Z Zurich Foundation 2010 annual report

Zurich – Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) published the 2010 annual report of its Z Zurich Foundation (Foundation). The Foundation’s activities range from helping communities in Bangladesh protect themselves from flood, to establishing standards for sustainable cattle production in Africa, Asia/Oceania and Latin America, to the endowment of a new professorship for Risk and Insurance Economics in Switzerland.

The Z Zurich Foundation makes monetary and in-kind contributions to select non-profit organizations with well-defined projects. It focuses on alleviating poverty and the consequences of catastrophes, reducing the impact of emerging social and environmental risks, and supporting insurance-relevant research and education. The annual report 2010 is the first intended for broad distribution. It describes the Foundation’s mission, its partnership approach to achieving that mission, and the concrete impact of its activities in 2010. The report takes a closer look at the Foundation’s partnerships with Practical Action, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the Microinsurance Innovation Facility, The Rainforest Alliance, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), Stiftung RoadCross and Stiftung Risiko Dialog.
About the partnerships

Practical Action is a UK-based international development charity which specializes in working alongside communities to find simple, practical solutions to fight the poverty they face and transform their lives for the better. The Foundation’s partnership focuses on one program in Peru, helping hundreds of families manage the cloud forests they inhabit in a sustainable and participatory way, and another in Bangladesh, helping poor rural families in disaster-prone districts to prepare for shocks and hazards such as flooding and land erosion. Read more

The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is based in Geneva (Switzerland) and is the world’s largest humanitarian organization. As the number, severity and impact of disasters are on the rise because of factors such as climate change, unplanned mass urbanization, rapid population growth and environmental degradation, the Foundation’s partnership with the IFRC focuses on two programs: the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund and the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction. In addition, the Foundation matches the donations made by Zurich’s employees following specific disasters (in 2010 Haiti and Pakistan), sending its own contributions to the IFRC. Read more

The International Labour Organization (ILO)’s Microinsurance Innovation Facility was launched in 2008 to support the extension of insurance to millions of low-income people in the developing world. The aim is to reduce vulnerability to risk, thereby helping people overcome poverty. The Foundation provides funding of innovation grants seeking to promote microinsurance projects that utilize technology and process innovations to increase operational efficiency to reach low-income households. Read more

The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. It helps farmers, forest managers and tourism business operators to transform the way they grow food, harvest wood and host travelers. The Foundation’s cooperation with the Alliance focuses on agriculture, climate change and impact measurement. It is supporting the introduction of new sustainability standards for cattle and palm oil production, as well as pilot projects that will test these standards in the field and promote certification of good practices. Read more

The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH) is a Swiss institution dedicated to higher learning and research and one of the leading international universities for technology and natural sciences. The Foundation’s cooperation focuses on two commitments: the endowment of a new professorship for Risk and Insurance Economics in the field of Integrative Risk Management and the Zurich Dissertation Prize. Read more

Stiftung RoadCross, founded 20 years ago by launching the educational awareness campaign “Speed kills”, is today recognized as a champion of road safety, road accident prevention and coping with the effects of road accidents. The Foundation supports the efforts of RoadCross to reach out to more young adults and new drivers, inexperienced by definition and often overconfident, and educate them in road traffic, the reality of road accidents and the serious, long-term consequences of reckless driving. Read more

Stiftung Risiko Dialog was founded at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) in 1989 and brings together stakeholders from economics, science, politics and public administration, as well as NGOs and various interest groups, to discuss the risks confronting society today. In cooperation with Stiftung Risiko Dialog, Zurich Switzerland developed the Zurich Risk Management Dialogue, a platform to discuss current and future challenges facing society, especially climate change. In addition to discussing risks, Zurich also wants to make a tangible contribution to spotlighting opportunities. In cooperation with the Foundation, it has established the Zurich Climate Prize to award innovative and/or replicable projects that reduce carbon emissions. Read more
Download the full report

The Z Zurich Foundation’s mission is to equip people with the knowledge and resources to better manage change and risk in their lives and in the world around them. It develops long-term partnerships with select non-profit organizations. The Foundation is a private foundation under Swiss law and is funded by Zurich Insurance Company Ltd and Zurich Life Insurance Company Ltd.

Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) is a leading multi-line insurance provider with a global network of subsidiaries and offices in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East as well as other markets. It offers a wide range of general insurance and life insurance products and services for individuals, small businesses, mid-sized and large companies as well as multinational corporations. Zurich employs about 60,000 people serving customers in more than 170 countries. Founded in 1872, the Group is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Zurich Financial Services Ltd (ZURN) is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and has a level I American Depositary Receipt program (ZFSVY), which is traded over-the-counter on OTCQX. Further information about Zurich is available at www.zurich.com.

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