The devastation caused by floods in Accra and other parts of southern Ghana in the week of May 30 to June 5 is proof that the need for action toward climate change is no longer just a marketing strategy for businesses, but has become a necessity to build toward a greener future.
VFS Global, the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, reported key sustainability achievements in 2021 and shared its Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) targets for the near future. The company documented these highlights and key business developments in an ‘Integrated Report’ released on June 6, 2022.
The 2021 report, based on Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) standards, captures VFS Global’s sustainability strategy based on five distinguished pillars – Contributing to Sustainable Economic Growth, Delivering Good Governance, Nurturing our Colleagues, Protecting our Environment, and Supporting our Communities. Each of these pillars is aligned to the organisation’s business strategy, the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, and national priorities. They also include a considerable focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Employee Empowerment, Reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions and Community Empowerment.
“VFS Global’s first Integrated Report demonstrates the importance we give to sustainability and to integrating our ESG goals within our business strategy. In 2021, we built a sustainability strategy spanning across five fundamental pillars backed by well-defined KPIs and targets linked to the performance goals of the senior management, and cascaded across the organisation to maximise impact,” said Dr. Elena Primikiri, Head – ESG, VFS Global.
Highlights 2021
Reduction of GHG Emissions – Through measures for energy conservation, purchase of renewable energy and offsetting initiatives, VFS Global takes reasonable steps to reduce its carbon footprint and contribute to the global efforts to tackle climate change.
Indeed, 52 percent of VFS Global’s electricity usage worldwide is covered by renewable energy.
As part of its green procurement initiative, 18% of the company’s locations worldwide use certified green printing paper.
Diversity, equity and inclusion is at the heart of the business. Female to Male ratio (across all ranks) is 58:42. Female ratio in senior management: 23 percent, targetted to 28 percent by end of 2022. Close to 60 percent of operations staff (workforce managing visa application centres) worldwide are women. Equal pay ratio is 100%.
Employee engagement is 67 percent, which is above the industry average of 58 percent.
Training & development: 82 percent of the global workforce attended at least one training programme in 2021.Average person-days of training participation is 2.9.
Community outreach
More than 55,000+ individuals benefitted through VFS Global outreach initiatives.
In 2021, 60+ community initiatives rolled out across 22 countries.
VFS Global is the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions. VFS Global is the trusted partner of 64 client governments, operating a global network with more than 3,500 Application Centres in 141 countries.
The company has processed over 241 million applications since its inception in 2001.
The company manages non-judgmental and administrative tasks related to applications for visa, passport, and consular services for its client governments, enabling them to focus entirely on the critical assessment task. VFS Global has its headquarters in Zurich/Switzerland.
