Social matters

In this section, we will look at how society-related and social issues affect our business activities and relationships, and vice versa. We will in particular explain the concepts we have in place to deal with social activities and sponsorships, customer focus and innovative services and products as well as data protection. According to our understanding, employee matters are social matters, which is why we have also included them as a subsection and describe our concepts in this regard.

Social activities and sponsoring

As Austria’s largest health insurer, we focus our social engagement on health and education. Our UNIQA 3.0 corporate strategy also describes our view of the world. We use this to work out the key social risks and requirements for how we conduct ourselves. One of our primary focal points is on supporting young or disadvantaged people. UNIQA also places all kinds of emphasis on supporting general interest initiatives. Promoting the arts and sports are important focal points here in all of our markets. This ranges from long-term sponsorship to support for individual projects with which we can identify based on our corporate values.

Our accession to the Initiative for Transparent Cooperation (Initiative für transparente Zusammenarbeit) demonstrates we are committed to open dealings with NGOs, associations and sponsorships. By implementing the Code for Transparent Cooperation (Kodex für transparente Zusammenarbeit) as drawn up by the Initiative, our aim is to provide the public with a clear insight into which NGOs we are cooperating with, explain in what way and for what purpose we are involved, and engage in discourse as to how our stakeholders assess our commitment to this.

We revised our approach to social matters in 2021. The strategy and implementing guidelines were revised to ensure our sponsorships are ESG-compliant. We undertook this in accordance with the DNSH principle (Do No Significant Harm), whereby any sponsorship in place must fulfil at least one of the ESG criteria. Furthermore, our partners must be able to provide credible evidence of sustainable action or even present their sustainability concept for sponsorship amounts in excess of a certain figure.

By working in close collaboration with UNIQA Privatstiftung, approximately €1.1 million of funds were made available for social projects in 2021. These funds were invested in projects that are closely linked to our health business segment or enhance the continuity of an existing relationship with UNIQA.

Since autumn 2021, there has been a new collaboration in place with Special Olympics Österreich (SOÖ), an organisation that arranges training and sporting events and support for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Thanks to our collaboration with this not-for-profit organisation, UNIQA is on hand to provide support for events and competitions, such as the 2022 Special Olympics Summer Games. Our employees will also have the opportunity to use up their UNIQA volunteer day during the Summer Games and offer their services as corporate volunteers.

Further information on our initiatives can be found in the 2021 Sustainability Report under Section 3 “Sustainability in our UNIQA community”.