New Delhi, 17 october 2020: For its philanthropy works in the year 2020-21, Alstom Corporate Foundation has picked six Indian projects along with 23 other projects from different parts of the globe. The project has an overall budget of over Rs 16 crore (€1.9 million) for the execution of these 29 different projects. It’s Indian partners picked for the execution of its projects include Sree Padma Rani Mary Mahila Mandali, Technology Informatics Design Endeavour (TIDE), ONYVA, United Way Bengaluru and Objectif France Inde (OFI).
The foundation is the philanthropy arm of France based Alstom which is engaged in construction of several metros in India.
On October 15, Alstom Corporate Foundation announced the list of 29 partners who will get the financial support of projects for the 2020 cycle. With a total of 167 projects having been submitted, Alstom employees have picked these projects.
"I am impressed with the level of engagement that my Alstom colleagues are demonstrating! This year, the Foundation will exceptionally have a budget of €1.9 million, a new increase versus last year, to better support communities suffering from the Covid-19 fallout. This is important: populations have been strongly impacted these past months due to economic difficulties, while ONGs have had trouble raising funds for their projects during this period" says Anne-Cecile Barbier, Secretary General of the Alstom Foundation.
Indian projects picked by Alstom Foundation
1. Extension has been given to Water for Life Integrated Water Management Program (Phase II) in Tamil Nadu. This is implemented by its NGO partner Objectif France Inde (OFI).
This is a multi-facetted project for rural areas to develop a stable & sustainable economic activity based on the respect of the environment through agricultural activities (4 hydraulic infrastructures rehabilitation with individual ponds & recharge pits, farmers’ trainings, extension of vegetal cover), access to drinking water (Hand pumps installation & training for use & maintenance) and women empowerment. The foundation has given extension to the initial "2020 Water for life" program in Tamil Nadu.
2- The foundation will support the ongoing programme in Kadapa district named "A second chance to be in school"
Implemented by Sree Padma Rani Mary Mahila Mandali, the programme intends to improve access to basic education for children (especially girls) through supporting the enrolment & retention of children missing out of schools. Its objectives are to improve capacities in rural communities to effectively respond to issues of girls education and also to reduce the number of girls not attending school by supporting 103 children (81 girls, 22 boys) with logistics & education support material. Under this programme, incentive packages will be given to motivate children, and for more remote schools bicycles will be provided to girls to overcome the distance barrier to education.
3- The foundation will also support Kushaal Madhepura (Phase 3), a project focuses on a livelihood & health integrated intervention for 7 villages near the Alstom facility in Madhepura. In its 3rd year of implementation, it will primarily focus on enhancing skills & capabilities of women & girls, on improving health outcomes using a participatory process, and on improving the employability potential of youth through relevant skill building programs.
4- Another project run by Technology Informatics Design Endeavour (TIDE) will also get support in the project financing by Alstom Foundation. The project is purposed to help rural, women-led nano businesses & micro enterprises become profitable by providing facilitation services on production, packaging, marketing along with motivation. This new project phase addresses gaps in the micro & nano rural based enterprises by working with the entrepreneurs to suggest product mix, improve techno economics, strengthen the supply chain management, introduce aggregators, connect producers with aggregators & buyers.
5- Another project run by ONYVA to help street children has got place in the list of 29 projects across the globe. Based in New Delhi, TARA Outreach Centre (TOC) is a day care centre, which provides protection, basic academic help & awareness to children (2-12) who are living in the streets. TOC builds competencies & skills to bridge the employability gap. It focuses on integrated, multi-skill development of the beneficiaries, along with enhancement of their language skills. Focus is on Mathematics, Hindi & English, in order to supplement the poor quality of the teaching for the school-goers. English is massively requested as it notably enhances the profile of an employee, increasing his/her opportunities & providing a better job stability.
6- Another project which has managed to make space in the list of 29 picked by the foundation is ‘Every Drop counts’. Rooftop Rain Water Harvesting & Percolation Pits at Anekal Taluk, Bangalore Urban District. A project implemented by United Way Bengaluru aims to reduce dependence on municipal water supply & increase the underground water level, objective is to install 50 rooftop structures to collect rainwater, and subsequently store it in tanks for later use. Percolation pits will also help recharge the ground aquifers and wells in rural & urban areas. This is a cost-effective & sustainable way to restore the water bodies.
Established in 2007, the Alstom Foundation supports and funds projects proposed by Alstom employees who team up with local NGO partners and not-for-profit organizations to carry out initiatives aimed at improving living conditions in communities located near the Groups facilities and project sites around the world. The Foundation’s projects focus on four axes: Mobility, Environmental Protection, Energy & Water, and Socio-Economic Development.
