APC 2009 Annual Report Download - page 70

2009 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC68
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
2SOCIETAL PERFORMANCE
and job support. The Group’s local suppliers and customers are also
gradually coming on board. In 2009, more than 350 young people
received training. The goal is to raise that number to 3,500 by end-
2011 in 30 centres .
In Brazil, the national industrial training service (SENAI) is deploying
an 80-hour training programme in close cooperation with Schneider
Electric Brazil. Taught on nights and weekends, this initiation to the
basics of residential electrical work gives low-income youths an
opportunity to learn the electrical trade. Because the courses are
offered free of charge and outside working hours, both attendance
and the completion rate are high. In 2009, 1,200 young people
participated in the programme at 26 centres across the country.
The Schneider Electric Foundation
Created in 1998 under the aegis of Fondation de France,
the Schneider Electric Foundation participates in the Group’s
commitment to sustainable development. Since 2008, its efforts have
focused more broadly on the BipBop energy access programme
(see page 66 ). The Foundation contributes in particular to the People
aspect of the programme .
Channelling energy to help young people
The Schneider Electric Foundation backs real-world, lasting projects
that promote training and job opportunities for young people—
primarily in the energy industry—and encourages Schneider Electric
employees to participate.
The Foundation’s objective is to support collective and association-
supported projects to help the most disadvantaged groups, who
can fi nd themselves cut off from the rest of society. It promotes
projects located near Schneider Electric sites around the world
that provide an opportunity for long-term employee involvement.
Examples include:
•providing electrical training;
•providing classroom equipment;
•supporting business creation in Schneider Electric’s skill sets.
Operations
The Luli international mobilisation campaign
The Schneider Electric Foundation organises the weeklong Luli
campaign to raise funds for long-term partnerships with local
associations involved in creating job opportunities for young people.
The 2009 campaign ran from June29 to July5.
Emergency aid
Although emergency assistance was not part of its brief when the
Foundation was set up in 1998, it has regularly participated in relief
efforts, often at the employees’ request.
In particular, the Foundation launched campaigns following:
•tropical storms in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam in 2009;
•the Sichuan earthquake in China in 2008;
•the Southeast Asian tsunami in 2005;
•the Chuetsu earthquake in Japan in 2004;
•the Boumerdès earthquake in Algeria in 2003;
•the terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001;
•fl oods in Germany and Algeria in 2000;
•the Izmit earthquake in Turkey in 1999.
Resources
With an annual budget of euro 4million, the Schneider Electric
Foundation carries out its work through a network of 150 employees,
known as delegates. These volunteers, who are located in more
than 50 countries, are responsible for identifying local partnerships,
presenting them to employees in their units and to the Foundation
and tracking projects once they are launched. Each project is
reviewed on the basis of administrative and fi nancial data by the
Schneider Electric Foundation and by Fondation de France before
funds are released.
Examples in 2009
Cambodia: training in automation and electricity for
young people and teachers
The CKN school in Phnom Penh was created ten years ago to
train sixty young people and teachers each year in automation and
electricity. Schneider Electric employees at the Technopole and
Electropole sites in France support the school through a project to
help develop and update training. The Schneider Electric Foundation
has also donated products and technical materials for the training
sessions. Funds have also been used to electrify 20 households in
the village, using photovoltaic systems and other innovative solutions.
Installation is proceeding under CKN’s responsibility, with backing
from Schneider Electric and its partners.
Cameroon/France: job prospects for young people in
Cameroon and electrifi cation projects in the country’s
Mengueme region
This project, initiated two years ago, has been enhanced with a
three-year training programme in electricity for 30 young people, as
well as with assistance for electrifi cation and safety training.
Chile: safe, reliable electricity for a neighbourhoods
school
Located a few kilometers from Schneider Electric’s local unit, the
Poeta Eusebio Lillo primary school serves 360 children from low-
income families. The school’s aging electrical installation needed to
be completely renovated. Schneider Electric donated equipment and
employees participated in the renovation work. This project comes
on top of BipBop initiatives to create two training centres offering
courses in electricity (Antofagasta, Lebu).
South Africa: support for science education in
disadvantaged neighborhood
The Adopt a School project supports work done by the
CynergyFoundation, which offers math and science tutoring at
several schools in disadvantaged neighborhood with the goal
of helping to improve students’ chances of pursuing studies in
engineering. Schneider Electric is already supporting 20 girls in
South Africa