Generali Group in October 2017 announced the global launch of the Human Safety Net, an initiative to help the world’s most vulnerable communities. The Human Safety Net is based on the idea of communities of “people helping people” creating sustainable change and that these changes will create a positive ripple effect.

The three programs selected and detailed below target key social issues affecting the communities where we live and work, and share the common purpose of unlocking the potential of disadvantaged people: including equal life opportunities for children from disadvantaged backgrounds; supporting refugee start-ups, and saving newborns from the debilitating and potentially fatal consequences of asphyxia.

Driven by Generali, the Human Safety Net is open to alliances and partnerships with like-minded people and organizations. Generali aims to engage its entire organization in the initiative, as well as inspiring customers, like-minded individuals and NGOs to collaborate. The initiative is currently partnered with Spark, a sponsor of entrepreneurship programs for refugees and other vulnerable groups in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East; ELTERN-AG, a preventive empowerment program for socially disadvantage families; Place, an innovation partner for refugee start-up programmes with innovative services; Social Impact, a service that offers expert advice to start-ups and entrepreneurs whose businesses have the potential to solve societal challenges; and Singa France, which creates opportunities for refugees and their host communities to meet and cooperate. These partners make up the beginnings of a “global chain” of NGOs that act locally but are connected globally by The Human Safety Net.

These NGOs support three programs:

• The Human Safety Net for Families promotes equal life chances for children who grow up in poverty. The Human Safety Net will provide support to 30,000 parents during the first six years of their children’s life, which has been scientifically proven as the most formative period. These years shape what children achieve in school, their health, and their future career path.
• The Human Safety Net for Refugee Start-Ups takes a different approach to the refugee crisis in Europe by empowering refugees to realize their entrepreneurial potential and build livelihoods in their new ‘home’ countries. This program aims to help refugees to set up 500 new businesses, creating jobs and opportunities for work.
• The Human Safety Net for Newborns works with the medical community and parents to improve prevention and treatment for a devastating birth condition called asphyxia. Asphyxia leaves many babies handicapped for the rest of their lives and tragically can even result in death. This program aims to train professionals and equip them with innovative technologies, to help save 1000 lives from this potentially fatal condition.

The Human Safety Net is supported by Fondazione Generali. The legal entity, The Human Safety Net ONLUS, is a non-profit organization with social purpose under Italian law (specifically, legislative decree 460). Its board of directors is chaired by Gabriele Galateri di Genola, and includes Philippe Donnet, Aldo Minucci, Simone Bemporad, Monica Alessandra Possa, and Lucia Silva.

The Human Safety Net will be housed in the Procuratie Vecchie in Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. Venice is the ideal host city for this initiative, as it is synonymous historically  with imagination, ingenuity, and openness. As part of its long-term commitment, Generali has undertaken a restoration of the Procuratie Vecchie that will bring together other parts of the square and the Royal Gardens. When complete, it will re-establish the historic paths and flow to and from Piazza San Marco. Architect David Chipperfield won the commission to restore the building. The hub will host regular public exhibitions, events, and discussions on pressing social and demographic challenges from poverty to migration.

The website is available here.