Over 900 staff members of Nigeria’s leading Insurance Company, AXA Mansard, have committed to participating in various activities to tackle domestic and sexual violence against children. As part of their annual social responsibility initiative, AXA Week for Good, many employees from the company visited schools in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. They educated students and teachers on recognizing, preventing, and reporting instances of sexual and domestic violence.

 

 

 

AXA Week for Good is the prominent volunteering initiative under AXA Hearts In Action (AHIA), a program designed to motivate AXA employees to make a positive impact on society and the environment. This is achieved through acts of volunteering, expertise sharing, financial support, and donations of goods.

 

 

 

 

 

“Through AHIA, employees don’t just donate their time to worthy causes; we collaborate for a brighter future. We exchange knowledge and expertise, driven by the common goal of advancing human progress by safeguarding what is important, and support vulnerable communities and individuals,” stated Rashidat Adebisi, Chief Client Officer at AXA Mansard.

 

Under the theme “Being a Girl Shouldn’t Be A Risk,” AXA Mansard employees participated in awareness walks to sensitize the public about the danger of domestic and sexual violence on children and the nation’s future. 

 

 

According to Adebisi, this theme presents the organization with an opportunity to demonstrate the social, economic, and ethical benefits of protecting the girl child. She said Nigeria’s 105 million children and adolescents aged 0–17 years represent about half of the country’s population.

 

 

“For a country betting its economic growth on the strength and human capital of its young population, the alarming rate and spate of Violence Against Children (VAC) threaten the future not just of our country, but of the African continent.”

 

She noted that the staggering reality that 60% of Nigerian children experience one or more forms of violence before age 18 is a call to action for everyone, and “our employees are responding to this clarion call so that the thousand of Nigerian girls who go through physical, emotional, sexual and psychological violence can find safe places to get help; but most important, we can rid our society of perpetrators,” she furthered.

 

In 2024, more than 50% of AXA Mansard employees, through various volunteering activities under the AHIA, clocked over 23,000 volunteering hours.