2021 WorldImpact calendar

Poverty is one of the most pervasive and punishing problems to plague humanity. While we have made significant progress, 1.3 billion people remain entrenched in some form of poverty. It is a problem that disproportionately affects youth, too; half of all people living in poverty are under 18.¹ To address the issue of youth poverty, Deloitte Malaysia seeks to improve the long-term socioeconomic mobility of low-income youth through the KidsEdu program. KidsEdu aims to make education accessible to kids from the Bottom 40% households under the Malaysian Income Classification. More details can be found here:

¹ _{https://www.undp.org/content/oslo-governance-centre/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-1-no-poverty.html}

Despite the remarkable strides made in food production and agricultural technologies, nearly 9% of the world population suffers from undernourishment. Based on current estimates, more than 840 million people are projected to be afflicted by hunger within the next decade.² To combat this, Deloitte partnered with Barry Callebaut to devise a new module for Indonesian vocational schools and cocoa farming communities which emphasises financial literacy and sustainable cocoa farming. We were glad to play a small role in empowering communities to improve sustainable food production as a source of nourishment and livelihood. More details about Barry Callebaut’s sustainability initiative can be found here:

² _{https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/}

Now more than ever, we need to maintain robust and well-funded public health programs in our struggle against the scourge of COVID-19. To do our part in the battle against the pandemic, Deloitte is committed to helping organisations provide critical support to the brave frontline workers whose tireless work helps stave off the coronavirus. Deloitte has contributed to anti-coronavirus efforts around Southeast Asia–in Brunei, for instance, we donated to the COVID-19 Relief Fund to bolster the Brunei Ministry of Health’s efforts to contain the virus. You can do your part by supporting any COVID-19 relief efforts in your country, and reading up more about the pandemic at:

At Deloitte, we believe that every child should have access to inclusive and equitable quality education and that every adult should have access to lifelong learning opportunities. Deloitte has bolstered education efforts across the region, including in Laos, where we were grateful to be able to contribute to the local student community. As part of Impact Day, we donated education equipment, conducted and English lessons with the students of Don Yeang Kindergarten and Primary school. For more information on the importance of providing quality education, visit:

Deloitte strongly believes in the principle of gender equality, and we seek to empower women and men alike in the journey to achieve equitable treatment. Our partnership with the Vietnam Women’s Union highlights our commitment to empowering women and girls within the region – our collaboration helped build homes and provide financial support for disabled women within the rural highlands of Vietnam. Similarly, we collaborated with the Vietnam Business Coalition for Women’s Empowerment to research gender equality, women at work and sustainable development. For more details about the Vietnam Women’s Union, visit here: http://vwu.vn/ and if you are interested in the work done by the Vietnam Business Coalition for Women’s Empowerment, go here:

We have said it before, and we will say it again: Clean energy is the future. Deloitte has pledged to go net-zero by 2030, and we are eager to follow through on our WorldClimate initiative, which has been crafted so we can do our part to help the world achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. To encourage affordable and clean energy usage, we will ensure that by 2030 all our buildings run on renewable energy and our fleets will comprise entirely electric vehicles. For more information on our WorldClimate commitments, check here:

Even before COVID-19 hit, the global economy had been growing at a slower rate than before. Now with the pandemic, unemployment is likely to hit an all-time high. Deloitte is committed to helping workers bolster their employment prospects, and we were honoured to do our part to empower youth through our collaboration with the University of Guam. Through these partnerships, we empower the future workforce and leaders by providing them with opportunities for wider access to education, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. For more information on Decent Work and Economic Growth, go here:

We are on the cusp of a new industrial revolution, and the fundamentals of the conventional industry, innovation and infrastructure are evolving. To aid youths in adapting to this rapidly-changing work paradigm, Deloitte has partnered with the Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST) to implement the Training of Trainers programme in the Philippines. This program instils skills necessary to thrive within this new economic landscape whilst encouraging youth to adapt to changing labour demands inclusively and sustainably. Find out more about ASSIST here:

As a general rule of development, economic growth is accompanied by inequality. Deloitte has pledged to fight inequality in all its forms, and we are glad to help tackle issues of income inequality by supporting the Myanmar Mobile Education project. This project provides non-formal training and assistance programs to youths compelled into servitude. We organised Basic English Language classes for these youth – complete with video materials and assessments – so they can use this language competency to boost their social mobility, consequently combating inequality within their community. For more on the Myanmar Mobile Education Project, check here:

It’s no secret that the world is rapidly urbanising, and with this comes the challenges of increasing underserved transportation demand, lack of accessibility and growing pollution. The onus is on cities to find ways to provide their growing population with safe, resilient and sustainable mobility options. To encourage innovation, Deloitte Future of Mobility Solution Centre has collaborated with Toyota Mobility Foundation as co-developers of the City Architecture for Tomorrow Challenge (CATCH) to put out a call to reimagine and design future city infrastructures through dynamic, intelligent and data-driven connected solutions to address mobility and city planning challenges in Kuala Lumpur. Find out more about CATCH at:

We live in a world of finite resources, and our consumption patterns need to reflect that. In 2017, our global material footprint was 85.9 billion tons, illustrating the ubiquity of unsustainable natural resource consumption habits.³ Deloitte recognises the importance of responsible consumption and production and is partnering with the Kod Pa Kod Talay Projects by the Environmental Education Centre in Thailand (EEC Thailand) to help impart crucial lessons about environmental conservation, sustainable living and the circular economy. Find out more about EEC Thailand here:

³_{https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2020/goal-12/}

With unity, comes strength. Deloitte firmly believes that collaboration allows us to forge a path together towards a better, brighter future. As such, not only have we been keen to link up with local communities, non-government organisations and fellow corporations, we have cultivated a working relationship with the United Nations, who share our ambition for an inclusive and sustainable future. If you know of any organisations which would like to partner with us on addressing any of the aforementioned development goals, contact us at SEACRSWorldImpact@deloitte.com to let us know how we might collaborate to forge a better world for our children.