New partnership with World Food Program to increase the literacy rate of El Minya Governorate
Cairo, 29 January 2008. Suez Cement celebrates 2 years without accidents and cements As a part of the company’s ongoing efforts to have a positive role in building up a better Egypt, Suez Cement and its affiliated Companies (Helwan Cement Company and Tourah Portland Cement) have placed safety and health at work as a key and essential component of its business. In an endeavor to improve health and safety at work and ensure the dissemination of a corporate culture of safety across all Suez Cement's activities, in January 2006 the Egyptian Company has launched the project on occupational safety and health named "Zero Accidents" project that integrates safety as a core business strategy for the group.
Two years later significant improvement have been made: the frequency rate of the accidents has decreased approximately by 70%, 25,000 safety orientation hours and 10,134 safety training hours were implemented in all its plants to promote a preventive safety and health culture.
Moreover, in cooperation with the International Labor Organization (I.L.O.) and the Ministry of Manpower the Company has launched the multimedia advocacy campaign “Salamtak Bel Donia” (Safety is your life) to promote a safety culture in the cement industry by raising awareness about the importance of safety, accident prevention principles and methods.
As a result of the successful implementation of its safety policy on January, 30th 2008 the Company will celebrate in the presence of the Governor of El Minya, H.E. Gen. Fouad Saad El Din, the managers and all its employees the two years without accidents achieved by El Minya plant.
Meanwhile, to support and enhance the government’s efforts to improve the quality of education, on this occasion and under the auspices of the Governor of El Minya Mr. Roberto Callieri, Managing Director of the Company, and Mr. Bishow Parajuli, Country Director of the World Food Programme, will sign a partnership agreement to support the primary schools located in Samalut district. As a matter of fact, Suez Cement will donate L.E.1,000,000 to support the WFP in providing food assistance in the form of a daily breakfast snack as an incentive to encourage poor families of Samalut district to send their children to primary school.
Investing more and better in Education is a heart of Suez Cement Social Responsibility strategy since Education is crucial to the development of human capacities and can play a central role in the elimination of poverty.
It has to be mentioned that in 2007, El Minya plant supported seven preparatory and primary schools in need of renovation to upgrade the schools infrastructures, equipping the classrooms, purchasing computers and books for the library and creating green corners for the children.
The Company has also started a fruitful cooperation with El Minya University Faculty of Engineering to improve the quality of education by sponsoring a computer laboratory and a language laboratory, implementing a summer training program in its plant addressed to 40 students, and supporting multicultural exchanges activities.
Additionally, a scholarship amounting to 20,000 Euro, has been granted by El Minya plant for the best graduated engineer of El Minya University to participate in the 2007-2008 Master F.lli Pesenti on Civil Engineering organized at the University of Milan “Politecnico”.
