The Vienna Insurance Group uses the term social commitment to include both its relationships with its employees as well as its commitments to society.
Treating each other fairly
The Vienna Insurance Group offers equal opportunity to all employees. As an international group of companies, the Vienna Insurance Group is concerned primarily with promoting cooperation across borders and cultural groups, thereby making a contribution to mutual understanding and tolerance. Sexual equality in particular is not just a catchword, but an everyday reality in the Vienna Insurance Group. Equal opportunity is understood to mean not only the availability of family-friendly facilities, such as a company kindergarten for Group companies in Vienna, or ready opportunities for part-time work, but also true equal opportunity for the sexes in terms of career opportunities. Positions are filled solely on the basis of a candidate’s qualifications, with no consideration given to sex.
Vienna Insurance Group Kids Camp 2007
From 28 July to 12 August 2007, 450 children from throughout Central and Eastern Europe participated in the Vienna Insurance Group’s Kids Camp 2007 in Austria. As part of a company-wide painting competition, the children of Vienna Insurance Group employees had the opportunity to qualify for two adventure-filled weeks at an international vacation camp in Austria. Through activities such as tennis, soccer, beach volleyball and swimming, along with climbing, kayaking and rafting, they were able to have unique experiences in an international setting. But during the numerous excursions offered, the children were also able to form intercultural friendships regardless of language and culture in the spirit of the growing and successful Vienna Insurance Group family.
Information and pictures from Kids Camp 2007 can be found at www.vigkidscamp.com. Once again, the children of Vienna Insurance Group employees are already busily painting and drawing in order to be able to take part in the Summer 2008 Kids Camp.
Winter Sports Festival of the Vienna Insurance Group
Employees from Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have been participating jointly for several years in Vienna Insurance Group's Winter Sports Festival.
In order to further strengthen cross-border contacts and personal relations within the Group family, this year employees from Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary were also invited to the Winter Sports Festival. Thus many employees of Vienna Insurance Group were given the opportunity to get to know each other across national boundaries and to establish contacts in a relaxed atmosphere.
Group Football Championship
Another intercultural event, bonding employees of Vienna Insurance Group who are football fans is the Group’s annual international football tournament. After Croatia the year before, the tournament took place in September 2007 in Constanta, Romania. Fourteen teams from nearly as many countries of the Vienna Insurance Group took part in this football competition. The defending champion, the Romanian team from Omniasig, won the tournament. The Wiener Städtische AG team from Austria managed to earn an excellent second place. The football enthusiastic employees of Kvarner from Croatia achieved the third place.
Selected sponsoring activities
The Company has an especially strong commitment to social sponsoring. The Vienna Insurance Group and its principal shareholder, Wiener Städtische Wechselseitige Versicherungsanstalt-Vermögensverwaltung, have been long-time supporters of numerous projects and initiatives carried out by a number of relief organisations.
- Help for the Children of Chernobyl
As the largest Austrian insurance group in Central and Eastern Europe, the Vienna Insurance Group concerns itself with the general need for security of the people in this region. The most important place to begin is with those in the greatest need of protection, the children. For this reason, the company gives its support to campaigns for the street children of Central and Eastern Europe and initiatives for children in the surrounding area of Chernobyl.
The “Children of Chernobyl” initiative regularly brings children, the majority suffering from Leukaemia, from Belarus and the Ukraine to recover in Austria. Right from the start of this initiative more than 20 years ago, Wiener Städtische has provided the health insurance needed for these trips. The children were also invited to attend special afternoon programmes. The employees of the Company were asked to collect toys and clothing that could be given to the children during their stay in Austria.
- Caritas campaign for street children in Eastern Europe
But the insurance company also supports the Caritas campaign for street children in Eastern Europe. By this initiative, the Vienna Insurance Group is contributing to the establishment of orphanages, day care centres and soup kitchens in Eastern Europe. There, street children receive not only food and shelter, but even more importantly care and concern.
- International Safety Tour for kids
Right from the start, Wiener Städtische has supported the children’s safety Olympics, "Safety Tour", in which, because of their great success, not only Austrian school children but school classes from the Czech Republic and Slovakia as well now are participating. As part of the "Safety Tour," games are used to teach children how to deal with dangerous situations properly, making them more aware of the topic of "safety".
