Social concerns

Concept

The Lufthansa Group is committed to social issues

As an international aviation company, social responsibility is an important topic for the Lufthansa Group, The Lufthansa Group connects people, cultures and economies in a sustainable way. Credible corporate citizenship enhances the Company’s image, increases the loyalty of its employees and strengthens the trust of its customers.

help alliance, the Lufthansa Group’s aid organisation, is a central pillar of the Lufthansa Group’s corporate citizenship and social responsibility and an element of its sustainability strategy. Emergency relief during humanitarian crises and disasters is another integral aspect of the Group’s corporate citizenship. Lufthansa Cargo cooperates with well-known aid organisations, carries out aid flights and delivers supplies.

Employees volunteer

Activities focus on social and humanitarian projects, which are pooled and managed by help alliance. This focus enables the efficient and targeted use of available funds. help alliance works with local partners whose reliability and trustworthiness have been externally validated and which have provided a detailed presentation of their project ideas and approaches via a two-step process. The employees of the Lufthansa Group who work as volunteers in help alliance projects and local help alliance communities all over the world are at the heart of the help alliance initiative. The help alliance staff also plan and implement fundraising measures and communicate the work of the aid organisation to the general public.

In 2023, the Lufthansa Group covered all the costs of administration, fundraising and communication for help alliance. This ensures that 100% of all other donations are used to fund project work.

Organisational foundations and responsibilities

help alliance is a non-profit limited liability company (gGmbH) and wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG with its head office in Frankfurt. The help alliance team in Frankfurt manages global aid projects and coordinates cooperation with project leaders, the local “help alliance communities” and partner organisations on the ground. “help alliance communities” are local groups of volunteers made up of Lufthansa Group employees who dedicate their free time on behalf of the help alliance at the locations of the Lufthansa Group worldwide. help alliance actively supports the development of these local volunteer groups, advising them and supporting a process of dialogue. The role of help alliance in the Lufthansa Group’s ESG strategy is underlined by its close cooperation with the Corporate Responsibility department, whose management is the shareholder representative of help alliance.

Responsibility for the emergency aid flights and the overall donation process lies with Lufthansa Cargo’s Communications, Marketing & Corporate Responsibility department, while the operational departments handle implementation. The donation processes are coordinated with the relevant units and Lufthansa Cargo’s entire board as well as, for volumes of EUR 5,000 or more, a decision-making committee consisting of representatives of the Corporate and Political Affairs & Compliance, Controlling and Business Development departments.

Targets

Aiming to contribute to sustainable social development

The main objective of help alliance is to empower disadvantaged young people worldwide to lead an independent life via development projects. All of these projects contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. The focus is on the areas of education and training, promoting income-generating measures and social entrepreneurship.

The Lufthansa Group’s charitable activities and projects are designed to make a contribution to the sustainable development of society that reflects the importance and size of the Lufthansa Group and is transparent, credible and verifiable all at the same time. Projects are continuously assessed to ensure that help alliance’s work helps to facilitate sustainable development.

Measures

help alliance enables expansion of social projects and opportunities for voluntary work

In 2023, help alliance expanded the range of voluntary engagement options available in its aid projects through the establishment of six additional help alliance communities. With 30 help alliance communities at 36 locations, the organisation thus offers employees opportunities for social engagement. In 2023, it also supported nine new projects in the areas of education, work and income and completed ten projects.

help alliance and Lufthansa Cargo support people in Turkey and Syria

To support those affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in February 2023, help alliance organised a fundraising campaign. Due to this campaign and additional donations from the Lufthansa Group, help alliance raised more than EUR 285,000 to provide immediate assistance in these crisis-hit regions.

Working with Lufthansa Group employees on site and on the basis of existing partnerships, local partner organisations were identified. Following an in-depth review, they received financial support via the donations raised and the necessary resources for ad hoc aid measures.

In addition, the delivery of food and relevant goods by various established aid organisations was organised jointly with Lufthansa Cargo, which carried out emergency aid flights to the regions concerned for this purpose. Lufthansa Cargo made freight capacities available and took charge of the handling process. Overall, Lufthansa Cargo operated four emergency aid flights to the affected areas in February.

To help with the reconstruction and restoration of the affected region, help alliance stepped up the support it provides to affected children by increasing its financial assistance and intensifying its projects in these areas. In the reporting year, for example, help alliance funded projects in Turkey and Syria aimed specifically at setting up emergency accommodation for people who lost their homes due to the earthquakes. The project in Turkey was newly established in the first half of 2023 for this purpose, while an existing project in Syria which promotes the development of “tent schools” was expanded in 2023. In addition, since November 2023, help alliance has funded a home project for children orphaned by the earthquake. The Lufthansa Group intends to continue its social engagement in the affected areas in 2024.

Access to schooling funded in India

Since 2023, help alliance has supported the “Krishnapurum holistic school” project in central India. The key objectives of this project are to provide an opportunity for holistic education for orphans and children unable to access education without it, as well as support for the school’s financial independence. In the reporting year, help alliance donated more than EUR 100,000 towards, for example, the construction of a well and the creation of a school garden. These measures are intended to make the school more self-sufficient and to support its financial independence through the sale of surplus water, fruit and vegetables. The project is to be funded until 2025.

help alliance supports children in Brazil to overcome trauma

Thanks to the help alliance’s financial support, dance and movement therapy has been offered to children who have suffered violent trauma in Brazil since March 2022. In the reporting year, a new course space was opened for this purpose, where courses are offered for more than 300 children between the ages of six and 14. These courses are intended to help them process traumatic experiences, promote their mental health and strengthen their social skills. In 2023, help alliance invested more than EUR 20,000 in donations in this project, which will continue to be funded until 2024.

Performance indicator

Disadvantaged people receive support

In 2023, more than 52,000 disadvantaged people around the world received support through help alliance projects. In 2022, support was provided to around 38,000 people. This means that the number of beneficiaries of help alliance projects rose by 37% in comparison with 2022.

In the reporting year, help alliance was responsible for 54 aid projects in 30 countries with a project volume of almost EUR 4.3m. Of these funds, 81% was allocated to educational projects, 14% to work- and income-related activities and 5% to emergency relief measures. By comparison, the project volume in 2022 amounted to EUR 3.3m and a total of 55 projects were funded. In 2023, the project volume thus increased by 30%.

A total of 163 Lufthansa Group employees served as project managers for help alliance or led help alliance communities in the reporting year.

Impact assessment of corporate citizenship is published

Projects are continuously assessed to ensure that help alliance’s work contributes to sustainable development. The detailed results of an impact assessment are published on the website of the Lufthansa Group in help alliance’s annual activity report.