Corporate Social Responsibility

The Association being very conscious of the fact that pursuing economic interest needs to be balanced with social and environmental responsibility, has set up a CSR Foundation to address its CSR obligations. As a matter of fact, the Mutual Aid created its CSR Committee in Feb 2008 and has been very active since then. The Mutual Aid Foundation (MAF) places a lot of importance to education, health and environment amongst others.

Essentially, CSR is the deliberate inclusion of public interest into corporate decision-making and the honoring of a triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit. It is now compulsory that profitable organisations must spend at least 2% of chargeable income, derived during their preceding year on CSR activities.However, as per government decision, only 25 % of the CSR Fund is available to the MAF for use as from FY 19/20.

A. Main CSR activities undertaken by Mutual Aid as at September 30,2020 include:

• Construction of walkway from Shell Filling Station towards Victoria Bus Station in year 1999 in collaboration with Shell Mauritius Ltd.
• Two hundred and forty seven (247) scholarships have been awarded to needy students for degree courses at the Universities under government control like the University of Mauritius (UOM) / University of Technology / Open University of Mauritius / University of Mascareignes and MGI. The yearly grant was revised from Rs 22,000 to Rs 25,000 per student in FY 18/19 and a new laptop is provided to each scholarship beneficiary on each scholarship batch. The scholarship is a recurring feature each year.
• Furthermore, scholarships are also given for attending vocational courses at the MITD. In FY 19/20 scholarships were given to 25 new students attending vocational courses at the Mauritius Institute of Training & Development (MITD) with a yearly grant of Rs 18,000. Out of the 25 beneficiaries, 11 students were from Rodrigues.
• Landscaping project at the Guy Rozemont Garden Square in Port Louis to uplift and embellish the environment in this strategic part of Port Louis in year 1999. This project was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment.
• Adoption of the paediatric ward at Jawaharlall Nehru Hospital at Rose Belle since 1999. It involves donation of specialized medical equipment and upgrading of the ward generally.
• Donation to Lady Sushil Ramgoolam SSS Triolet for upgrading of library.
• Renovation of toilet block at RCEA School, Riviere Coco primary school in Rodrigues.
• Donation to Les Association Enfants D'Abord for purchase of musical instruments.
• Donation to Brindaban Multi-Purpose Educational Association to promote education of ICT.
• Renovation of house of a poor person at Brisee Verdiere.
• Repayment of loan of a poor person on account of financial difficulty.
• Purchase of LCD TV for Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Rodrigues.
• Donation to partly meet the cost of surgeries for 57 beneficiaries (mostly children) for overseas medical treatments (from August 2015 to September 20).
• Supply of a Digital Video Colposcope at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Rodrigues.
• Construction of seventy (23 Sq Mt) low cost housing for vulnerable groups scattered throughout the island.
• Donation of an ambulance to Moka Eye Hospital to cater for the pressing needs of the patients who were facing transport problem. .
• Donation of several equipment to Paediatric Ward of Flacq Hospital.
• Implementation of Rain Water Harvesting projects in eleven schools in Rodrigues .These schools are as follows: Terre Rouge, Mangue, Grand La Fouche Corail, Batatran , Port Sud Est, Father Ronald Gandy (formerly Don Bosco), Antoinette Prudence Ste Famille Notre Dame de Lourdes (NDDL), Mt Goyaves, Basile Allas and Anse Quitor schools.
• Financing absolute poverty and community empowerment projects in north region.
• Contribution to the Prime Ministers Cyclone Relief Fund following cyclone Berguita.
• Financing of several NGO projects like therapy for cancer patients, running of ICT classes for deaf patients, painting of braille library, provision of vehicles and acquisition of cold room / other equipment for homes.
• Financing of NGO projects like construction of water tanks for eradication of water problems and promotion of agriculture.
• Financing of NGO projects were aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable groups in Mauritius and Rodrigues