Emma Ursich is the Executive Director of The Human Safety Net, a global initiative of the Generali Group, whose mission is to help people living in vulnerable environments. The ESGnews.bg team spoke with her about the idea, mission and importance of the initiative:
Emma, tell us more about The Human Safety Net initiative. How did the idea for it come about?
The Human Safety Net is a Foundation launched in 2017 whose mission is to unlock the potential of people living in vulnerable circumstances, so that they can transform the lives of their families and communities. Our programmes support vulnerable families with young children (0-6 years) and integrate refugees through work and entrepreneurship. To do so, we bring together the strengths of non-profit organizations and the private sector, in Europe, Asia and South America. We are an open net, and we welcome working with companies, organizations, public institutions, and foundations who share the same goals. We are a global movement of people helping people.
The idea to launch The Human Safety Net began in 2014 as an original effort that went beyond corporate philanthropy. It was born from the heartfelt responses of over 6,000 employees who wanted to help people. This initiative was shaped by the collective action of people who aimed to support vulnerable communities, focusing on childhood and refugee support
How does The Human Safety Net fit into Generali’s overall concept of sustainability?
The engine of The Human Safety Net is a foundation initiated by Generali. It extends Generali’s purpose of ‘enabling people to shape a safer future by caring for their lives and dreams’ to the most vulnerable in our society. Generali Group is mobilizing people and resources – financial support, time, skills, networks, assets, products – to reach more people and amplify our impact. Generali Group, by being a Responsible Corporate Citizen, has positioned The Human Safety Net as a crucial aspect of its Sustainability strategy. Thanks to The Human Safety Net, Generali Group can integrate their core business activities and resources into areas of work that are socially impactful.
Why did you decide to help young children and families with different vulnerabilities?
Supporting early childhood development is seen as the best investment in a child’s future. The Human Safety Net’s For Families programme aims to create stable environments and nurturing relationships, recognizing children’s needs, reducing parental stress, and spending quality time together. This approach helps children develop a healthier body and mind, emotional security, and better success in life
Why is it important to help these children and their families?
Early childhood is a critical period for development. The first six years of a child’s life are crucial, as one million neural connections form every second, and by the time children start school, 90% of their brain is already fully developed. This period has a proven impact on children’s health, education, and career prospects for the rest of their lives.
What does The Human Safety Net initiative do in Bulgaria? In which cities have projects been launched?
For Our Children Foundation (FOC) is The Human Safety Net’s partner for the Family Program in Bulgaria since 2019. The programme builds upon the 30-year of our partner, especially in the field of child development and family support and in fostering supportive environment for families and children.
For Our Children through the Holistic Support for Early Childhood Development Project involves integrated social and health services to children, social support services to families, and professional capacity-building for practitioners in public services working with young children. Starting from the model developed in ECD Complex in Sofia, they are replicating the holistic model in 9 municipalities, including medium- and small-size ones. Working in partnership with municipalities, they are transferring their know-how and build local capacity for cross-sectoral cooperation. Up today they have opened 5 new “toy libraries” where they are replicating this approach.
What unites all the people working on these programs, are there common challenges? What good examples can The Human Safety Net showcase from its work so far?
Working on three continents with over 80 NGOs showed us that the basic challenges with early childhood development are very similar across the globe. One thing that we pride ourselves with is our peer learning structure, we are a network that gives a shared space to all our partners to share and discuss ideas, approaches, innovations and in general how to solve problems that come up along the way. Our peer learning approach is part of a study, that is still underway, undertaken by the London School of Economics (LSE). The preliminary results show a very high level of satisfaction from our partners in this aspect.
What are the plans to grow The Human Safety Net globally? Are there regions where early childhood development initiatives should be prioritized for support? Are you planning to expand the initiative with new partnerships or new projects in Bulgaria?
Our ambition is to reach 1 million people by 2027. We are an impact driven organisation, the number of people impacted is important to us, but even more is the quality of our interventions. We are always keen on expanding to new countries, and we only operate in places where there is an established Generali business. Let me give you an exclusive information, we will likely welcome a new country to our movement in 2025.
Bulgaria is one of the key places for our activities, our partner has been with us since basically the beginning of our journey as a Foundation. We want to keep this relationship and continue developing even better programmes in Bulgaria.
