Social responsibility

Social projects related to the core business

Innovative sanitary technology continuously improves the quality of people’s lives. This mission is at the heart of Geberit’s social responsibility. The guideline for Geberit employees, the Compass, sets out and explains this.

Besides improving quality of life through innovative sanitary products, Geberit takes its social responsibilities seriously – which is why it has undertaken social projects involving its own apprentices since 2008. The projects exhibit a relationship to the topic of water and to the company’s core competencies. Apart from being involved in the projects on site, the young people who take part acquire new intercultural, linguistic and professional competencies. These social projects make a tangible contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, which include giving all humans access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation by 2030.

In 2018, the apprentices travelled to Morocco. During the first step, the local Geberit office in close cooperation with a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) identified several schools in the Marrakesh region where the toilets were in a desolate condition. The sanitary facilities of these schools were then replaced over a two-week period in October 2018.

Globally engaged

Geberit continued its partnership with the Swiss development organisation Helvetas with a series of initiatives and supported the new Helvetas campaign with a substantial sum of money. Sanitary expertise adapted to the local conditions was passed on in a knowledge transfer project that took two Geberit employees to Mozambique and another two to Nepal in autumn 2018. The “Change of Perspective” project was also implemented again, as two Swiss plumbers travelled to Nepal in November 2018, working there for a week with two Nepalese colleagues. These projects are set to continue in 2019. A major donation was also made to support Helvetas-run water projects around the world.

The Geberit Group’s activities in the area of social responsibility are rounded off by a multitude of other initiatives and fundraising campaigns at a local level. As a basic principle, all social projects and the use of funds are regularly checked by Geberit employees in the respective country or in partnership with NGOs, including after completion of the projects in question. For an overview of donations and financial contributions, see Investments in infrastructure and services primarily for public benefit. All donations are neutral from a party political point of view. No donations were made to parties or politicians. As a rule, no political statements are made, and no political lobbying is carried out. This is ensured globally as part of the annual audit of the Code of Conduct.