Make the most of adolescence while also becoming aware of the problems adults face. Matthew is a 17 year old student in an Irish high school who aspires to become an engineer. Soon, he’ll have to start thinking about how he’s going to pay for his studies and maybe rent an apartment. There are many such questions to consider, and today they seem far away. But in an environment that remains unstable and challenging, it is important to provide new generations with the tools they will need to understand the risks that surround them.
Insure Your Success is a global education program whose aim is to address this necessity. Introduced this year by the AXA Group in partnership with Junior Achievement, a global organization dedicated to providing hands-on financial education for young people, the program will run over a three-year period.
“We are delighted to be involved in this initiative, which is proof of our corporate responsibility commitment to risk education, and an extension of AXA’s mission to protect people. As a company whose business is to protect people over the long term, AXA has the responsibility to leverage its skills and resources to build a stronger and safer society,” notes Clara Rodrigo, Head of Community Investment for the AXA Group.
“Junior Achievement is pleased to be collaborating with AXA and helping young people understand financial risk in an engaging and practical way. The approach to this topic has to shift from textbook to reality if we are going to truly empower young people to make good financial decisions later on. What I think is especially important is that AXA is putting its own human capital behind the programme. Young people will learn more and be inspired by such’expert’ volunteers!” explained Caroline Jenner, CEO of Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise Europe.
Along with 1 800 other students, Matthew is a beneficiary of this educational program. Aged 12 to 18, these young people represent 5 countries: Ireland, Japan, Portugal, the Philippines and Romania. Through different hands-on activities led by AXA Group volunteers, the students will learn how to budget, plan and anticipate the financial consequences of the risks they will face in their lives. To help them make informed decisions in the future, students gain an understanding of the advantages of protecting one’s assets and become more familiar with the concept of insurance.
Interactive tools and discussions adapted to the age of the participants are also part of the awareness-raising process. The youngest students work more extensively on the issue of establishing the family budget, while their elders tackle the specific issues related to investment choices and buying insurance. A volunteer from AXA is assigned to each school that is part of the program – a total of 75. Initially extended to 5 pilot regions, the project will later be rolled out in other countries.
This program is consistent with the broader commitments of the AXA Group. As an insurer, our core business is to manage risks and to understand, anticipate and explain them. By integrating education into the reduction of risks in our businesses, we help to create a more prepared, safer and stronger society.
