For once, we've chosen to devote our monthly portrait to a loyal partner, the Fondation RAJA-Danièle Marcovici, which has been by our side for 15 years.
What convinced you about Planète Enfants & Développement's projects?
Fighting exclusion and discrimination, facilitating access to education, combating social isolation and encouraging women's leadership are among the missions shared by Fondation RAJA-Danièle Marcovici and Planète Enfants & Développement.
Since 2008, we have been supporting the association for its significant action to protect and defend the rights of children, particularly girls. Planète Enfants & Développement has demonstrated its ability to support them and enable them to make their voices heard. We appreciate the association's expertise in the field, particularly in analyzing and taking into account the specific needs of children, as well as its ability to collaborate with local players.
In Vietnam, we are currently supporting a project to combat child trafficking. This involves identifying and implementing comprehensive support for children who are victims of or at risk of exploitation in the Phan Thiết and Ho Chi Minh City regions.
The Foundation involves RAJA Group employees in its policy of environmental and social responsibility. Can you tell us more about the different ways in which they can get involved?
One of our foundation's missions is to raise awareness of women's rights and involve RAJA Group employees, in France and in the 19 European countries where the Group operates. In this way, they have the opportunity to get actively involved in solidarity actions through the RAJApeople employee engagement program. This program brings together a variety of actions organized throughout the year by the foundation's team, including workshops run by associations, documentary screenings and the distribution of awareness-raising documents.
In addition, employees of Group companies based in France can contribute to the financing of women's projects through microDON. The concept is simple: every month, employees can donate from a few cents to several dozen euros, deducted directly from their salaries. Every year, RAJA doubles the amount of donations collected and distributes it to 2 associations chosen by employees registered with microDON.
What are the key issues on which the RAJA-Danièle Marcovici Foundation wishes to speak out today and in the future?
First and foremost, we aim to develop a feminist philanthropy that actively supports women's rights and empowerment.
To date, no country in the world has achieved gender equality. This is the observation of the United Nations and the European Union, to which the Foundation wishes to make a commitment. The obstacles facing women are still numerous: access to property rights, gender-based inequalities and violence... However, where women's equality and rights advance, so does society as a whole. So, through advocacy actions and support for organizations, the Foundation is committed to defending women's rights and fighting against the entities that threaten and roll back these rights.
Finally, we are committed to promoting women's actions in favor of the environment. Global warming affects women in particular, as they are the majority of those who draw water and cultivate the land. Increasingly at the forefront, they are also the ones trying to reverse the trend by preserving fragile ecosystems.
For example, the Foundation has been running the "Femmes & Environnement" action program since 2015; it is also a member of the French Coalition of Foundations for Climate (CFFC) and the "Climate Justice" coalition of the Forum Génération Egalité. Lastly, last September we launched a Feminist Climate Fund, the aim of which is to grant financial support to young associations founded or run by women, in favor of the climate.
