As part of DNV’s CSR efforts, a partnership has been established with the Red Cross, which was chosen as partner in a corporate web-based poll among DNV employees worldwide.

The Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross Trygve Nordby and DNV's CEO Henrik O. Madsen signed the contract for three new years on 12 January 2007.

“DNV takes its social responsibilities seriously and one way to live our values is to support humanitarian work in countries where we operate,” says DNV head of Relations and CSR Sven Mollekleiv.

The partnership with the Red Cross was established in March 2004 following an online vote among DNV’s employees. Employees all over the world were asked which humanitarian organisation would be their preferred partner and the Red Cross was chosen by the vast majority.

The aim of the partnership is to increase the capacity of the Red Cross to carry out humanitarian work. The partnership aims to create pride and enthusiasm among employees worldwide and is expected to increase motivation and involvement. It is also expected to promote understanding of humanitarian situations in the geographical areas where DNV operates.

Exchange of competence
The partnership is founded on the exchange of competence. As well as gaining financial support to defined projects, the Red Cross will benefit from DNV’s expertise in core areas such as disaster preparedness, risk management and contingency planning.

Focus on water
When world leaders gathered at the Millennium Summit in 2000, they agreed upon integrated goals with time-limited targets for reducing poverty and improving the environment. 1,2 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water and proper sanitary conditions, and 1.6 million die every year because of this. The UN Millenium Development Goal for Water is to “halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water”.

DNV wants to be a part of this global agenda, and contributes through the cooperation with the Red Cross. Realising that DNV could make a significant contribution within the water area, the partnership primarily focuses on water issues.

How much money?
In the first three-year period, the partnership funding amounted to NOK 1.5 million per year. These funds were spent on DNV in-kind services as well as on providing financial support to specific programmes.

In addition, DNV donated money to Red Cross relief operations in the following disaster areas:

• The December 2004 tsunami
• The Katrina hurricane of August 2005
• The Pakistan earthquake of October 2005
• The bombing of Lebanon in the summer of 2006

For the 2007-2009 period, the funds have been raised to NOK 2 million per year, divided between in-kind services and financial support.