Prudential has a proud history of stepping up to support everyday people when they need it most. However, this work doesn’t just exist in the moment. Focusing on the future is more important than ever – whether that’s building resilience in communities or finding new ways to protect vulnerable people in the event of a natural disaster.
For Prudential, this crucial work continues to this day in the form of the Prudence Foundation – investing in innovative initiatives across Asia and Africa. “If we as a Foundation can be contributing to equipping people with resilience, life skills, and important things that can help people and save lives, that's the contribution we want on issues that are very prevalent in our markets,” explains Marc Fancy, Executive Director, Prudence Foundation.
But this can’t happen in isolation. Forging robust, open, and collaborative partnerships with corporates, NGOs and governments is the bedrock for success in the Foundation’s mission.
“What we are always trying to do is understand problems, find solutions, and then partner with the people best placed to create and/or deliver those solutions. Nobody has all the solutions, and that’s what makes partnerships so important,” Marc continues.
For well over a decade, Prudence Foundation has partnered with renowned global charity Save the Children, in its ambition to change the future with and for children, creating a fairer world that keeps children safe, healthy, and learning.
The foundations for a great partnership
The relationship between Prudence Foundation and Save the Children began by understanding each other’s shared priority to find long-term, sustainable solutions to challenges facing communities. Prudence Foundation’s commitment to innovation and utilising technology, combined with its resource and knowledge compliments the expertise of Save the Children and the vital work the organisation does globally. With hundreds of brilliant charities and organisations deserving of such support, identifying the right partner at the right time is crucial.
Gwen Hines, CEO of Save the Children UK, shares more on how this partnership started. “Prudential began working with us by becoming an inception partner of Save the Children’s Emergency Fund. The Fund does exactly what it says on the tin. It is fast flexible funding ready to help children anywhere in the world when a crisis hits.”
“We do not partner with an NGO for the sake of it. There’s a significant amount of strategic thought that goes into all our partnerships. But essentially it boils down to who are the best people to deliver the job?” explains Marc.
“With Save the Children, our relationship began around disaster response. We would go onsite with them for two weeks to get an understanding of the work they were doing, and we could then share that with our stakeholders so we had clarity on where the money we would be providing was going.”
In 2022, it is estimated that the Emergency Fund has impacted the lives of more than 24 million people around the world. But disaster relief funding was just the start of a partnership that has evolved over the years.
Evolving a partnership with common objectives
A strategic shift brought Prudence Foundation and Save the Children together again in the early 2010s with a shared focus on building disaster resilience among children and communities, and improving learning continuity.
“We were funding a lot of natural disaster relief and recovery. We wanted to rethink our approach and try to take action before an event occurred,” explains Marc. “Why wouldn’t we invest the money beforehand and try and prepare communities to minimise the risks and numbers affected? That led us to disaster preparedness which really is about building resilience to the impacts of disasters.”
Prudence Foundation joined Save the Children and Plan International in the development of the Safe Schools programme in the Philippines. As a region, it is susceptible to instability from hazardous events including disasters induced by the climate crisis. Typhoons. Earthquakes. Erupting volcanoes. All hugely disruptive and damaging events that often require response and post-disaster recovery as well as serious rebuilding efforts.
After a period of working together on a school-by-school basis, Prudence Foundation and Save the Children wanted to take their learning and insights to develop and deliver a scalable and sustainable initiative which could protect all schools across the Philippines from disasters and other emergencies. Together with the Department of Education, they developed the Comprehensive School Safety Ecosystem initiative.
This national programme places a focus on the development of Disaster Risk Reduction Management (DRRM) information systems, training, and risk education to reduce the effects of hazardous events. The programme was developed to align to the Comprehensive School Safety Framework (CSSF), created by GADRRRES (Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector).
One standout development of the programme, which was recognised by an award from the
United Nations, was the introduction of the digital RADaR (Rapid Assessment of Damages Report) application. In the past, immediate reporting of school infrastructure damage had been difficult to manage due to an outdated and inefficient system of reporting.
“Previously, each school would send the national Department of Education an individual SMS (Short Message Service) or excel template report,” explains Albert Muyot, CEO of Save the Children Philippines. “This information would allow them to apportion funds and prioritise repairs. But the previous transmission method could take weeks – or even months.”
“With Prudence Foundation’s support, we were able to roll out an app that enabled real-time damage reporting at the school-level, allowing them to log damage and repairs on the national database instantly.”
The work in the Philippines has been a great success to date. The policy, framework, capacity strengthening, and systems are being rolled out to an increasing number of schools following collaboration between Prudence Foundation, Save the Children Philippines, and the Department of Education. The joint aim is the implementation to all 47,000 schools nationwide, ensuring children are protected and can keep learning for generations to come. This success, built on partnership, innovation, and a focus on sustainable impact, is a best practice example of CSS which can be shared and advocated for globally.
Using advocacy to create change on a global scale
Pursuing advocacy is really where the partnership comes into its own. Creating a network of partnerships is the way to develop real change, as evidenced in the Philippines. Gwen adds, “We’re in the business of what works. Having Prudence Foundation as a partner, with their openness to long-term projects and partnerships, brings credibility as well as interest from other partners.”
“Save the Children are incredible partners; I am such a huge fan of them,” says Marc. “When we have something to say, they listen. And they want us to have a seat at the table, which is really brave. They’re looking for solutions, just like us.”
This was highlighted at COP27, as Prudence Foundation and Save the Children hosted a discussion with GADRRRES and global education and climate actors including UNESCO, the Global Partnership for Education and Green Climate Fund. The discussion focused on the Comprehensive School Safety Framework (CSSF) and the effects of the climate crisis on education. “If you take natural disasters, COVID-19, climate change, increase of heat, there is a significant impact on education,” explains Marc.
The challenge remains to pursue adoption and implementation of the CSSF throughout the Philippines and into other markets. “Marc and I are really clear, success for the CSSF is that it is implemented much more widely,” adds Gwen.
Committed to helping society for years to come
The partnership between Save the Children and Prudence Foundation remains strong as ever, as the shared ambition to build community resilience will continue to impact lives and the next generation.
As the 175th year celebrations continue, the last word is left to Marc.
“As a company that’s 175 years old and celebrating its anniversary, we should be playing a part in the societies we operate in. Contributing to their solutions around the issues they face. That’s success for me.”