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Siegwerk is globally committed to supporting children and young adults in need. As a family run company with an extensive history, Siegwerk has long been aware of its responsibility to future generations. The company has always supported those unable to help themselves – children and young adults – and still makes every effort today to further improve the prospect of life for young people around the world. Alongside social projects, the company has conducted joint global aid projects with SOS Children's Villages worldwide since 2010, significantly driving the change in thousands of children’s lives. This year, Siegwerk is partnering with SOS Children’s Village Indonesia to further support children and young adults in different programs across the country.
‘In today’s education system children need access to digital resources and working methods because their digital experience will strongly influence their future prospects for employability,’ explained Herbert Forker, CEO at Siegwerk at the ceremonial opening of the digital library. ‘That is why we have decided to support the SOS Children's Village Cibubur in Jakarta to improve its digital standard by upgrading the existing library to a digital facility.’
Siegwerk has sponsored tens of thousands of Euros that have been invested in new computers, a powerful server, advanced interactive presentation equipment and video conferencing facilities. Besides, all 15 family houses have been equipped with computers, internet access and a network to the library. This will enable the young people to work and study from home without relying on public computer centres or libraries anymore. The newly opened digital library will also serve as a computer learning centre for those at SOS Jakarta who require further training. A dedicated on-site project manager from SOS will manage and maintain the new equipment and facilities keeping the digital education as up to date as possible.
In addition to opening a digital library in Jakarta, Siegwerk also supports the SOS YouthCan! programme to concretely fight against youth unemployment in Indonesia. ‘More than 64 million young people worldwide are unemployed and many more do not earn enough to build a stable, independent life,’ explained Gregor Hadi Nitihardjo, national director of SOS Children’s Villages Indonesia. The YouthCan! initiative empowers young people helping them to get prepared for the transition to independence and the job market. ‘We are happy to have Siegwerk as partner on our side to further combat the difficult conditions for young people in Indonesia,’ added Gregor.
As partner of this SOS initiative local Siegwerk employees act as mentors helping youths to build work skills and providing career guidance or direct work experience. The average age of young adults leaving SOS care in Indonesia is between 20 and 24, that is when they start to develop their lives and careers. ‘It is our goal to foster young people to master their lives in a self reliant and determined way and build a stable future,’ said Herbert about Siegwerk’s YouthCan! partnership. ‘We want to enable youths to gain hands-on experiences and give insights in a real working environment.’
As part of its activities Siegwerk organises career training,
English classes, an internship programme or workshops on entrepreneurship at the SOS Children’s Village Cibubur in Jakarta.
Siegwerk’s generations long tradition of providing assistance to children is strongly anchored in its global corporate social responsibility policy. ‘Responsibility is an integral part of our corporate culture,’ underlined Herbert. ‘Social commitment to children has been a matter of course for us for many years and for which our employees repeatedly enjoy to volunteer and get involved personally. SOS Children’s Villages worldwide is the ideal partner for us to identify and jointly implement projects close to our sites and make a positive impact in the communities where we operate.’
