DTB Joins the United Nations Global Compact
Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) has become a participant of the United Nations Global Compact, joining thousands of leading companies across the world that have committed to advance principles of responsible and sustainable business.
The bank, which has subsidiaries in four East African countries, joined the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative anchored in the United Nations at a ceremony in Nairobi presided over by Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Nasim Devji.
Ms Devji noted that becoming a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact will strengthen the Banks commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and described the commitment as central to DTB's agenda and strategy for the future.
"As a financial institution that has a rich 75-year heritage, we are aware of the need to be a sustainable corporate. Becoming a participant of the United Nations Global Compact is a key step towards aligning the business to embed sustainability at the core of all operations," said Ms Devji.
Ms Devji further said that the ethos that DTB stands for are aligned to the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact in the areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption.
"We are delighted to officially welcome DTB into the UN Global Compact as the 6th bank in Kenya as it reaffirms its public commitment to responsible and sustainable business conduct. We recognize the bank's on-going efforts in ensuring its lending practices uphold principles of good environmental and social governance and look forward to working together to advance this even further".
As a signatory to the Women's Empowerment Principles and an active participant in the Target Gender Equality programme, we also look forward to supporting the bank to deepen and strengthen its contribution towards equal women representation, participation and leadership within its operations," said Judy Njino, Executive Director of Global Compact Network Kenya during the official signing ceremony.
DTB already has in place a Social and Environmental Management System (SEMS), which ensures that the bank lends to projects that comply with the laws on environment, health, safety and social issues and the International Finance Corporation's Performance Standards.
DTB joins more than 14,000 companies and 3,000 non-business participants globally, including 266 Kenyan companies that have embraced the commitments of the UN Global Compact, which is currently headed by a Kenyan, Sanda Ojiambo.
Specifically, companies that sign up to the UN Global Compact commit to align their business strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption and take actions that advance societal goals.
