The SOS Group holds that for a project to work and to work well, it must be motivated by a desire to produce a social benefi t. Community development programmes are therefore far from being excluded from this approach to corporate excellence. On this understanding, the SOS Group delegates to the Fundación FESMAI all its fi eld work: from getting aid to the inhospitable places where it is most needed to tackling the very real problems of inequality, illiteracy and hunger.

The Group works for community development from within the company, focusing primarily on its role as creator of economic value. However, over and above the intrinsic benefi ts of this activity (job creation, economic growth, good labour practice, corrective environmental policies, etc.) the SOS Group also encourages the use of its cooperative strengths for serving society directly..

That said, it is not always easy for a company to launch initiatives having no immediate bearing on core business activities. For this reason the Group looks upon the Fundación FESMAI as a companion organisation or, to use a hallowed cliché, our ‘better half’. In company with FESMAI, SOS can do work that, operating alone, would be beyond its capabilities. Out of this partnership comes an interactive relationship to which each party contributes its know-how, experience, dedication and, above all, commitment.

From the very beginning the company was aware of the benefi ts to be obtained from strategic alliances in the interests of local development. After what is now ten years’ cooperation, the evidence of this truth could not be stronger. In the specifi c case of our alliance with FESMAI, four main principles should be underlined:

• its knowledge of the tools required to do a job properly.
• its ongoing relationship with other similar organisations (benchmarking and group undertakings).
• its knowledge of conditions on the ground.
• its ability to respond quickly and effectively.

FESMAI's experience and seriousness are its key strengths. In ten years it has achieved a great deal, extending the scope of its activities and the number of those benefi ting from them.

The achievements obtained from the cooperative efforts of the SOS Group and FESMAI have been recognised by a number of external onlookers. In 2007 the Fundación Empresa y Sociedad (Company and Society Trust) presented SOS with its Community Development award, designed to draw attention to "the company that promotes social and economic development in the neighbourhood of its factories by measures to improve the lives of underprivileged persons related directly or indirectly with the activities and resources of the company."

The programme presented had two facets: one involving the staff of the company and the other the people living near Group facilities. By combining these two 'prongs', the programme was able to achieve lasting results. The panel judging the programme valued the effort made by the company in improving the living conditions in the neighbourhood of its facilities in Tunisia and Mexico:

• In Tunisia by offering special labour and training facilities to encourage women to work at the facility.
• In Mexico by taking specifi c steps to combat child poverty and illiteracy, through the good offi ces of FESMAI.