Insurer backs students' marine conservation project
ACE INA Overseas Insurance Co recently held a contest called "Enhancing Lives with ACE" in which Thai university and vocational students were invited to make CSR (corporate social responsibility) proposals.
The proposals were to be in line with ACE’s philanthropic support for improving education and health, alleviating poverty and protecting the environment.
This year’s contest offered an enhanced financial-support package totalling Bt300,000 to deliver and manage the deployment of the winning CSR plans. Enhancing Lives with ACE aimed to make real the possibility of creating awareness among the younger generation for social responsibility, with active volunteerism undertaken during the Global Day of Service.
ACE Group in Thailand, comprising its general insurance businesses ACE INA Overseas Insurance and Samaggi Insurance as well as its life-insurance business ACE Life Assurance, participated in a CSR initiative called "Youth Love the Sea" with the Thammasat University students.
"Youth Love the Sea" was the second runner-up in "Enhancing Lives with ACE". The initiative was part of ACE’s Global Day of Service in which more than 6,000 ACE employees in 50 countries participated in about 250 volunteer projects focused on education, poverty and health and the environment.
Rob Wilkinson, country president of ACE INA Overseas Insurance Co, said ACE was committed to giving back to the communities in which it lived and worked by ensuring that its philanthropic efforts benefit society at large and have a sustainable, positive impact.
"We think it is best to also involve other members of the community. We would like to thank the student team from Thammasat University for pioneering this CSR programme, and are happy to join with them to put ‘Youth Love the Sea’ into practice so quickly at Sattahip," he said.
Sally O’Hara, country president of ACE Life Assurance, added that support for the environment was a core pillar of ACE’s approach to CSR.
The "Youth Love the Sea" initiative creates awareness among volunteers and staff as to the value of saving the environment and improving coastal scenery.
ACE employees and volunteers worked with students from a high school in Chon Buri province to participate in coral planting, a turtle-conservation workshop and turtle-aquarium cleaning operation to deliver tangible benefits to the marine environment along the Eastern Seaboard.
O’Hara said she trusted that this project, which came from the ideas and actions of the youth, with the support from ACE Group, would benefit society at large and would inspire members of the community to come together to focus on the sustainable conservation of the marine environment.
Nittaya Piriyathamwong, managing director of Samaggi Insurance, said the Global Day of Service offered the opportunity to engage with university and high-school volunteers to deliver real benefit to the marine community.
"A lack of awareness regarding the conservation of marine environments has been a key challenge identified by this CSR project, and so we look forward to being able to do our part to help overcome this challenge in Thailand. There was much collaboration and camaraderie as employees came together as one to conserve our precious marine environment."
