Prestigious CSR award for Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First
The innovative Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First campaign of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) has been recognized with a prestigious national award for its leadership role in improving the health of the community.
Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First won the ‘Responsible Leadership Award’ at the Launching Ceremony for the 9th Season of the Corporate Social Responsibility Program, held at Qatar University.
The Launching Ceremony of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program is Qatar’s premier CSR and sustainability event. The event, and its parent organization, the Qatar Corporate Social Responsibility Network (QatarCSR), work to foster a spirit of community solidarity and cooperation in Qatar and the wider region in pursuit of the aims set out in Qatar National Vision 2030. The awards recognize individuals and organizations that have made special contributions to the community and to sustainable development goals. The event was attended by many senior dignitaries and executives, including HE Dr. Hanan Mohamed Al-Kuwari, Minister of Public Health, who was presented with the Person of the Year award for 2021.
The Responsible Leadership Award was received by WCM-Q’s Chief External Affairs and Development Officer, Nesreen Al-Rifai, whose Office of Communications is responsible for the conception and delivery of all Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First initiatives.
Ms. Al-Rifai said: “We are so proud and grateful that the work of Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First has been recognized with an award from QatarCSR, which is a phenomenal organization doing incredible work in support of Qatar National Vision 2030. Our aim with Your Health First is to inspire, encourage and empower all members of the community, and especially our young people, to achieve good health by adopting healthy and sustainable lifestyles, allowing them to grow up to be fit, strong and able to make their own contributions to Qatar’s tremendous national success story.”
YHF was launched in 2012 to educate the community about healthy living, sustainability, exercise and nutrition so that they can make informed choices about the food they consume and how to live healthily. As the campaign has grown and evolved, YHF has increasingly worked to provide opportunities for people to engage in healthy, sustainable behaviors as well as learning about them.
Key initiatives of YHF include ‘The Fitness Box’, an innovative new concept in health, launched this year in cooperation with the Ministry of Municipality – Public Parks Department, and Khayr Qatarna, which has installed 16 largescale greenhouses at 14 schools across Qatar, producing many tons of fresh fruit and vegetables for distribution and teaching students about the environment, sustainability, food security, agriculture, healthy eating and commerce. All revenues from Khayr Qatarna are reinvested in the project.
YHF also offers a vast array of health information and resources to the community through multiple channels, such as social media and YouTube, a dedicated website, television and radio, health booths in malls, public events, school visits, community initiatives and traditional print media.
YHF receives crucial support from its dedicated strategic partners, Qatar Foundation, The Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the Ministry of Municipality, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, and ExxonMobil Qatar.