SUEZ Foundation India – the journey so far

SUEZ Foundation-India strongly believes in promoting educational projects in collaboration with the government and civil society organizations for the quality and holistic development of underprivileged students. In 2017, the Foundation started its flagship project of supplementing education in partnership with Society for All Round Development, an NGO based in New Delhi.

Through this partnership, the Foundation implemented a model school development project in a senior secondary school in Wazirabad, Gurugram, Haryana. To help drive the school's curriculum, the Foundation set up a computer lab and renovated the existing science labs with better and advanced equipment. To ensure these interventions' sustainability and longevity, exposure visits, and capacity building training were organized for the school teachers. This project benefited more than 800 school children.

Keeping in line to uplift the underprivileged, in 2019, SUEZ Foundation – India partnered with SOS Children’s village of India, an international organization working for the holistic development of parentless children from vulnerable families. Through this, the Foundation sponsored a family home of 10 parentless children and their foster mother.

Protecting the environment is at the core of SUEZ's values, and this value is deeply rooted in our business activities, as well as philanthropic initiatives. We have facilitated tree plantation drives, beach cleaning activities, and school-based awareness programs through employee volunteering.

SUEZ Foundation-India is the official platform for facilitating corporate social responsibility initiatives of different companies under the SUEZ group in India. Since its formation, all SUEZ employees and established SUEZ group companies in India collectively extend their support for implementing various social development initiatives. To inspire everyone's social responsibility, the foundation regularly facilitates several engagement programs for its employees.

In 2019, the Foundation partnered with Smile Train, an international organization working exclusively to support the surgeries of children born with cleft lips. During 2019, the Foundation supported 12 children, and through these efforts help to ensure that they can lead full and productive lives.

One of the Foundation’s primary focus areas has been to strengthen water and Sanitation health and hygiene programs, emphasizing school children’s education. In one such initiative, in partnership with Water For People India Trust, the Foundation launched the ‘Swachh Parivesh Swachh Vidyalaya’ (clean environment clean school) project.

This WASH intervention in four schools in northern Kolkata has benefitted more than 2500 students. Besides the school's renovation and building of water and sanitation facilities, the students were also trained in safe handwashing practices. This education will play an instrumental role in disseminating the correct steps of handwashing and understand the importance of sanitation and personal hygiene.

We are facing the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, where millions of people, economies, and livelihoods worldwide are affected. India has been severely impacted, keeping in mind the safety and well-being of all the employees, local communities, and stakeholders. The foundation has taken several pro-active steps to deal with the situation. Suez Foundation - India facilitated health check-up camps for the workforce, distributed hygiene kits, and distributed dry ration to needy families.