How to help people in times of Covid, operating in 20 countries of the world between Europe, Asia and South America and collaborating with 46 NGOs and non-profit organizations, with all the difficulties involved? He knows something The Human Safetyy Net, the initiative launched three years ago by Generali, which by the end of 2020 will have invested around 15 million euros in the three programs dedicated to the most vulnerable families with children aged 0-6, refugees, newborns at risk, of which an additional 1 million due precisely to the needs associated with the pandemic. However, the effort is not only economic, as Emma Ursich, Head of Group Corporate Identity of Generali and Secretary General of The Human Safety Net explained to FIRSTonline. group. In 2019 they dedicated 20 hours of volunteer work to the cause. And then it is a question of making skills available, of accompanying people in difficulty, just as we accompany our clients with whom we consider ourselves 'life partners'. The Human Safety Net, as the name suggests, aims to be an open system of transversal collaboration between the public and private sectors".
Your mission is to "unleash the potential of people living in vulnerable contexts". Can you explain this definition to us?
“It ties back to our being a 'lifetime partner' of customers. We asked ourselves how we could be useful to people living in situations of great vulnerability. And we said to ourselves that the best solution for them too was to accompany them on a path aimed at transforming and improving their prospects. The common denominator of our programs is to work on people and above all with people”.
What are the initiatives launched in these first three years of life of The Human Safety Net?
“The Human Safety Net's three programs are to support the most vulnerable families with children aged 0-6, integrate refugees through job placement, and improve the quality of care for infants at risk of respiratory diseases. At the end of 2019, all the projects put together, which were carried out in 100 cities around the world, involved over 30 people: 20 children aged between 0 and 6 and 10 parents, and then almost 700 refugees, who have already created over 170 startups”.
Why the choice of these categories and how do you actually operate?
“The decision on children between 0 and 6 years is dictated by the fact that at that age a person's brain develops, and therefore by changing a story at the beginning it is possible to change its perspectives for the better. The dozens of NGOs with which we collaborate, among which there are the best known but also smaller and locally active realities, have helped us to identify these families in 20 countries where Generali is already present, spread over three continents, Europe, Asia and South America. These are families with various risk factors, in a state of difficulty or in areas with a lack of services: we intervene, collaborating with NGOs but also with our staff on site, both by supporting only the parents and by involving the parent-child pair. Before Covid, of course, everything was done face-to-face, now we've been able to go ahead in part even remotely. The initiative for newborn care is linked to those contexts, while with regard to refugees we are talking about people arriving from the Middle East, especially Syria, and from Africa, in Europe. Specifically in France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy”.
What kind of support do you give to these refugees?
“Professional kind. We help them rebuild their lives in the host country, supporting them in setting up a self-employed business and putting them in contact with the economic fabric of the place. Also helping them to overcome bureaucratic, language and access to finance difficulties. In Germany, France and Switzerland we follow people guiding them towards entrepreneurial activities, especially in catering but also in crafts, tourism and other sectors, while in Italy we collaborate with the Red Cross for their entry into the world of work as employees" .
In addition to The Human Safety Net team there is also the volunteering of the group's employees. How does it work?
“It's of various kinds. Either by making expertise available, for example in the legal or digital field, or even by going on site, when it was possible before Covid, or by fundraising. Even with Covid, however, we have been able to do digital volunteering, both by sharing activities on technological platforms and through entrepreneurial mentorship".
Has Covid forced you to review your plans?
“In part yes, in the sense that some activities were continued remotely or in mixed mode. However, we went ahead with everything, and we also added an additional fund of 1 million euros linked precisely to the health emergency. We have partly allocated it to immediate needs, such as food, Internet connection, etc., but also partly to finance medium-term digital development projects".
Your designated office is that of the historic Palazzo della Procuratie, in Piazza San Marco in Venice. When will it be operational?
“By the end of 2021. Restoration is now underway, to a design by architect David Chipperfield. In about a year the space will also be open to the public, it will become not only an office but a meeting and exchange place, which is the spirit of The Human Safety Net. It will also be an opportunity to celebrate the 190th anniversary of the founding of the Compagnia Generali: it took place in 1831 and already a few months later, in 1832, the group was present in Venice”.
