Chairman Ignacio Galán visits one of the association’s projects, Caballo Amigo, and personally presents the award

Iberdrola presents its Solidarity Awards to Fundación Down Madrid, Caballo Amigo and Ilunday Haritz Berri

  • At its third Solidarity Conference, 18 social organisations united to debate “The risk of social exclusion in the face of economic slow-down” and define commitments on five lines of action

 

Madrid. Iberdrola, through its Foundation in Spain, today held its Solidarity Conference during which the group’s chairman, Ignacio Galán, and the president of Fundación Iberdrola, Fernando García, presented the Iberdrola Solidarity Awards in recognition of work carried out by the associations with which the company collaborates.

At this edition, Fundación Down Madrid was awarded the Iberdrola Prize in the category Reduction of inequality and inclusive education for its employment service aimed at facilitating and promoting social and occupational inclusion for people with cognitive disabilities into ordinary work environments, through the “Work with support” methodology that they are applying.

The Iberdrola Health and Well-being Prize went to Fundación Caballo Amigo. Iberdrola’s Chairman, Ignacio Galán, visited their facilities and delivered the recognition for the work they do to promote horse-riding as a learning resource for inclusive education and the development of self-sufficiency in children.

The category Fight against poverty and social exclusion was awarded to the Navarre-based organisation llunday Haritz Berri for its commitment to training as a means to social and occupational inclusion for young people in situations of social exclusion. Its initiatives include activities related to the protection of the environment and the fight against climate change.

The third Solidarity Conference is part of Iberdrola’s social programme which, since its formation in 2010, has been behind 350 projects that have helped in the social inclusion of children, young people and women in situations of vulnerability. These actions, for which over €9 million has been set aside over the period, have benefited more than 335,000 people and resulted in the creation of 1,000 jobs and the participation of 2,250 volunteers.

Debate on the risk of social exclusion in the face of an economic slow-down

The conference also included a period of debate which brought together representatives from 18 organisations to tackle “The risk of social exclusion in the face of an economic slow-down”.

The active participation of the organisations in the discussions produced a rule book of conclusions to respond to contexts of economic slow-down, where, in the judgement of the delegates, the necessary alliance between the private sector and the general public will be fundamental.

The debate, which included contributions from organisations such as Ayuda en Acción, Save the Children, Asociación Ciudad Joven, Asociación Española contra el Cáncer (AECC), Candelita, Fundación Tomillo, Proyecto Hombre and Fundación Síndrome de Down de Madrid, made commitments on five lines of action:

  • Personal and professional development to allow for future self-sufficiency by giving them the opportunity to be better placed to access the job market;
  • Seek and diversify new sources of finance to avoid the dependence on the usual finance providers;
  • Work on long-term sustainable projects that interest and commit finance companies;
  • Familiarise politicians with the realities of society and involve them in the social reality of the third sector;
  • Grouping of entities working on similar lines and with the same groups in order to share projects and financing. In other words, 1+1=3.

At this meeting, Iberdrola made a commitment to strengthen its commitment to these lines of action through collaboration with charitable associations and bodies and by creating alliances in the push towards compliance with the UN 2030 Agenda.

As part of the Iberdrola Solidarity Conference, the company organised a charity market at its Madrid offices, in which company staff took part. Profits go towards the Candelita association, which carries out programmes to increase equality, inclusion and quality of life for socially vulnerable people.

Driven by the SDGs

The third Iberdrola Solidarity Conference was again inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which the Iberdrola group has incorporated into its business strategy by focusing its efforts on supplying affordable and clean energy (SDG7) and on climate action (SDG13).

With these initiatives, the company actively encourages multilateral partnerships to achieve the established goals (SDG 17) and contributes to fulfilling other objectives: no poverty (SDG 1), good health and well-being (SDG 3), gender equality (SDG 5), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), reduced inequalities (SDG 10), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11) and the conservation and protection of ecosystems (SDG 14 and 15).