RepoRt on - BNP Paribas

skills-based
volunteer work
MicroFinance sans Frontières and
Bénévolat de compétences et solidarité
(bcs), bnP Paribas’ two skills-based
volunteer schemes launched in 2007,
began to produce results as early as 2008.
bcs is an association that supports
micro-entrepreneurs financed by the
adie. the scheme is partnered by the
bnP Paribas association of retirees
(adr), which has 21,000 members. in two
years, it has provided the adie with skills
support from some one hundred volunteers
throughout france. over a period
of eighteen months, 2,000 people have
received information about the scheme,
500 have expressed an interest, 200 have
been interviewed and one hundred
have been accepted as new volunteers
for the adie. with encouragement from
bnP Paribas and the adr, the experiment
has been further developed by
creating a new “skills-based Volunteer
and outreach” association in november
2009. the new association recruits volunteers
from among active employees
as well as retirees and has extended its
voluntary support to other organisations
beyond microfinance, such help for children
and the disabled.
MicroFinance sans Frontières (mfsf)
provides mfis in emerging countries
with technical support. it has organised
more than 20 missions since its creation
in 2007 in partnership with organisations
and networks such as sidi, Horus,
Pamiga, agroinvest and the aga Khan
foundation. to date, more than one
hundred volunteers have expressed an
interest in making their skills available to
mfsf. in 2009, bnP Paribas fortis established
contact with mfsf, which resulted
in the recruitment of some fifty new potential
volunteers.
as a result of its growing success, mfsf
has restructured its organisation. since
december 2009, it has become an official
association with an employee provided
by the bank, which will enable it to develop
its activity and missions abroad.
mfsf’s mission in burkina faso
Florence, a young branch manager in the south
of France, decided to help microFinance
sans Frontières (mFsF). With the professional
skills she had developed through her day-to-day
work, her interest in microfinance and her ability
to adapt, she became a mFsF volunteer in 2009.
in november 2009, she took travelled
to burkina faso to take part in a project run
by a microfinance institution. she was put in
touch with the institution by an ngo called
pamiga (participatory microfinance group
for africa). pamiga’s mission is fully in line
with the spirit of microfinance sans frontières:
bnP Paribas’ suburbs project:
commitment to suburban
renewal
in december 2005, just after the urban
rioting that spread across france,
bnP Paribas decided to set up a new
scheme called Projet Banlieues in addition
to the initiatives the group was
already taking to promote employment
and social inclusion.
co-ordinated by the bnP Paribas
foundation and supported by the retail
banking network, Projet Banlieues relied
on the foundation’s ten years of experience
in outreach work, especially
through its partnerships with the leading
national outreach associations. its two
main partners in this field are adie, which
provides microloans to the unemployed
and people on income support to help
them set up their own business ventures,
and the association de la fondation
Étudiante pour la ville (afev), which recruits
volunteer students to help youngsters
from difficult neighbourhoods with
their school work.
Projet Banlieues has three focuses: creating
jobs through microloans in partnership
to provide skills on a volunteer basis where
technical assistance is required. florence
analysed the lending procedures of an
association of village institutions (Caisses
villageoises de crédit et d’epargne Autogérée
or CveCas) and made recommendations
to improve them. cvecA boucle du mouhoun
has operated in burkina faso since 2002.
it has 59 operational units and almost
30,000 members, and it finances agricultural
activities. florence spent eight days with
the institution, which benefited from her
expertise and her perspective as an outsider.
85 <strong>RepoRt</strong> on CoRpoRate SoCial and enviRonmental ReSponSibility
with adie, educational support for struggling
youngsters in partnership with afev,
and support for community projects undertaken
by local associations in difficult
neighbourhoods. because of its excellent
results, Projet Banlieues, which was originally
due to expire in 2008, was renewed
on the same basis for a further three years
from 2009 to 2011.
in 2009, support from bnP Paribas led to:
— increased action by afev in sensitive
urban areas, with the involvement of
more than 1,000 extra students, resulting
in help for around 1,400 more
young people;
— support for 104 community initiatives,
including renewals, focusing on education,
integration into the world of
work, integration through sport and
culture and training;
— contributions totalling around
eur 950,000 to schools in sensitive
urban areas through the apprenticeship
tax.
having seen how the process worked at the
grass‑roots level, Florence developed control
solutions and improved procedures in line with
her original assignment. as she says, “you have
to adapt and be pro-active.” this first assignment
enabled florence to increase her understanding
of microfinance and the specific features
of burkina faso. it helped her to gain a fresh
perspective on her work in france and to hone
her technical skills.