The Philips Foundation announced the publication of its 2015 Annual Report which highlights the progress of its global projects with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Netherlands Red Cross and the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) as well as over 30 community projects around the world. In addition to the measureable achievements, the report highlights the rapidly growing need for the private sector to bring its innovation expertise in the form of shared-value partnerships with humanitarian organizations, to expand access to quality care for the most underserved populations globally.
The Philips Foundation was established in 2014 with the aim of leveraging the deep innovation know-how, technology and people of Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) to help improve the lives of vulnerable populations, especially mothers and children – who are most affected in any disaster or crisis situation. Projects to date have focused on: providing disaster relief, establishing community engagement projects and fostering social entrepreneurship.
Highlights from the first full-year of operations include:
- The launch of two global humanitarian innovation partnerships with the ICRC and UNICEF
- 30 community engagement projects approved across the globe from Peru to Vietnam to Turkey
- Three disaster relief appeals raising over EUR 297 thousand from Philips employees matched by The Philips Foundation
The Philips Foundation also recently became a founding partner of the Global Alliance for Humanitarian Innovation to help scale in the sector.
“From the outset, we wanted The Philips Foundation to be different from the traditional grant-making foundation. We could see the potential that our innovations and design thinking at Philips could have in improving the lives of those affected by the many humanitarian crises today, but we needed to establish the right partnerships,” explained Katy Hartley, Head of The Philips Foundation. “In our relationships with the ICRC and UNICEF we’ve taken a continuous learning approach, established trust, and focused on how best to co-create solutions for those in need together.”
The Philips Foundation’s innovation partnership with UNICEF focuses on the ‘first 1000 days of a child’s life’ (from inception to age two) and started with two key initiatives, the Maternal and Neonatal Health Innovations or Maker Movement project in Kenya, and the sponsorship of the UNICEF Global Innovation Center. Furthermore, The Philips Foundation’s partnership with the ICRC focuses on strengthening healthcare systems and alleviating suffering in underserved communities, for example in the Ivory Coast, where together with the Netherlands Red Cross it has designed a multi-year plan to improve the primary healthcare system and facilities.
"Improving people’s health is at the core of what both we at the ICRC and the Philips Foundation do. Together, we can make a real difference when it comes to providing better access to quality health care for people living in complex and fragile environments,” said Yves Daccord, director general of the ICRC. “We are sharing expertise and learning from each other, in terms of processes, approaches and technologies. This is how we manage to overcome challenges and provide innovative solutions to increasingly complex humanitarian needs."
In addition, The Philips Foundation is honored to announce a forthcoming collaboration with Ashoka, the world’s largest association of leading social entrepreneurs who have developed system-changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social, economic and environmental problems. Together, Philips and Ashoka will run a 6-month accelerator program: The Globalizer on Health and Lighting, which will focus on helping 12 leading social entrepreneurs scale innovations to build resilient and sustainable communities.
The program will work towards a three-day Summit from 18 to 20 October 2016 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, where the entrepreneurs will showcase their impact strategies and will receive mentoring from both Philips and non-Philips industry experts.
“At a time where many humanitarian organizations are facing unprecedented challenges, we believe that it is the responsibility of the private sector to play a part in finding solutions to these problems, “ said Ronald de Jong, Chief Market Leader at Philips and Chairman of The Philips Foundation. “By focusing on the needs of our partners and the wide range of innovation expertise, healthcare and lighting technology we have as an extension of the Philips business, we look forward to co-creating new solutions that will help produce better outcomes and affect lasting change globally.”
For more information on The Philips Foundation Annual Report 2015, please click here.
