Solidarity at the Heart of our Actions in image

Discover the film presenting our humanitarian sponsorship programs

The activities presented above are only a few of many others, which give insight into the heart of a company unlike any other; a company that endeavours to bind economic imperative with social responsibility and pays particular attention to the world’s most vulnerable populations.

• View the film "Solidarity, at the Heart of our Actions" 

Discover the first 7 films on our solidarity programs over the world

These seven films invite you to discover some of our activities across the world, from Indonesia to Brazil, via Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Syria and Honduras. They are developed in partnership with various humanitarian associations, staffed by outstanding men and women who carry the banners of courage, respect, audacity, performance, creativity and solidarity. We also work with Sister Elisabeth, who is setting up clinics for the needy in Vietnam, Doctor Otamires da Silva, who is fighting the spread of leishmaniasis among poor families in Sao Vincente Ferrer, Brazil and Professor Francine Leca, who performs heart surgery on children from all over the world, who cannot be treated in their own country. It is also in the name of abused children that sanofi-aventis supports the NGO "Refugee Children of the World" in Cambodia, and the activities of Father Ceyrac in India.  

For a Child's Heart (France / Syria)

Association Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque, Enfants du Monde

The challenge taken up by the Association "Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque" is to allow disadvantaged children with serious heart malformations to be operated on when their countries of origin do not have the necessary facilities. With Professor Francine Leca, we went to Syria, a place she visits regularly. To date, nearly a thousand children have been saved in this way thanks, also, to the Association of foster families, private donors and partner companies, including sanofi-aventis, which takes an active part.  

Sister to the forgotten (Vietnam)

Sister Elisabeth

Today, Vietnam is gaining a new image with the ambition of joining the club of Asian Dragons as soon as possible. But the market economy with its laws has left many behind. A Franciscan nun, Sister Elisabeth, decided that her task was to give a chance to those "forgotten": old people without help, young unemployed people or small farmers from the countryside. Health, education, infrastructures, she fights on every front.  

Leishmaniasis, a neglected disease (Brazil)

Oswaldo Cruz Foundation

Endemic in 88 countries, with nearly 2 million new cases of people infected every year, leishmaniasis still ranks among the neglected diseases. Transmitted by a tiny mosquito, the phlebotomine sandfly, here, leishmaniasis is rampant in its cutaneous form, but also in mucocutaneous and visceral forms. The Aggeu Magalhaes Centre of Recife has set up a prevention and research programme concerning 2,800 families living in rural areas of Pernambuc, North-East of Brazil.  

Playing in peace (Cambodia)

Association Enfants Réfugiés du Monde

By especially targeting the intellectuals and teachers, the Khmers Rouges totally devastated the education system in Cambodia. The NGO "Enfants Réfugiés du Monde" has set up and supports 13 activity centres affiliated to schools spread over three districts in the province of Battambang, the country’s second biggest city. Alternating with school classes, 3,000 children and adolescents play games in every shape and form, because, here, learning to play is relearning how to live.  

In the wake of the Tsunami (South-East Asia)

11 NOGs and Organizations

On the morning of the 26th December 2004, a huge tsunami sent deadly waves of water crashing onto the coastline of South-East Asia. 300,000 people were killed in just a few seconds and millions left homeless and totally destitute. Immediately, a worldwide solidarity set off, relayed by hundreds of NGOs. A few months later, we set out in the wake of the tsunami to discover the new daily reality of these men, women and children who had touched our hearts and made us want to reach out to them.  

Help them live! (Honduras and Tanzania)

Whereas in developed countries almost 80% of children with cancer can be cured, the recovery rate is as low as 20% (or even 10%) in the world’s poorest countries, where it is much more difficult to provide information, early diagnosis and, above all, access to treatment. This film shows 2 among the 26 projects part of “My child matters” program. 
In Honduras, child oncology specialists at the Hospital Escuela Materno in Tegucigalpa have set up relief medical centres in several of the country’s provinces to fight the alarming treatment dropout which was, until recently, almost 40%. 
In Tanzania, the oncology specialists from the Ocean Road Cancer Institute, in Dar es Salaam, are extending access to treatment for childhood Burkitt's lymphoma.  

Ceci n'est pas un jeu (France)

APEAS (Association de Parents d’Enfants Accidentés par Strangulation)

The Choking Game, California High, Space Monkey are just some of the weird and wonderful names for a schoolyard activity where small groups of children, hidden from grown ups, play at fainting through choking or strangulation to try out new sensations.
A secret and hallucinatory activity, thousands of children consider it a game without realising that its effects can be deadly. The Chocking Game and its variations concern children and adolescents between 4 and 20 years old. Each year, all over the world, hundreds of them are left seriously handicapped or dead through these "games". To counter this tragedy, those responsible (parents, teachers and counsellors) have just one effective weapon: prevention.