The Fund will be administered by the King Baudouin Foundation with an aim to support Solvay employees and their dependents worldwide through hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Brussels, April 27, 2020 — Today Solvay announces that the King Baudouin Foundation will host and oversee the company's recently-announced solidarity fund to support employees and their dependents through hardship as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
"We are very grateful for the support of the King Baudouin Foundation in our solidarity initiative at Solvay," said Ilham Kadri, CEO of Solvay. "The King Baudouin Foundation has an outstanding reputation and a wealth of global experience in philanthropy. Their support will ensure that we quickly establish the Solvay Solidarity Fund as an independent, global and effective charitable entity. Most importantly, the King Baudouin Foundation’s international network will enable the implementation of the initiative worldwide, reaching Solvay employees, their dependents and communities most in need during these challenging times everywhere, anytime, as fast as we can."
"The King Baudouin Foundation is pleased to make its entire international structure available to the Solvay Solidarity Fund to enable it to be efficient and rapid in its implementation," said Luc Tayart de Borms, managing director of the King Baudouin Foundation. "We also guarantee the impartiality of its decisions. We hope that the action launched today will enable us to provide concrete help to the victims of the crisis."
The Solvay Solidarity Fund will be managed on a daily basis by the King Baudouin Foundation under the guidance of a management committee with equal representation from the Foundation, Solvay and a third party being chosen — all three of whom will be responsible for deciding the fund's donations based on criteria aligned with the statutes of the King Baudouin Foundation.
The Fund's primary mission is to support the solidarity between Solvay's executives, employees, shareholders and partners towards the Group's employees heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic around the world. Concretely, the Fund will provide:
- individual assistance to staff members or their families throughout the world who have been severely affected and find themselves in great difficulty or major distress in terms of health, education of their children, unemployment, limitation or disappearance of their social and/or health cover;
- support for the health and social organizations which take care of these persons;
- support to research, health and social organizations involved in the COVID-19 crisis and extended to other health or equivalent crises if the funds raised by the Fund allow after meeting the immediate needs of Solvay employees and their dependants globally.
Solvay and the King Baudouin Foundation have a long-standing partnership, having collaborated on philanthropic and charitable efforts over the years. This will enable the Solvay Solidarity Fund to provide support, quickly, effectively and transparently, to those who need it most. Instructions on how to contribute to the fund are available on a dedicated Solvay Solidarity Fund webpage.
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About SolvaySolvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 24,100 employees in 64 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet plan crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering better life. The Group’s innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world’s top three companies for the vast majority of its activities and delivered net sales of €10.2 billion in 2019. Solvay is listed on Euronext Brussels (SOLB) and Paris and in the United States, where its shares (SOLVY) are traded through a Level I ADR program. Learn more at www.solvay.com. |
