Supporting microfinance
For thirty years BNP Paribas has made microfinance a flagship commitment. Microfinance gives people excluded from the traditional banking system the chance to realise their projects. The Group has become the main partner of many Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) around the world and has participated in the co-creation of two MFIs in Belgium and Luxembourg. In three decades, over 2 million people (including 1.8 million women) have benefited from microcredit thanks to the BNP Paribas’ support of 84 MFIs in 33 countries. The Group has devoted €900 million to microfinance.
Committed to equal rights and opportunities for women and men worldwide
Supported by an inclusive Human Resources policy that creates the conditions enabling women employees to pursue the career path of their choice and well as those enabling a move to a better shared governance, the Group has been fully committed for 15 years to achieving the fifth UN Sustainable Development Goal: ”Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. The “Leaders for Tomorrow” initiative, for example, prepares the next generation of managers and sets a target of 50% women among identified future leaders. Within the Graduate Programme of Global Markets (a largely male business line), the number of women participants reached 50%, a result higher than that fixed by the Group in terms of its gender-equality goals and its membership of the UN’s HeForShe movement. In 2019 BNP Paribas also became the first CAC 40 company to join the #JamaisSansElles movement; members of the Group’s Executive Committee signed a charter declaring they would no longer take part in events (internal or external) if panels of more than three speakers did not have at least one woman. Furthermore, the Group and its subsidiary BICIS continue to support the HeForShe movement through a partnership with UN Women’s AgriFed programme. It aims to develop climate-resilient agriculture and support 15,000 Senegalese women farmers through a $1.8 million funding programme.
Renewed commitment to Seine-Saint-Denis
In 2009 BNP Paribas launched the Odyssée Jeunes programme with the Seine-Saint-Denis département* The programme has enabled 50,000 school children to go on educational school trips. BNP Paribas is also the largest private-sector employer in Seine-Saint-Denis and in 2019 decided to step up its commitment by signing a Charter with the département that sets out 45 commitments in the areas of youth, employment, solidarity and the local economy.
* Local government département in the Greater Paris region.
An ambitious social-solidarity philanthropy programme
As part of its philanthropic initiative “Help2Help”, the BNP Paribas Foundation encourages, among other things, the personal commitment of the Group’s employees through volunteering that helps social and humanitarian causes. Rolled out in more than 30 countries and thanks to a grant of €750,000, “Help2Help” supported the projects of 250 community groups in 2019. Furthermore, the Group strengthened its commitment to society by setting up its “1MillionHours2Help” programme with the aim to reach 1 million hours of voluntary work provided by the Group’s employees worldwide in 2020. This goal takes into account, among other actions, skills sponsorship and pro bono initiatives. As at the end of 2019 the number of volunteering hours totalled more than 450,000.