ANNUAL REPORT 2008/09 - Sonova

low. Sonova does not have a fully formulated strategy
for reducing CO₂ emissions, but it does take into account
CO₂-relevant factors when making investment decisions.
Wastewater from purifi cation processes is fi ltered, the
fi lters are properly disposed of, and the fi ltered water is
fed back into the normal water cycle.
Sonova also encourages its employees to make their own
contribution to the environment. In the fi nancial year
2008/09, for example, a mobility initiative was launched
at the company’s headquarters in Stäfa, Switzerland,
and now more than 50% of employees use public transport
to get to work.
Sustainability initiatives
The Sonova Group is involved in a large number of projects
aimed at raising public awareness of good hearing. The
most important of these is Phonak’s Hear the World initiative,
launched in 2006. One of the aims of this initiative is
to reach the 80% of people who – despite having hearing
loss – do not wear a hearing system and therefore have a
lower quality of life. The positive reaction to Hear the World
from the media and renowned international personalities
is a clear indication that the goals of the initiative are
attainable over the longer term.
At the same time the Sonova Group supports a variety of
social projects aimed at improving the quality of life of
people with hearing loss. This goal is also pursued by the
independent non-profi t Hear the World Foundation. The
foundation supports hearing-related projects fi nancially as
well as by providing technology and information material.
In the fi nancial year 2008/09, for example, the Hear the
World Foundation supported a Brazilian non-profi t organization
in São Paulo that off ers medical care ranging from
prevention to diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss for
infants and children, and set up a hearing center for
impoverished people in Nairobi.
Nuns waiting to be tested in the Hearing Center
built by the Hear the World Foundation
HEARING CENTER FOR NAIROBI
The Buru Buru region northwest of the capital of Kenya,
Nairobi, is home to more than 10,000 people who have no
access to medical facilities. Anyone who falls ill has to
make a long and often futile trip to Nairobi: if they cannot
aff ord to pay for their medical treatment, they are simply
sent back home untreated.
Phonak’s Hear the World Foundation is working alongside
the non-profi t organization “Cargo Human Care”, set up
by Lufthansa Cargo and German doctors. The organization
is dedicated to improving medical care for the sections
of the population most in need in the Nairobi metropolitan
area. The new “Cargo Human Care Medical Center” was
inaugurated after a construction phase of twelve months
in February 2009. The treatment center houses two surgeries
in which German doctors from diff erent disciplines
provide free medical treatment to local patients. The
new medical center is also home to a hearing center set up
by the Hear the World Foundation. Here German ENT
doctors hold consultations, perform hearing tests and fi t
hearing instruments.
The Hear the World Foundation not only provides fi nancial
support, but also hearing systems and technical equipment.
“With our contribution, we can ensure that people living
in and around Nairobi have access to hearing tests and
hearing systems,” says Ora Bürkli, a trustee on the board
of the Hear the World Foundation, explaining the foundation’s
commitment to this project.
Anyone interested in making a donation can fi nd more
information at www.cargohumancare.de and
www.hear-the-world.com, including descriptions of the
foundation’s other projects in the fi eld of hearing.
SUSTAINABILITY
27