Siemens 2005 Annual Report Download - page 29

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Group Presidents Business Areas Megatrends Report of the Supervisory Board Corporate Governance Report
Disaster relief
As an infrastructure company with a worldwide presence, we can respond to natural disas-
ters quickly and unbureaucratically. To aid the victims of the tsunami that struck South-
east Asia in late December 2004 (see page 62 of this Report), we installed mobile water
treatment systems, repaired damaged telecommunications equipment and set up a
mobile radio communications center. By the end of March 2005, Siemens employees and
retirees worldwide had made cash donations of more than €2.1 million. Including match-
ing funds provided by the Company, we raised a total of €4.7 million for tsunami relief.
With this money, Siemens Caring Hands e.V. – in cooperation with other charities – built
schools, health centers and community facilities in the disaster zone. We also raised mon-
ey and carried out relief measures following Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the U.S.
Gulf Coast in late August 2005. These activities were coordinated by Siemens Corporation
in the U.S. – which matched employee contributions and supplied water treatment sys-
tems, medical equipment and power generators to the areas affected. By the end of fiscal
2005, the Company and its employees had raised about $2.8 million for the storm’s vic-
tims.
www.siemens.com/responsibility
We help people help themselves, wherever they are. In Germany, for instance, 170 employ-
ees of Siemens Management Consulting (SMC) helped construct a children’s home for the
Albert-Schweizer-Familienwerk foundation. In China, 36 employees set up a school library.
In 2003, we launched a program to encourage employees in Germany to become support-
ing members of UNICEF. Their regular contributions are used to provide food, water,
vaccinations and elementary education for children all around the world. To date, we have
transferred employee donations totaling €820,000, and we are now planning to set up simi-
lar UNICEF support programs in other countries.
Culture and the arts
By championing culture and the arts, Siemens is helping unleash the power of creativity
throughout society. We sponsor cultural events – for example, at the Salzburg Festival. We
also work through the Siemens family foundations and the Siemens Arts Program, with its
focus on contemporary art and artists. The Arts Program Team has, among other things,
launched a Corporate Cultural Responsibility Project to compile and communicate informa-
tion on other companies’ involvement in the cultural sphere. This year, we also commis-
sioned five contemporary composers to produce works for performance on period instru-
ments by the Freiburger Barockorchester. These works had their worldwide premiere at the
Lucerne Festival in 2005.
www.siemens.com/artsprogram