75
Good Practice
Human Rights
Global Compact International Yearbook 2013
The Air France Foundation
In 2012, the Air France Foundation cel-
ebrated 20 years of supporting children
in need. With the support of NGOs, the
Foundation contributes to projects in fa-
vor of sick, disabled, and underprivileged
children by facilitating access to educa-
tion, training, and cultural activities.
The Foundation has made helping street
children one of its priorities, providing
funding for the highest number of pro-
jects worldwide. In the face of extreme
poverty, the associations work relent-
lessly to bring these children back into
mainstream society and give them op-
portunities to pursue their educations.
When, in 2010, Haiti was devastated
by an earthquake that left the country
completely desolate, the Foundation im-
mediately rallied to provide support and
assistance. Two days after the earthquake,
the Foundation launched a fundrais-
ing campaign with Air France and KLM
staff, with a view to rebuilding a school
that was ready to welcome 2,500 chil-
dren between the ages of 6 and 16 a few
months later.
Beyond the material and financial as-
pects, the Foundation wishes to develop
its actions. For instance, by creating
the Corporate Foundation Club, which
groups together some 30 major French
companies, its aim is to pool different
experiences in order to increase the im-
pacts of its actions and conduct more
long-term projects. Furthermore, the
Foundation is looking into ways for as-
sociations to offer psychological support
to street children.
Since 1992, there have been 856 pro-
grams funded in 80 countries. The Foun-
dation has a network of 2,200 volunteers
and has been sponsored by numerous
celebrities (Mstislav Rostropovitch, Javiez
Perez de Cuellar, Boris Cyrulnik, Miguel
Angel Estrella, Olga Havlova, and Dan-
iel Alagille, among others). Each year,
charities are honored for their efforts to
improve the living conditions of young
people and give them a better future.
Air France has also been supporting hu-
manitarian programs through long-time
partnerships with different associations:
•
Acting for Life, which is committed,
among other actions, to protecting
children in distress;
•
ECPAT International, which informs
passengers about the damage caused
by child sex tourism;
•
Aviation without Borders (created by
pilots), which transports medical sup-
plies and also ill children who cannot
be treated where they are;
•
NGOs that offer medical assistance
and transport medical supplies and
children suffering from rare diseases
to specialized medical centers, and
help transport doctors and surgeons
to poverty-stricken areas.
KLM AirCares
The KLM AirCares program supports a
number of NGOs that contribute through
their projects to medical, educational,
and/or sanitation needs for communities
in developing countries, with a focus on
children and giving them good founda-
tions for their futures.
The programwas set up in 1999 and con-
sisted of supporting four NGOs per year
via a new project every quarter. Since
then more than 40 charitable organiza-
tions have had their projects supported
through financial sponsorship and free
freight capacity.
In recent years a shift has taken place.
KLM has chosen to focus on specific part-
ners to support their social projects over
the long term. In this way, organizations
benefit from the long-term sponsorship
of KLM. Currently, KLM is working with
seven NGOs that were selected on the
criteria that they contribute to basic
education, health, and sanitation needs.
They also needed to be active in those
destinations that KLM flies to. KLM offers
these partners freight support, logistics
expertise, exposure, hands-on help, and
active promotion.
KLM is currently working with the fol-
lowing partners:
•
Wings of Support – the KLM and Mar-
tinair foundation staff with more than
3,000
volunteers managing more than
300
projects worldwide;
•
Doctor2Doctor – a cooperation be-
tween Amsterdam University Medical
Center, KLMHealth Services, and Kenya
Airways;
•
Aviation Without Borders – support-
ing regional and international medical
transports in and from/to Africa;
•
Medical Knowledge Institute – han-
dling health and sanitation in the town-
ships in South Africa by deploying
health workers;
•
Aflatoun – offering educational pro-
grams worldwide;
•
Get It Done – a social media fundrais-
ing network with many appealing pro-
jects set up by passionate youngsters;
•
Close the Gap – a Belgian nonprofit
organization working to shorten the
distance between developed and de-
veloping nations in terms of computer
hardware and know-how. They support
76
projects in 16 African countries.
The computers are used mainly for
education, but information and com-
munication technologies are used for
education and awareness programs
and for HIV/AIDS prevention. With
the opening of an e-waste facility in
Nairobi, Close the Gap computers are
sustainable and certified to be disman-
tled for reuse of metals and materials,
thereby providing jobs for the local
community.
Flying Blue members are invited to
donate their frequent f lyer miles to
NGOs selected by Air France and KLM
AirCares. In 2012 there were 64 million
miles donated to all social partners
combined.
For more information, please visit
the following websites:
www.airfrance.com
www.klmtakescare.com