Businesses, a government ministry and a city that have made outstanding contributions toward promoting environmental and social sustainability were announced today as winners of the EBRD’s 2020 Sustainability Awards.
Sustainability underlies all EBRD operations and the Sustainability Awards recognise clients that the Bank works with that are also committed to ensuring sustainability is at the heart of their operations.
The winner of the Gold Award in the Gender and Inclusion category goes to the JSC Medical Corporation EVEX in Georgia. The EBRD has provided a senior secured local currency loan of up to US$ 4m equivalent to EVEX, which is the largest provider of healthcare services in Georgia. Proceeds will be used to finance the construction of a new laboratory facility in Tbilisi. As a local market leader, EVEX is uniquely placed to spearhead social innovations in the healthcare sector to promote gender and economic inclusion. It is advancing nurses’ education and improving economic opportunities at the entry level for the benefit of young labour market entrants. In particular, EVEX is focused on the development of textbooks for nurses, improving learning outcomes and strengthening entry-level skills for young people; outreach to male nurses, addressing equal opportunities in a ‘pink-collar’ occupation to broaden the labour supply; and policy dialogue on skills standards, reducing skills mismatches to ensure that young trainee nurses and midwives gain the best possible start in their careers and for their future livelihoods.
Alistair Clark, EBRD Managing Director, Environment and Sustainability said: “These Awards recognise the great achievements of our clients in going beyond business as usual to address key environmental and social issues within their projects.” A special ceremony for the Sustainability Awards was scheduled to take place at the EBRD Annual Meeting and Business Forum in May 2020, which was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Clark added: “We look forward to celebrating in person with all our award winners when circumstances allow and raising a toast to their success”.
The Sustainability Awards recognise achievements in five specific categories: sustainable energy, climate resilience, environmental and social best practice, environmental and social innovation, and gender and inclusion.
A total of 16 clients from 11 countries were selected for gold, silver and bronze awards.
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