Metalloinvest shared its experience and results of interaction with non-profit organizations in the regions of its presence during the pandemic at the first Forum of Philanthropists and Patrons of Russia, organized by Forbes Congress.
During the conference, a wide range of issues was raised, including the transformation of the infrastructure of charity in the face of new challenges, the quality of interaction between local communities, business and government, the need for changes to work more effectively for the benefit of society.
The forum was attended by unions of volunteers, heads of NGOs and charitable foundations such as Art, Science and Sports, Life Line, Help Needed, Friends, representatives of large companies, including Severstal and Norilsk Nickel.
Discussing the results of the past year, the speakers noted that the implementation of many projects required the creation of a large number of new partnerships between government, business and NGOs. At the same time, in the future, it is necessary to strive to create large associations of donors, which in a number of countries became, in fact, a "single window" for the appeal of NGOs and contributed to the early decision-making and assistance in the most important areas.
A serious obstacle to the more dynamic development of charity as a direction is the lack of a unified information base: this does not allow us to clearly present the general structure, accurately assess the number of employees, the amount of support provided, and systematize the results.
At the same time, the experience of working in a pandemic has shown that it is private donors who are able to be flexible, act quickly, take the risks necessary to provide prompt assistance in the most demanded areas.
“The key task for us was to ensure the safety of employees and the continuity of production. Therefore, the focus of our activity last year was to support regional medicine, which faced unprecedented challenges, ”said Yulia Mazanova, Deputy CEO for Sustainable Development and Corporate Communications of Metalloinvest. - On the initiative of the founder of the company, Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov, not only funds in the amount of 2 billion rubles were allocated, but the entire process of purchasing equipment and medicines was ensured with the help of corporate services. The company also organized training webinars on the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 for doctors in the cities of presence with the participation of leading specialists from federal medical centers. "
Yulia Mazanova noted that at the most critical moment the volunteers of Metalloinvest became the fulcrum for those who needed help. Thanks to their work and dedication, the most vulnerable groups of the population were not left without attention and care, more than 2 thousand applications for assistance were implemented.
Development and formation of non-profit organizations in the regions remains one of the priority areas of the Company's activities in the field of sustainable development. The active participation of local communities guarantees the creation of a comfortable urban environment, which is necessary for attracting and retaining young, qualified specialists at Metalloinvest enterprises.
Thanks to the support of the Company, over several years, groups of activists and local NGOs have acquired the necessary skills and have grown to the level of public-private partnerships: a number of projects are included in the SEP programs - more than 30 million rubles are planned to be allocated for their implementation.
In partnership with Metalloinvest, Alisher Usmanov's Art, Science and Sport Charitable Foundation is developing the NPO-SOCRAT project (NPO for Social and Cultural Development of Territories). The goal of the program, implemented jointly with the Social Information Agency with the support of regional governments, is to increase the contribution of NGOs to the social and cultural development of territories through the professionalization of the regional third sector and increasing the competencies of its specialists.
