Join us in the adventure of microfinance in Asia!

Thanks to its universality, microfinance (credits, savings, instruction), carried out in a responsible manner, embraces a large spectrum of values: humane through its attachment to individual development, social in terms of its communitarian approach, economic in its logic of pressing productive investment, and more and more environmental in the light of forthcoming climatic changes.

“Chi-Em” is a project based on sane foundations and supported by KBL and the Comité de Soutien de la Microfinance (“Support Committee for Microfinance”).

With the operational support of the Luxembourgish NGO "Aide au Vietnam" (“Help for Vietnam”, www.aideauvietnam.org) and the collaboration of the French NGO "Entrepreneurs du Monde" (“Entrepreneurs of the World”, www.entrepreneursdumonde.org), several employees of KBL European Private Bankers had the chance to participate, through voluntary work, in the development of a project focused on ethnic minorities in a retreated region of Vietnam.

“Chi-Em” is a recent program (www.chi-em.org) comprising approximately 1000 clients and an outstanding credit of more or less 60’000€. The program is aiming for an operational efficiency through internal increase within the next 5 or 6 years. The perspectives are important because the microfinance operators, who extend their network to the mountains of North Vietnam, are rare. This region is the poorest of the entire country. In a zone of preserved ecologic wealth, ethnic communities (Black Thai and H’mongs) attempt to survive with very little means. Nevertheless, the potentialities are: rice, coffee, the breeding of cattle, poultry and fish. All they need is help to launch the virtuous process of development.

The sum of attributed credits starts at 60€ over 3 or 6 months. This is sufficient to launch a small breeding. The whole program focuses on the progress of men and women through the means of acquiring knowledge on management classes, technical assistance for agriculture and hygiene. This is the recipe of a microfinance that promotes individual and collective interest, individual choice and a trajectory of progression.

You can get involved in two ways

If you wish to organise a similar project within your corporation, we can help set it up, based on our experience and contacts.

If you simply wish to show your concern and your belief in the values fortified by the “Chi-Em” project, you may do so through financial support in microloans. The 2010 budget remaining to be covered is at 45’000 €, of which 8% for follow-up costs. You can make your donations on the following account of “Aide au Vietnam”: CCPLLULL - LU83 1111 2406 0444 0000, specifying “Chi-Em” in the communication. For more details, a complete record of the project is available.
Do not hesitate to contact Xavier Heude at the following address:

Private email address: homanity@gmail.com

Mobile number: + 352 661 100 289

Following the earthquake that recently hit Haiti, Caritas Luxembourg launched a scheme.

Discover the actions taken by Caritas in order to aid the population in distress and find out how you can help too.

For more information on how you can help the victims of Haiti, click here.

Earthquake Haiti – Help Us!
This is a project organised by the Luxembourgish Red Cross (Croix-Rouge Luxembourg) and supported by IMS Luxembourg.
We need you and your company!
On Tuesday, 23rd January 2010, a violent earthquake hit Haiti. The quake caused great material damage and was responsible for a great number of deaths, over 150'000 in Port-au-Prince alone.

Your corporation can play a major role in various ways:

− raise donation funds within the company
− support the efforts of your collaborators by giving an additional donation
− discuss the state of the situation with us

Thanks to your donations, emergency necessities will be bought and distributed throughout the region hit by the natural disaster.
An emergency habitation kit costs approximately 49€. By donating 50€, you can provide a whole family with a temporary emergency accommodation.
If you have any other ideas as to how to help the population in distress, feel free to contact us in order to put your suggestions in to action.
Here, you will find a message (in French and German) addressed to the general public, as well as all the necessary links (account numbers, online donation links, online statements, etc). Click here to download the document.We thank you in advance for your support and will remain at your disposal.

Jean-Marc Le Coq


Communication & Development of Resources


PO Box 404 – L-2014 Luxembourg


44, boulevard Joseph II – L-1840 Luxembourg


+352 450202-426 (Bur.)


+352 691120107 (Mob.)


+352 457269 (Fax)


jean-marc.lecoq@croix-rouge.lu


www.croix-rouge.lu

“Ameliorate the life-conditions of vulnerable persons by mobilising the power of humanity”. Support the projects of the Luxembourgish Croix-Rouge: CCPL IBAN LU52 1111 0000 1111 0000

40'000 computers by 2015
The aim of this operation is to install 40'000 computers in secondary schools of sub-Saharan Africa by 2015. These PCs, less than 5 years old and able to function well for another 4 to 5 years depending on the climate, are collected from the corporations of developed countries when renewing their own office material. The computers are checked and reconditioned before being sent to various African countries and dispatched by local partners to the concerned schools.
The main aim is to decisively reanimate secondary education, which is currently declining on the African continent.

Context and justification

The lack of means and infrastructures is the main issue regarding African secondary education. This problem creates an imbalance of educational level between Africa and the rest of the world. This imbalance has become worse with the introduction of IT education. Through lack of means and material, the majority of young Africans do not receive any practical education in IT and never get the opportunity to work at a computer throughout their education. The “numerical” gap is constantly widening.
The aim of our project is to send out 40'000 computers by 2015. This is a concrete and adequate response to the educational issue. The aim is to give bridge the gap of educational levels and help Africa on to the right tracks for the future.

The environmental issue

The issue of environment has been the key factor of our course of action, since we launched this project in 2003. For this reason, we have always had “minimum requirements”. Therefore, we only send computers that are no more than 5 years old and the screens must succumb to the environmental norm TCOO3.

How does a project take course?

Our projects are of manageable size and consist of the dispatch of containers carrying 200 to 400 computers (20 or 40 feet). These are the different stages of the process of a project:

1. Identify a group of target schools corresponding to a need of 200 to 400 computers. This is done in collaboration with local partners.
2. Study the project closely, examining the following aspects in particular:
- transport of material
- customs or administrative formalities
- construction and / or adjustment of classrooms, electrification and air-conditioning
- recruiting and educating instructors
- elaborating and adopting a course program designed for the students
- maintenance and replacement (financing aspects)
- implication of local authorities and of the students' parents
- monitoring and evaluating
3. Once all these elements are ready for use, a viable project can we written and submitted to various organisations in order to obtain financial support.

Donate material and / or pass on the message

We need the contribution of numerous sponsors in order to attain our goal of 40'000 PCs by 2015. You can do some lobbying and ask your company to donate its used computers to our ongoing “re-utilisation” project for solidarity. Also, do not hesitate to forward our website to your IT team.

To make a donation of IT material, please click here.

At PwC Luxembourg, Corporate Responsibility implies a strong commitment to integrate social, environmental and economic concerns into our corporate mission, by creating and applying innovative solutions to the challenges our society and environment face.

The “My project” programme presented below is deeply integrated in this philosophy…

Initial issue

The “My Project” programme came to life in January 2007 further to our staff increasing interest for charity work. Staff wished to learn about voluntary work in the Grand Duchy. Meanwhile, more and more partner associations requested voluntary or pro-bono services. Thus we have caught this opportunity to meet both parties’ needs and allocate time and resources, during working hours, to every staff member who would like to be involved in humanitarian or social organisations on the basis of personal conviction. The project offered a twofold advantage: contributing to charity and allowing our staff to discover Luxembourg from another perspective.

Strategy adopted

A framework was defined and introduced to our staff in January 2007. It includes the following aspects:

• Allocated time per project must not exceed 120 hours,

• The contribution should not be financial in nature and should allow our staff to use
their competencies in the project,

• Each “My Project” must respect the firm’s guidelines concerning independence, risk
management and quality,

• The candidate should have an indefinite duration employment contract (CDI) with a
positive probation period or be part of a long-term 2-year exchange program and at least 1-year seniority,

• The project must be rigorously structured: a detailed action plan including the
selection of a sponsor (director or partner).

As projects went by, we have redesigned our CSR strategy and the criteria according to everyone’s needs.

Results obtained

Since January 2007, six “My Projects” have been conducted for 4 different associations during more than 300 voluntary hours. We intend to repeat the experience by July 2010 with 600 hours. Indeed 3 projects are already considered.

From a quality point of view, the first six participants all agree that the human experience has changed their vision of their daily work, enlarging their horizons. Besides, we have also reached our objective to make our staff explore their working environment differently. And finally, this allows the firm, who is a strong believer in corporate social responsibility, to deliver its CSR commitment.

The economic crisis has even struck the rag-and-bone children of Cambodia....

It is hard to imagine that even the children who search for scraps of metal on garbage heaps are experiencing the crisis! Indeed, the vertiginous fall of the price of metal has even hit the rag-pickers who, after a night of searching scraps on trash heaps, cannot even gather and earn enough to guarantee the smallest meal.

In 1995, Christian and Marie-France discovered the horrors of the garbage heaps of Phnom-Penh: thousands of children combed through litter day and night in order to find something to live off. Distressed by this indefensible situation, they decided to establish a school close to the trash heaps in order to educate the children in need.

Today, the retired couple bring medical treatment and food, school enrolment and education, as well as professional instruction to over 6500 children.

Proving strong after the first two years of its existence, PSE-Luxembourg has aimed to convey this exceptional work of emotion and successful realisation to the Luxembourgish community. PSE also wishes to introduce its work to children through class projects, as well as to find sponsors and other financial support for educational centres in Cambodia and to support the project's preservation.

- For a complete introduction of the PSE association, click here.

- PSE in Luxembourg, click here.

Contact us as: pseluxembourg@gmail.com

Corporations and individuals, please help us by supporting these children or by making a donation.
“...PSE do fantastic work; there are only few places in the world where one can see such a fantastic transformation from rag-pickers to pupils and students...”. Speech by James Morris, Director of the World Nutrition Program.

Between the 8th and 15th July 2009, the “Fondatioun” will be launching an awareness-raising mission throughout Luxembourg city.

The Fondatioun fiir Kriibskrank Kanner (“Foundation for Children with Cancer”), which supports children who have cancer, has revealed big plans to show off the young ones' will to live and to fight their illness, as well as to raise the general public's awareness in regard to cancer.

For more information concerning child cancer, the Foundatioun's support or this campaign, please check the following links and documents:

• Press release (French): communiqué de presse - PDF
• Campaign brochure (French): dépliant de la campagne - PDF
• The website of the "Foundatioun fiir Kriibskrank Kanner": www.fondatioun.lu

On 22nd November 2008, PricewaterhouseCoopers Luxembourg, in collaboration with the Coque (sports and aquatic centre), organised the “World Swim Against Malaria” in Luxembourg for the second time.

Nearly 650 amateur and professional swimmers, of which 60 were PwC employees, had the opportunity to meet and swim, as well as do various other aquatic activities, in order to raise money for malaria awareness.

For every 50 metres swum by the participants, PricewaterhouseCoopers paid 1€ to the association. The entry fees for the aquatic centre, as well as for aqua-jogging and aqua-fitness classes held that day, also went to the association.

By the end of the day, no less than 3735 lengths had been swum and 6000€ had been raised. This great vigour of solidarity was achieved thanks to the great number of amateur swimmers, but also to the swimming clubs who did not spare their energy and efforts, under the knowing glance of the Luxembourgish swimmer, Alvin de Prins.

The entirety of the funds raised that day was spent on mosquito nets - the only efficient way of preventing malaria.

More information on: http://www.worldswimagainstmalaria.com