Providing the world's most disadvantaged populations with access to drinking water and electricity through voluntary work: Such is the mission of two volunteer associations which support humanitarian projects across the globe. Aquassistance and Energy Assistance were both launched by SUEZ employees, respectively in 1994 at Lyonnaise des Eaux and in 2001 at Tractebel. Both operate according to the same principle: projects are submitted for consideration by local communities and are examined by a Committee. They are then implemented by Group employees, often during their vacation time, and are usually conducted in connection with NGO partnership agreements.
Aquassistance now has 500 members and more than 150 missions to its credit throughout the world. In 2002, it launched, followed up on, or completed many projects, including installation of meters in Gumri (Armenia), pre-construction work for a farm-school in Bayti (Morocco), project preparation in Vietnam with the financial support of the Eau Seine-Normandie water authority, and an end-of-mission audit in Ukraine.
Energy Assistance, which has already grown to 100 members in its two-year existence, successfully completed several projects in 2002: electrification of a health care center in Mauritania; situation assessments in Ethiopia, Brazil, and Nicaragua; and missions conducted in the context of an agreement between SUEZ and the United Nations Volunteers Program.
