International Volunteer Day

Generali joins the celebrations for the International Volunteer Day (IVD), whose annual observance on 5 December was proclaimed in 1985 by the United Nations General Assembly to recognize the valuable efforts and contributions of volunteers around the world.  

This year’s theme is “The power of collective action: if everyone did”, celebrating volunteerism as an enormous renewable resource for social, economic and environmental problem-solving throughout the world.

Activities are therefore taking place worldwide involving volunteer groups which, together with communities, academia, volunteer-involving organizations, and also UN agencies embody the spirit of volunteerism among local residents.

Generali and The Human Safety Net celebrate the International Volunteer Day with the traditional ‘Passing the Flag’ ceremony that welcomes 500 new Ambassadors for the Foundation. Ambassadors are Group employees from all over the world who engage for one year into The Human Safety Net on top of their current job at Generali, and their mission is to drive the various streams of activities to amplify the foundation’s impact in transforming the lives of the most vulnerable in our communities.

According to data gathered by The Human Safety Net, in 2023 the level of volunteering activities stabilized versus 2022 which counted around 36,000 hours of volunteering performed by more than 3,400 volunteers - corresponding to 7%-10% of involved employees in the 26 countries where The Human Safety Net operates – that made it possible to reach 325,000 individuals.

Moreover, the quality and impact of the foundation’s activities improved thanks to stronger coordination with the 77 NGO partners and related initiatives such the Global Challenge that took place in each country.

Generali’s countries of operation have also started HR volunteering plans to further embed volunteering in the value and behaviours of employees and managers. For example, employer branding and the integration of volunteering tasks in onboarding programmes for new employees are in progress.

Two new initiatives have been launched to further promote volunteering in 2024:

• The first refers to the new role of Engaged Agents in the framework of Generali’s Global Advisor Excellence Contest and was launched in October to build a community of agents suppporting The Human Safety Net and engaging millions of our customers in the foundation’s movement.
• The second consists in making volunteering programmes more global and structured through standardization.

From 22 to 24 November, the 6^th edition of The Human Safety Net’s global gathering took place in the heart of the Foundation’s Home at the Procuratie Vecchie, bringing together NGOs, experts, and volunteers from 26 countries, and fostering a unique environment for learning best practices and strengthening existing bonds.

The three-day events recognized the role of businesses in creating positive societal impact, with the foundation leading the way in fostering partnerships, innovation, structural volunteering, and community power. It also offered an opportunity to discuss relations between the private and public sectors, the role of sustainability in decision making, the importance of an ethical behaviour for partnerships’ success, creative thinking, and the importance of being an open net.