Zurich South Africa launches their Zurich Cares Socio-Economic Development Programme

Zurich South Africa is proud to launch their Zurich Cares Socio-Economic Development programme in Johannesburg earlier this week. The Zurich Cares initiative focuses on youth development and education. The programme, which has been structured to allow employees from across the country to donate their time and energy in different ways, will make a profound difference to communities in and around townships.

Guy Munnoch, CEO of Zurich South Africa said: "Zurich has for many years contributed towards projects and initiatives in South Africa’s communities. Whilst financial support is crucial, it is not just about writing the cheque – we have a unique opportunity to make a genuine difference to peoples’ lives and I am excited that as part of our new programme, our employees will be fully involved and able to see the sustainable, positive impact of their efforts."

Built around three key initiatives, the Zurich Cares Socio-Economic Development programme will focus on:

Afrika Tikkun, who, together with Zurich, will develop a unique after school education curriculum for children with learning disabilities. This will ensure that children receive the extra support and tuition they need to continue to learn and develop successfully.

, who, together with Zurich, will develop a unique after school education curriculum for children with learning disabilities. This will ensure that children receive the extra support and tuition they need to continue to learn and develop successfully.

Zurich is supporting a Literacy Programme with Royal Bafokeng Holdings which aims to improve the levels of literacy and numeracy in schools. In addition, Zurich will develop and implement a mobile library facility for the 39 schools within the Bafokeng region, as well as support towards a teacher up-skilling programme.

Alongside this, Zurich is introducing a targeted bursary programme during the course of the year allowing the company to identify and provide bursaries to specific students, who will then be able to develop their careers further with the organisation.

Zurich kicked off the initiative in style, with a launch event at its Johannesburg offices, marked by an official ceremony hosted by Guy Munnoch, Mark Lubner, CEO of Afrika Tikkun, and Khumo Shongwe, HR and Transformation Executive Director for the Royal Bafokeng. At this event, a ‘food drive’, the first in a series of activities that will be run throughout the year was launched to employees.

Addressing Zurich employees, Lubner said: "This is an amazing day for us. We are delighted to be here with Zurich who have embraced Afrika Tikkun with open arms in a partnership to take initiatives into the townships. Together, we will build on the vitality and momentum in the townships to educate and develop our youth for the future."