Annual report 2014

Key Messages

Societal

, Social and Environmental Information

Section 2

Societal Information

2.1. Key Messages

2.1.1.

CSR Sector Issues related to Human Rights

Vivendi is one of the rare multimedia groups occupying a leading position

across the entirety of the content business. This is why as early as 2003

three strategic CSR issues were defined that are directly linked to this

feature of the group (see Section 1.1.1). The relevance of these issues is

confirmed as Vivendi defines itself as a global integrated industrial group

in media and content.

In July 2014, Vivendi arranged a consultation with its stakeholders

(see Section 1.2.4). A substantial consensus emerged favoring further

strengthening of the positioning of the group’s CSR policy within the three

historical “core” issues, to which the issue of protecting personal data

was added in the interests of consistency, given the development of the

group’s digital activities.

From now on, Vivendi’s four “core” CSR issues include:

promoting cultural diversity in content production and distribution;

empowering and protecting young people in their use of digital

media;

fostering knowledge sharing which includes pluralism of content,

media accessibility and literacy; and

valuating and protecting personal data.

Media sector issues stand out because of their unique characteristics,

and are noticed by the market and by civil society at large. Thus in 2014

the FIDH Liberty and Solidarity Investment Fund, managed by Banque

Postale AM, added Vivendi’s name to its list; Vivendi is the only French

company in the media sector listed by this investment fund that has been

awarded the label Novethic SRI. Both SRI and mainstream investors give

Vivendi a good rating based on its positioning on these sector objectives.

Linking these sector issues to human rights enables Vivendi to meet

the growing expectations of its stakeholders, including investors who

are increasingly paying attention to the performance of companies in

relation to human rights. Moreover, this exercise in transparency on the

part of players in the economy is called for by the growth of increasingly

demanding regulations – both domestically, such as French Grenelle II

law, and internationally, such as the United Nations Guiding Principles

on Business and Human Rights, or the EU Directive on the disclosure

of non-financial information by certain large companies, which will now

have to report information on respect for human rights in their business

operations. In 2014, eager to contribute to public debate and to share

its thoughts on its CSR issues, Vivendi participated in the digital dialog

initiated by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and French minister

responsible for Digital Affairs Axelle Lemaire, and was a part of public

consultation on the topic “Loyalty in the digital environment.”

2.1.2.

Developing Local Talent in Africa at the Heart of Vivendi’s CSR Strategy

Vivendi, a leading company in the media and cultural industries sector, is

making a specific contribution to sustainable development. This consists

of meeting the communication needs of current and future generations,

developing their talents, nurturing their curiosity and encouraging

intercultural dialog and learning to live together.

This is why Vivendi has made the development of local talent in Africa

an essential component of its CSR policy, evidenced by, among other

things, the setting of networks involving colleagues in the subsidiaries

located in Africa, the collecting of data on societal indicators since 2004,

and the launch of a sound engineering training program. Started in 2006

with the support of UNESCO, this annual program takes place at the

Moffou studio in Bamako. It gains the loyalty of young professionals, who

develop diversified skills such as the skills required to record the “Made

in Bamako” album in 2012 or the captioning of a live show, as in 2014,

when they recorded live a concert by Salif Keita and the Ambassadeurs

Internationaux. One of the interns in this training program was the first

winner in the “Technicians” category in November 2014 of the

Ghislaine

Dupont et Claude Verlon RFI (Radio France International)

scholarship.

A fitting reward for this young Malian, now an independent radio station

worker, who is planning on opening a training center himself.

The website

Culture(s) with Vivendi

and Vivoice, Vivendi’s CSR web

radio, are well positioned for promoting the link between CSR issues and

strengthening local production capacities in Africa. The special broadcast

devoted to the topic “Africa, culture and sustainable development”

led to a lively debate between representatives of the ACP (group of

African, Caribbean and Pacific countries), CSR experts in Africa, media

professionals and African artists. These tools for dialog also provide

greater exposure for the CSR initiatives undertaken by the subsidiaries.

This was the case, for example, with the documentary saga

Kindia

, which

was awarded the prize for Innovation from Reporters d’Espoirs. Launched

in 2012 by Canal+ Group’s Documentary department in partnership with

NGOs,

Kindia

is an original television adventure. For four years the

channel’s teams have followed development projects carried out by

these organizations in the region of Kindia in Guinea-Conakry. In three

years, significant progress has been made in healthcare, education and

environmental programs: nine schools have been built and 12 healthcare

centers renovated. Parallel to the editorial coverage provided by Canal+

(one documentary per year to follow the progress of the projects),

subscribers to the channel can contribute to the funding of the projects

through the Kindia Fund.

Another noteworthy initiative,

L’Afrique au féminin

, was led by

Canal+ Africa and Canal France International. A competition of short

programs was opened to young African women filmmakers on the topic

“Succeeding today in Africa.” Of the hundreds of applications received,

fifteen women filmmakers from thirteen French-speaking sub-Saharan

African countries were selected to participate in the project and received

training in writing and editing. Eleven of their films were selected for

broadcasting on the channel. This project, which focuses on discovering

new audiovisual talent among African women, demonstrates the desire

of Canal+ Africa to support projects involving the African cinema and the

Annual Report 2014