Diversity: Covéa is main sponsor of Fédération Française Handisport

CSR
Covéa

14 February 2022

On 11 February, the Covéa Group entered into a three-year partnership with the Fédération Française Handisport, the French federation for disabled athletes. This partnership is centred primarily around youth disability sports programmes, designed to encourage young people with disabilities to get into sport.

Thierry Derez, Chairman and Chief Executive Ofﬁcer of Covéa, and Guislaine Westerlynck, Chair of Fédération Française Handisport (FFH), signed a three-year partnership agreement on 11 February.

Under the partnership, the Group becomes FFH’s main sponsor and will help it to achieve its aims of:

Developing disabled sports, by offering a wide range of sporting disciplines to people with physical and sensory disabilities;
Carrying out projects combining inclusion and progression in sport up to the highest level, targeted primarily at young disabled athletes.

55

Sporting disciplines offered by FFH

1,500

FFH affiliated clubs in France

35,000

License holders and over 60,000 athletes

Supporting inclusion through sport

Covéa has chosen to support the “Parcours jeunes handisport” programme developed by FFH to support disabled athletes from the youngest age and identify future high-level sports stars.

The programme also aims to help them to reconnect with their bodies, as well as gain confidence and self-esteem. These are key in ensuring better integration into society and the world of work.

This partnership reflects the general involvement of the Group and its MAAF, MMA and GMF brands in disabled supports for a number of years, such as the MMA Solidarity Foundation funding projects by regional affiliated sports clubs, GMF’s involvement in wheelchair rugby and MAAF’s support of the Chauray disabled tennis open.

“The entire Covéa Group and its employees are proud to be partnering with Fédération Française Handisport. As a leading mutual insurance group in France, we work day-to-day to address the challenges relating to equal opportunity and inclusion. With this partnership, we hope to support the development of sport for disabled young people. We also want to enable them to realise their life plans and find their place in the world of work,” explains Thierry Derez, Chairman and Chief Executive Ofﬁcer of Covéa.

Changing how we look at disability

Helping young people with disabilities is a central concern for us as an insurance provider and reflects the mutualist values of the Group and its brands. As a disability-friendly company, Covéa takes action on a daily basis to help its seriously injured policyholders to regain autonomy and get on with their lives.

This commitment is also reflected internally by efforts to raise awareness among our employees about disability, hiring people on equal terms and adopting an appropriate working framework and HR support.

In addition, in early 2021, the Group and all of its employee representative bodies signed an ambitious new three-year disability agreement.