Joining the fight
against malaria
training and workplace support. We also conducted a
campaign aimed at preventing drinking by promoters while
working. This followed research carried out in 2008 that
showed too many promoters drink alcohol while performing
their duties. At the end of 2009/early 2010 Indochina
Research was commissioned by the industry group Beer
Sellers in Cambodia (BSIC) to repeat the survey. Results
showed that the overwhelming majority of beer promoters
are aware of the rules on drinking alcohol while at work
but that it still occurs. Starting in 2010, we will monitor the
situation quarterly in order to address this in a more
effective and timely manner and to enable rapid intervention
whenever results are unsatisfactory.
We have been asked to make a comparison between the
findings of the audits conducted on behalf of the BSIC and
those done by SIrChESI. Unfortunately, we were only handed
press releases and not the underlying reports so that no
meaningful comparison could be performed.
Investigate and launch a new approach
for community investment in Africa
At the end of 2008, Heineken invested EUR 10 million to
establish the Heineken Africa Foundation. The organisation
finances community healthcare projects on the African
continent, particularly, but not exclusively, In the
communities in which we operate. The Foundation is
managed by an independent Board of Trustees that oversees
the operations and the distribution of up to EUR 500,000 per
year. In 2009, the fund made its first investments totalling
EUR 400,000 in six projects. An example of one of these
projects is included in the case studies. At the end of 2009,
Heineken invested an additional EUR 10 million in the
Foundation. This means that as of 2010, an annual amount
of roughly EUR 1 million can be spent on health projects
in Africa. For more information on the Heineken Africa
Foundation and its projects, please visit
http://africafoundation.heineken.com.
Continue our HIV/AIDS treatment in developing markets
Alongside the work of the Heineken Africa Foundation,
we continued to support testing and treatment of HIV/AIDS.
We commenced work on a trial programme in Nigeria and
the Democratic Republic of Congo to facilitate access to
HIV/AIDS treatment for people working in our supply chain.
The programme will be gradually rolled out over the
coming years to target employees of our suppliers in
developing markets.
Rwanda
Katinka van Cranenburgh
Foundation Co-ordinator
In August 2009, the Heineken Africa Foundation launched a
new initiative in Rwanda to help prevent the spread of malaria
by using insecticidal bed nets. The initiative also involves local
organisations and provides employment to more than 100 people.
The nets will be produced by local textile company Utexrwa
(Usine des Textiles du Rwanda) in a process that will provide
125 new jobs for the community. The Foundation will purchase
the equipment needed to embed insecticides into the netting
material and has committed to buy the first 140,000 bed
nets produced.
"Bed nets provide a good way of controlling malaria for
a number of reasons," explains Katinka van Cranenburgh,
Heineken Africa Foundation co-ordinator. "They are an effective
way of protecting people against mosquito bites and the
transmission of the parasite that causes malaria, and yet they
are relatively cheap. Studies have shown that nets can reduce
the mortality rate from malaria by approximately 20 per cent."
The nets will be distributed through existing health centres
in the area surrounding the Heineken breweries in Kigali and
Rubavu, as well as through pre-natal and vaccination family visits
by health advisers. Pregnant women and children in the areas
in which Heineken operates will particularly benefit from
the programme.
The plan is for Utexrwa to distribute a total of three million
nets in Rwanda in 2010 and a further six million in 2011.
For further information please see:
http://africafoundation.heineken.com
Heineken N.V. - Sustainability Report 2009 33
