- Belgrade, 26th of Jauary, 2021 – “Scale Up Impact” is working with pioneering NGO partners and the public, private and social sector in order to replicate successful models and transform people’s lives at a national scale, investing € 7 million over the next three years
- The Human Safety Net will expand family centres and programs for parents with children aged 0-6 in Argentina and Serbia to 28 cities and will open five incubators for refugee entrepreneurs in France and Germany
- By activating the open net principle, it involves ten other organisations, associations and companies that decided to join their forces and contribute to “Scale Up Impact”
The Human Safety Net (THSN), Generali’s global initiative for the community, launches “Scale Up Impact”, an innovative multi-year strategy for amplifying its social impact for the most vulnerable families and aspiring entrepreneurs. Building on its vision of creating an open net, THSN is joining forces with a ten companies, foundations and agencies as co-investors.
Three years after its launch, The Human Safety Net is now active in 22 countries with over 50 NGOs running three evidence-based programs to support families with young children and integrate refugees through work. THSN has funded the delivery of innovative projects, but it was evident many of its partners had developed models that could be replicated beyond one single organisation and which could even work at a national scale. Inspiring social entrepreneurs within the global network had the ambition to take this next step but were lacking the necessary resources. As a result, The Human Safety Net has created “Scale Up Impact”, to identify high-potential programs with a proven impact within its network of NGOs and fund them to grow their contribution to support families and refugees nationwide. The Human Safety Net is investing € 7 million into this initiative over the next three years.
Today, The Human Safety Net announces the first three investments of “Scale Up Impact”, totalling € 1.8 million. Within the For Families program, The Human Safety Net will expand family centres and parenting programs in Argentina and Serbia to 28 cities and towns, helping two pioneering organisations to grow their impact: Haciendo Camino (Argentina) and Novak Djokovic Foundation (Serbia). Additionally, The Human Safety Net is backing Singa (France) to create a new global entity that will launch five new incubators for refugee entrepreneurs in France and Germany.
There are different paths to scale among the projects supported by “Scale Up Impact”. Both Haciendo Camino and Singa are working towards replication, sharing their methodology with other social sector organisations, while the Novak Djokovic Foundation aims to achieve the adoption of its program in partnership with government, delivered by local municipalities. Thanks to training opportunities, capabilities and quality standards, as well as robust evidence, these partners will be able to replicate the programs selected by “Scale Up Impact” and roll them out nationally, to unlock the potential of thousands of young families and refugees.
To make this progress sustainable and in line with the mission of The Human Safety Net to create an open network, the three projects will be supported by ten companies, foundations and agencies that decided to join forces with THSN this first year.
To enable the development of “Scale Up Impact” globally, The Human Safety Net also announces a partnership with Ashoka, the world’s leading network of social entrepreneurs, both to select these NGOs and to support them with expert advice and mentoring over a 3-year period. Ashoka will draw on its experience in scaling impact with over 3,600 social innovators around the world. Additionally, The Human Safety Net will share business expertise and know-how from Generali leaders and talents with its community of partners while promoting a vibrant exchange of best practices and experience.
Philippe Donnet, Generali Group CEO, commented: “We understand the scale of the challenges we aim to tackle through The Human Safety Net. Globally, 250 million children aged five and under are at risk of not achieving their full development potential. Moreover, nearly five million refugees have arrived in Europe since 2015 and urgently need to build a livelihood for themselves and their families. Both of these issues are further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Within our community of NGO partners, we have programs that can contribute to solving these challenges at national and international levels. With “Scale Up Impact”, we support these programs through strategic, multi-year investments. We want to mobilise a wider net and that is why I am happy that there are ten companies, foundations and agencies who are co-investing with us in the first three NGOs we have selected.”
Novak Djokovic Foundation will expand its Support, not Perfection program across Serbia into 15 cities and towns, cooperating closely with local governments
Families living in poverty do not need to aim for perfection, but rather they need the right support to help their children thrive, even in the most challenging circumstances. This idea gave the name to the program “Support, not perfection”, developed by Novak Djokovic Foundation. The foundation created by the world’s top-ranked tennis player is a Serbian centre for excellence on early childhood development.
With the support of Scale Up Impact, Novak Djokovic Foundation now aims to scale up «Support, not perfection» for parents and caregivers across Serbia, in collaboration with national and local government. The Foundation is forging collaborations with pre-schools institutions in 15 cities and towns (in Bac, Kragujevac, Jagodina, Nis, Sabac, Smederevo, Pancevo, Kovacica, Sremska Mitrovica, Novi Sad, Valjevo, Novi Pazar) to support the creation of dedicated parents’ centres, where this 10-week parenting course will be offered. Gradually, the municipalities will be equipped to run „Support, not perfection“ autonomously so that it can become part of local governments’ services for families in difficulty.
Dragan Filipović, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Generali Osiguranje Srbija, emphasizes the importance of this project for Serbia: “We are happy and proud that the Novak Djokovic Foundation’s program “Support, not Perfection”, within which over 400 workshops for parents have been held with the help of Generali Osiguranje Srbija, was among the first to receive support from the “Expand Influence” project. This is a great recognition for our joint efforts so far, which will contribute to the further expansion of the program in Serbia. Empowering local governments to implement this program independently will significantly affect the number of families we will reach. The education of parents and guardians is crucial for the development of children because most of them don’t have the opportunity to be informed and receive adequate support, which they will be provided through our program. Together with our partner, the Novak Djokovic Foundation, step by step, we try to provide equal opportunities for a better life to every child in Serbia.“
Novak Djokovic, co-founder of Novak Djokovic Foundation said: It’s really not easy being a parent. Young kids can go from one happy and joyful moment into full on rage, biting, hitting and screaming, and we as parents need to meet them there with love, compassion and understanding. No judgment or projections. That is so hard. Even harder than being down a match point in the finals of a Grand Slam! That’s why the program “Support, not perfection” is so useful and practical to all of us. We first realize we are not alone in these problems, and most importantly, we learn how to use those difficult moments to grow with our kids. That is possible with the skills we acquire by speaking with professionals, reading, and mostly asking each other questions and reflecting back on moments that trouble us. We really enjoy coming back to our kids equipped with tools to bridge difficult moments and tick them off as small victories.“
“Since trust and familiarity are very important in small communities, local coordinators will map the needs of parents and other individuals that impact the lives of children and plan the centers’ resources and materials accordingly. In that way, centers will not only be places where our “Support, not perfection” program is implemented but a meeting point of all local experts and professionals who can provide guidance for other relevant ECD topics not covered by our program”, said Maja Kremic, national director of Novak Djokovic Foundation.
Novak Djokovic Foundation is Serbia’s The Human Safety Net for Families’ partner since 2018. The Foundation aims to give every child the opportunity to receive a quality preschool education, by supporting parents, caregivers and working closely with local authorities. With Scale Up Impact, Novak Djokovic Foundation aims to reach 2200 parents and almost 4400 children in three years.