Social
Responsibility
Creating a brighter future for all: IBL’s corporate social responsibility work is a
key part of IBL’s wider sustainability engagement.
It is a crucial component of our commitment towards our stakeholders and towards the communities we work with.
As a key organisation within the IBL group, Fondation Joseph Lagesse has set up strong orientations for its actions towards the community: to improve access to quality education; to contribute to young people’s growth and development; to promote social justice and human dignity; and to empower communities. These aims are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals 1 (No Poverty), SDG 3 (Good health & well-being), SDG 4 (Quality education) and SDG 11 (Sustainable cities & communities).
Our CSR programs consist of short-term in-house projects, long-term educational and community development programs focused towards our national priority areas of intervention. In 2017-18, 18 short-term in-house projects were run, reaching over 300 direct beneficiaries, of which more than 175 children, 50 young people and 180 families, and 4 long-term programs were run. Support was also provided to NGOs including Caritas (for its centres d’éveil), Kinouété, Soleil de L’Ouest, Terre de Paix and Passerelle.
Its new research unit brings added value to the CSR initiatives of the group by using evaluation, community research and impact analysis to evaluate its programs. FJL aims to strengthen its long-term impact on communities by engaging in strong evidence-based programs developed internationally.
It is currently working with the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America to implement a unique community-based drug prevention program in four localities in Mauritius. Fondation Joseph Lagesse relies heavily on CSR funds coming from almost 80 different IBL companies and offices. Non-CSR donations also contribute to the sustainability of its initiatives. In the past year, FJL has experienced a major reduction in its CSR funding due to new Mauritian CSR regulations. As a result, FJL has had difficulty in carrying out its own long-term projects in education and health and needs to seek funding from other sources. With a challenging environment for CSR in Mauritius, the IBL Group needs to give a new structure to its CSR initiatives. A strong community service scheme inviting the workforce to devote time and expertise to the community is currently being set up.
