Our United Nations Global Compact’s Communication on Progress Report 2020-2021 is out with a renewed commitment to address sustainability challenges in manufacturing and contribution to a greener humanitarian supply chain.
Sustainability
At NRS Relief, we believe that contributing to a sustainable humanitarian supply chain is a way of honoring our purpose as relief supplier. We see purpose-driven sustainability as our contribution towards social, environmental as well as economic progress.
With a record-high number of displaced people worldwide caused by conflict and natural disasters, millions of relief items are distributed to the affected populations. Many of us are unaware of the production effort it takes to address these emergencies, and how responding to crises does not exempt the humanitarian sector from its social and environmental impact on the planet. We turn inwards to take a critical look at our sector and have further invested in the sustainability of our manufacturing processes and supply chain, prioritizing transparency. This sustainability journey is taken together with our strategic production partner in Pakistan, H. Sheikh Noor-ud-Din & Sons.
Economic responsibilities
We are committed to pioneering new solutions, sustainably creating fit-for-purpose products through value-engineering. We focus on financial sustainability and pledge to continuously expand our portfolio of products and services. At the same time, as the industry leader, we strive to progressively grow our business to ensure economic empowerment in our supply chain. Our vision is that all stakeholders should benefit from the life-improving products that we develop and design – from factory to field.
Social responsibilities
We focus on creating a safe, diverse, merit-based working environment that values teamwork yet allows for individual development. We actively engage with the vibrant humanitarian community in Dubai and raise awareness for social causes such as the refugee crisis and women’s empowerment. At the same time, we support our manufacturing arm in Pakistan with their community investment programs, aimed at building community resilience through improved health care services and educational opportunities. We also acknowledge the social impact of our life-improving products on the end-user – from refugee to aid worker. To honor this purpose, we develop and design products that respect beneficiaries’ true needs and support the acceleration of the sustainable development goals.
Environmental responsibilities
Minimizing our ecological footprint is an incentive rather than a burdensome exercise in compliance. We are committed to reducing emissions and waste, while seeking to recycle and reuse across the production processes wherever possible. We do so in close collaboration with our manufacturing arm as well as by launching green initiatives in our Dubai office and offices in Lahore.
As a manufacturer we have always been very conscious about material sourcing and optimal material use, and energy and water usage in our operations, as this has a direct impact on the operational costs and competitive position of the products we sell. In the last years we have made significant reductions in the energy and water usage in our operations with a greater focus on improving our sustainability performance. We are also working closely with our suppliers in order reduce the carbon footprint of the materials we use. We are constantly researching production processes and material sources including the use of recycled materials and reduction of single use plastics. As a result, we initiated a project aiming at reducing the environmental impact and the carbon footprint of relief items, i.e. tarpaulins, blankets, jerrycans and buckets, targeting a 40% reduction in carbon emissions.