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Nearly 15 years ago, we formed the PwC India Foundation with one vision: to do good.
What started out as our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative has grown into so much more. It’s become deeply rooted in and aligned with the core of our Purpose, which is solving important problems.
Our projects have explored many ways in which we can make a positive impact by delving deep into the areas of:
With the help of our stakeholders - internal and external - we’ve consistently turned intent into impact through our interventions. Watch our film, The PwCIF journey: From commitment to action, to know more about our key projects across the country.
PwCIF’s initiatives for providing access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities
The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 has set a target to eliminate open defecation and ensure that everyone has access to sustainable sanitation facilities by 2030. The goal focuses on paying special attention to the sanitary needs of women and girls, and those in vulnerable conditions.1
There is acute inequality in access to safe and sustainable sanitation facilities in India. Over 90% of the country’s urban residents have access to sanitation facilities compared to 39% of the rural residents. Additionally, 44% of the population continues to defecate in the open.2
PwCIF has been collaborating with several NGOs to expand access to safe WASH facilities as they are a critical focus area impacting the well-being of vulnerable and at-risk communities. We contribute by upgrading WASH facilities, conducting awareness trainings, providing sanitary napkins and helping rebuild toilets for communities affected by natural disasters. Our efforts have benefited school children, adolescent girls and both urban and rural communities across India. The infrastructural support we provide includes gender-segregated toilets with running water and handwashing facilities.
Click here how PwCIF is supporting WASH programmes across different states
The importance of driving inclusive education has never been more crucial, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic which has disrupted the education of students from socioeconomically vulnerable backgrounds. PwCIF is committed to ensuring that students are not left behind or forced to drop out of educational institutions due to the lack of access to quality education. Providing non-formal education to underprivileged children, funding online education, awarding scholarships, mentoring students to complete their secondary and higher secondary education through bridge schools, linking students with appropriate career choices, developing leadership capacities in schoolchildren, and providing after-school learning support are all part of our work. Given our firm belief in inclusion, our education programmes include the rehabilitation of differently abled children.
We also support skill development initiatives for the youth and adults, with a special focus on capacity building of women to increase their employability, and work on locally relevant alternative livelihood options.
Click here for a glimpse of the education and skill development projects we have supported.
The impact of humanitarian disasters such as floods and droughts on communities is multifaceted and causes destruction, trauma and irrevocable loss. A central part of PwCIF’s work consists of responding to the critical and immediate needs of affected communities. We work towards relief, recovery and rehabilitation with the support of local institutions. – beginning with a need assessment, identifying the most vulnerable amongst prospective beneficiaries, consulting local governments and community-based organisations, and finally, carrying out restoration work. Our work also involves capacity building of people and supporting infrastructure to enhance resilience to future challenges.
Since 2013, we have been responding to natural disasters, including the Uttarakhand floods in 2013, the Chennai floods in 2015, the Assam, Bihar and West Bengal floods in 2017, and the Kerala floods in 2018. Our drought mitigation intervention included providing support to drought-stricken areas in Uttar Pradesh in 2016 and Maharashtra in 2017. We have also worked towards relief, recovery and rehabilitation efforts during Cyclone Vardah in Chennai in 2016 and Cyclones Fani (2019) and Amphan (2020) in West Bengal.
Click here to know more.
Climate change, environmental degradation and dwindling resources are some of the world’s most critical issues impacting health, food security and livelihoods. PwC has committed to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. PwCIF is committed to restoring the environment and protecting vulnerable communities who are significantly affected by these challenges. We have carried out several interventions towards environmental sustainability, including projects focusing on afforestation, alternative livelihoods, artificial glacier building, drought mitigation and adaptation, and clean cooking.
Click here to find out more
PwC India introduced the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) model in India with the aim of building the related ecosystem in India by providing support to budding social entrepreneurs in India. School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) India was formally launched in February 2016 to offer its flagship programme, a nine-month Social Start-Up Fellowship which helps passionate individuals from across the country to build entrepreneurial mindset & hone their social purpose to solve some of the most complex social problems in the country.
PwC India has been an integral part of SSE India's journey and supports the latter through funding and logistics support. The collaboration also actively engages PwC People in a number of ways to provide volunteering opportunities. These opportunities include review of applications and selection of the final cohort, conducting sessions for the Fellows as action learning facilitators, subject experts and witnesses narrating their own journey, and providing one-on-one mentorship support to the Fellows.
Since inception, over 80 fellows have benefited from the SSE ecosystem to provide solutions to pressing challenges. They have helped generate livelihoods, empower women and vulnerable sections including tribal communities and have contributed to supporting civic systems across Indian states.
Since March 2020, PwC India Foundation (PwCIF) has been working closely with local government bodies and not for profits (NGOs) to identify the most vulnerable individuals, including those from marginalised communities, with a focus on daily-wage earners, frontline public services personnel (healthcare workers, waste management staff and police) in need of support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
PwCIF’s interventions are aligned with urgent on-ground needs across our regional offices. We are supporting in-kind donations of medical equipment in hospitals, continued dry ration and personal protective equipment (PPE) support to the most vulnerable amongst our beneficiaries and frontline workers, including police personnel, health staff and waste pickers. We are also providing PPE to volunteers and COVID warriors serving communities in slums. Some interventions are also designed to provide livelihood support to women while providing nutrition to COVID patients. We continue to walk shoulder to shoulder with our partner organisations by providing them and our beneficiaries with urgent support.
Approaching Corporate Responsibility the PwC way!