I am pleased to confirm that the National Bank reaffirms its support to the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in the areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption.
In our 6th annual Communication on Progress, we describe our actions to integrate the Global Compact and its principles into our business strategy, culture and daily operations. We are also committed to share this information with our stakeholders using our primary channels of communication.

Yours Sincerely
Talal Nasereddin
Chairman of Board

The National Bank adopts the United Nations Global Compact principles of human rights. TNB respects human rights and makes sure to implement all its related principles in our day to day operations .TNB has made it clear that it refuses any kind of human rights abuses.

Human rights principles in The National Bank(TNB) are adopted in several ways; As a financial institution TNB believes that every Palestinian have the right to hold a bank account, have access to finance and benefit from services that banks provide and therefore, TNB has focused on reaching out to suburbs and rural areas in Palestine through its expansion plans, 9 out of 20 branches are located in Palestinian villages and rural areas 5 areas of which we are the only bank serving its residents, believing that this could contribute towards financial inclusion.

Women form half of the Palestinian society, and are underserved financially in the Palestinian banking market. TNB was the leader in launching a special savings account that is dedicated to Palestinian women, after a research that was done on several phases, to find out their exact financial needs and provide it through a special program. TNB found out that Palestinian women need financial security and when they were asked to define it, the answer was a house, steady income and educating their children. Through the research it was also apparent that Palestinian women tend to save through buying gold. As a result, TNB has created “Hayati” Savings Program providing all these needs in one program. TNB has also financed a total sum of $3.5 Million as microloans for women, 138 projects were financed and have created an average of 3 to 4 jobs per project.
In 2017, TNB has launched the first comprehensive banking program for Palestinian women that include all the banking services varying from loans, accounts to cards, with preferential rates on interest rates and flexibility in payments. The percentages of gender inclusion kept rising, now females make 34% of TNB’s clients’ base, 64% of the savers are females, and female beneficiaries from MSME loans form 25% of the clients’ base.
In addition to its financial women empowerment program, in 2019, TNB has contributed to empowering Palestinian women through its sustainable CSR program in various sectors such as marketing and sales for the financed enterprises, women health, entrepreneurship, women sports, and women education.

TNB believes in gender equality and actively works on investing in their female employees through encouraging them to seek higher education, training courses and introducing them to the latest technologies reached in the field. Females at TNB form 35% of the employees and hold many vital positions such as managers and head of sections. In 2019, a new female member joined the Board of Directors, who is a Palestinian business women and entrepreneur, making the representation for females on board 3 out of 11. TNB is planning to increase its female board of directors by giving another seat to an independent female.
In 2019, TNB and UN Women have announced the results of the gender audit conducted on the bank, resulting that TNB adopts a strategy to reinforce the role of Palestinian women and empower them economically. TNB and UN Women announced the results of the audit publicly to encourage the local organizations to follow the footsteps of TNB and conduct the gender audit as a first step towards gender equality. TNB has displayed the results of the report on its website: https://www.tnb.ps/en/page/participatory-gender-audit
Our staff is also committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, neutrality and impartiality at work and outside. TNB refuses all kinds of abuses of human rights including discrimination and stereotyping, which has been made clear to all our employees and stakeholders.

TNB is implementing a full strategy to serve people with disabilities, ATMs are being developed to read and guide blind people, bank forms are being developed to use brill language, employees are asked to give special attention and priorety for people with disabilities in branches.

Reports on regular basis, are provided by our Human Resources Department to our senior management team on implementing the UNGS’s human rights principles, if any violation occurs it will be reported instantly and correction actions are taken directly.

The National Bank adopts the United Nations Global Compact principles of labour, we also work within the regulations of the Palestinian Ministry of Labour, which ensures implementing all regulations including abolition of child labour and the elimination of discrimination.

TNB is an equal organization that believes in democracy which will definitely lead to finding productive solutions to any potential problems, we have built an internal system to encourage collective bargaining and ease the communication between employees and the senior management team, the system is an application that facilitates the dialogue between the staff and the management and keeps the dialogue vertical and healthy. Employees could whistle blow any error or problem they face directly through this app to the management to investigate and take action. TNB has developed a social committee for employees to ensure surrounding them with social activities and encourage keeping strong relationships between them and the senior management team, and hold bank retreats on regular basis to ensure high level of face to face communication between management and staff. TNB has also created a group on Facebook that includes all its employees and management to ensure no communication gap between all parties. TNB also provides health care insurance to all employees and their families. Motivations are granted on an annual base according to evaluations revised and signed by the employees themselves. TNB invests in their own employees by encouraging them to seek higher education, training courses and introducing them to the latest technologies reached in the field. Our Human Resource Department has circulated UNGS’s 10 principles to all our employees, who were asked to engage them in their day to day operations. TNB’s working environment is full of respect, neutrality and democracy. In the year 2015, The National Bank has signed the Women Empowerment Principles which is a joint initiative of the United Nations Global Compact to also advance gender equality in the workplace. Female staffs form 35% of TNB’s employees. Female employees at TNB hold vital positions such as Managers and Head of Sections. Female representation on TNB board of directors is 27%, 3 out of 11 members are females who hold a vast experience in finance and banking. TNB complies with the Palestinian labour law and provides more privileges for the employees than what the law legislates.
TNB engages its employees in the community initiatives it implements to guarantee engagement in promoting the principles and values that the bank works through; in 2019, TNB employees participated in raising the awareness on the importance of early detection of breast cancer in October campaign by wearing pink and urging clients to take action by regular checkups. In November, employees also participated in the 16-day campaign to eliminate all forms of gender-based violence by wearing orange throughout the days of the campaign. TNB was the only bank in Palestine to participate in this initiative with the European Union Office in Palestine and the UNESCO along with more than 67 other partners.

Our senior management team receives regular reports from the Human Resources Department concerning recruitment, and implementation of the labour principles. TNB complies to the Palestinian labour rules and regulations, If any violation occurs, it is reported immediately and correction actions are taken instantly. Our Quality Assurance Department also provides senior management team with reports evaluating the satisfaction of employees, to guarantee a healthy work environment full of equality, respect and democracy.

The National Bank has adopted the United Nations Global Compact principles concerning the Environment. Ever since signing up with the UN Global Compact, environment related issues became one of the major priorities in our strategies. Environment is also one of the major guidelines for our CSR policy.

At The National Bank, we consider protecting the environment as a main pillar in our business and CSR strategies.
In 2019, TNB became the first bank in Palestine to buy a share in a solar energy park in Jericho, powering 85% of its buildings with clean sun energy with a sum of 1.17 Megawatts, considering this investment as a clean environmental, national and social step towards operating clean and using energy that is developed with national hands. This investment will also have a return on investment on the long run.
We are also proud to be the first bank in Palestine to adopt and implement OPIC’s Social and Environmental policy. As a result, we have created a monitoring system to track the projects we finance to fully meet international standards in protecting environment, preventing pollution, reducing global warming, protecting agricultural lands and natural resources, and supporting renewable energy sources projects. The National Bank boasts the largest Agricultural loans portfolio among banks in Palestine and has also developed a renewable energy sources loan program to encourage Palestinians use clean sources of energy with a lower impact on environment.
The National Bank has also contributed towards several initiatives and done several campaigns to raise the awareness on protecting the environment. The National Bank has also raised the value of volunteering within its staff by creating internal voluntary groups to contribute towards the community in line with its CSR program strategies.
TNB is planning to develop green banking products in 2020, in line with its strategies to protect the environment and encourage the community to rely on the renewable energy.

In addition to adopting UNGC’s principles on environment, The National Bank is also proud to be the first bank in Palestine to adopt and implement OPIC’s Social and Environmental policy. TNB has built a strict monitoring system to track its investments and projects adhering to compliance with law, human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, labour right, protection of natural habitats, conservation of biological diversity, climate change, pollution prevention and resource efficiency, public health, physical and cultural heritage and the protection of agricultural lands and soil conservation. Reports are sent to senior management on regular basis to guarantee fulfilling the environmental related issues and implementing our friendly environment policy in all our operations.

The National Bank adopts the United Nations Global Compact principles on Anti-corruption. And works under other universal policies such as: Anti Money Laundering, Know Your Customer and Combating Terrorists Financing. And also adopts other universal policies concerning governance.TNB combats corruption in all its forms and refuses all kinds of extortion and bribery in addition to ensuring transparency and bank secrecy acts, which is our core value.

The National Bank always ensures that its operations are all done in compliance with the UNGC’s anti-corruption principles; reports on every client are made, sources of money must be identified, all precautionary procedures are taken in order to guarantee clean sources of money. TNB also maintains the highest levels of transparency and regulatory compliance, in accordance with the highest international and regional standards, implementing international policies such as Anti Money Laundering (AML), Combating Terrorists Financing (CTF), and Know Your Customer (KYC) in addition to the best practices of governance. TNB has implemented the best governance practices by adding 3 new members to its board of directors, 2 of them are independents and one representing the minority shareholders, to ensure that all shareholders can participate in decision making. In September 2018, TNB has amended the article of memorandum to be able to increase the number of independent members to its board complying with the best practices of governance. TNB has also created a specialized department for AML that reports directly to the board and the regulator “PMA”. TNB is also developing a new strategy for governance in partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to ensure implementing global best practices in governance. UNGC’s principles on Anti-corruption are circulated to all TNB’s employees and are asked to engage these principles in their day to day operations.

Our Compliance, Risk and Audit Departments regularly provide the BOD with reports concerning compliance with the UN Global Compact principles about Anti-corruption, if any violation occurs, it is reported directly to the Board of Directors and correction actions are taken immediately. TNB BOD committees always ensure that the bank complies with the local and international regulations and inspect the bank’s operations through the monitoring departments.