May 2, 2017

To our stakeholders:

I am pleased to confirm that the Center for Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (CIDT) reaffirms its support for the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in the areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption.

This annual Communication on Progress , describes our organization’s actions to continually improve the integration of the Global Compact and its principles into our business strategy, culture and daily operations. We also commit to share this information with our stakeholders using our primary channels of communication.

Sincerely yours,

Cornelis Hulsman, Drs.
CEO

We support adherence to the internationally proclaimed human rights declarations, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This adherence is evidenced by the content of the reporting we have produced for the Arab-West Report Database. Our company works to promote equality and affirms a strict policy of non-descrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, political orientation, or disability. . This is a critical component of our work since we report about the role of religion and pluralism in Egyptian society, specifically Muslim-Christian relations. When reporting on such issues, it is of the utmost importance to maintain strict impartiality and adhere to objective narratives. Furthermore, we also provide full transparency as to how our information has been obtained. We deal with highly sensitive subject matter and make all efforts to include the views of all parties involved. We have provided a link on our homepage to the statements of the UN Global Compact we adhere to. We work to partner with businesses that adhere to the same Global Compact principles on Human Rights.

In the coming years we wish to make our database compliant to the academic standards of university library standards in order to provide better acess to our data for researchers worldwide.

Staff and student researchers working with us are trained through a system of conducting research, presenting draft texts, and an editorial process involving the CEO andother relevant experts on the subject matter. .We report objectively and strive to avoid bias in our reporting.. If we have the opportunity to interview different stakeholders on the same subject, we will of course do so. Board members of our sister organization, the Center for Arab-West Understanding (CAWU), an Egyptian NGO, provide their counsel when needed. We expect all staff and student researchers to listen to different viewpoints and to be fair in presenting similarities and differences that exist among individuals and groups, doing justice to all parties involved.

In 2016 we submitted an academic book for publication entitled From Ruling to Opposition Islamist Movements and Non-Islamist Groups in Egypt 2011-2013 which is based on over 60 interviews with Islamists and their opponents. The draft version of the book has been read by numerous peoplewho offered many suggestions for improvement during the editorial process . Egypt is deeply divided between Islamists and non-Islamist political factions. Most reporting on this issue has been highly partisan. We have incorporated all principles of good reporting in this book which has been recognized by scholars in and outside of Egypt, Egyptian diplomats and other stakeholders. The book of 262 pages was completed in 2016 and published in Anwendungsorientierte Religionswissenschaft in February 2017. The final editing was carried out by CIDT CEO Cornelis Hulsman.

The company addresses incidents involving Human Rights violations through fact-finding and listening to all parties involved. We examine at international human rights declarations and compare events and statements in the public sphere with these declarations. It is rare that parties will oppose these human rights declarations. Much more common issues related to human rights reporting are lack of transparency (not presenting information/explanations that disagree or complicate one’s own position) and differences in interpretations of these human rights declarations.

CIDT upholds all principles of the UN Global Compact on Labour Rights.

Our staff is fully aware of our policies. CIDT has a grievance mechanism. If staff members would see anything that gives them cause for concern, they can contact the CEO. In case it would concern the CEO, they could write the shareholders of CIDT.

No incidents were reported in 2016

CIDT upholds all principles of the UN Global Compact onthe Environment . The environmental footprint of our company is very small since most of our publishing is electronic.

Our staff is encouraged to reduce waste and not spilling water.

Since we have a frequently changing staff we sometimes raise our policy with new staff members.

CIDT has zero-tolerance for corruption, bribery and extortion. Our finances are audited by a authorized auditor. Furthermore, CIDT also has zero-tolerance for corruption, bribery and extortion in other organizations and will not cooperate with them if there would be any indication of such practices. Neither will CIDT cooperate with any individuals involved in such practices. Our staff has not been confronted with examples of corruption, bribery and extortion in our office or in dealing with any of our contacts.

Our staff is fully aware of our policies. CIDT has a grievance mechanism. If staff members would see anything that gives them cause for concern, they can contact the CEO. In case it would concern the CEO, they could write the shareholders of CIDT.

No staff member has used the CIDT grievance mechanism in 2016.
Our finances have been edited by an authorized external auditor. The auditing and narrative reports will soon be sent to our stakeholders for full transparency.