Destination Sustainability is a personalised consultancy firm in Corporate Sustainability and Social Responsibility. It is the first local SME specialised in CSR and Sustainability consultancy offering customised unique services in Oman.
Destination Sustainability brings together international best practices and global research and innovation with deep local expertise and regional cultural awareness in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility, stakeholder and community engagement, sustainability systems and social impact measurement.
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