16 May 2017
Maybank Foundation’s Pilot R.I.S.E Program in the Philippines a Huge Success
- Top 40% of participants achieve average income increase of 250% within 3 months
Maybank Foundation and Maybank Philippines today held a special ceremony to recognise the Top 20 Achievement Awardees of the R.I.S.E. (Reach Independence and Sustainable Entrepreneurship) Program, a flagship regional corporate responsibility initiative which was introduced in the Philippines earlier this year.
Held at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater in Bonifacio Global City, the event saw the Chairman of Maybank and Maybank Foundation, Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsudin, presenting certificates and awards to these recipients. Joining Datuk Mohaiyani at the ceremony were Maybank Foundation Board of Trustees members Dato’ V. Danapalan, Mr Umar Juoro and Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, as well as Maybank Foundation CEO Shahril Azuar Jimin and Maybank Philippines Officer in Charge Hazli Abu Samah.
The top 20 participants of the pilot launch of the program were recognised for the significant improvements that have been achieved in their family income and quality of life, through participation in the R.I.S.E. economic empowerment program. R.I.S.E. seeks to train, mentor and coach the disabled to achieve income increase and economic independence in a sustainable way.
The top 20 were among the first participants of the program launched in Metro Manila last January which saw three batches of training already completed in Makati City, Las Piñas and San Juan.
Despite their individual physical and medical challenges, the awardees have achieved outstanding performance in various fields such as personal retail, manufacturing, merchandising, recycling, insurance advisory, handicraft, and direct selling.
Maybank Foundation’s work towards empowering differently-abled communities through the award-winning R.I.S.E. financial training and entrepreneurship program has helped build the confidence and provided empowerment to the differently-abled community.
Four months after its pilot launch in the Philippines, where 117 participants in Metro Manila alone have been successfully trained, mentored and coached, significant improvements can already be seen in the average monthly income and lives of its beneficiaries, with the top 40% of participants recording an average income increase of 250% within 3 months.
“This program provides economic empowerment by increasing the business capability and competitiveness of our targeted beneficiaries, persons with disabilities and the marginalized. This way, they enjoy economic independence while at the same time are provided an opportunity to access financial services,” said Hazli Abu Samah.
“Maybank Philippines is celebrating its 20th year of operations in the country, so we consider this an auspicious time to celebrate this significant milestone and roll out R.I.S.E. in the Philippines, a key market of the Maybank Group,” added Hazli.
Meanwhile, Shahril said, “The R.I.S.E. program seeks to implement financial inclusion among differently-abled communities. Financial inclusion is still at a relatively low level in ASEAN, especially among the disabled and marginalised, and taking on this advocacy is Maybank’s way of driving the bigger regional agenda of furthering financial inclusion across ASEAN.”
He added that providing differently-abled participants an opportunity to transform their business and increase income levels thorough the structured program will also create a multiplier effect. “This is achieved when the participants’ businesses have expanded and they can create new job opportunities by employing others, whether people from the disabled community or also those from a wider population segment.”
RISE aims to have at least 40% of its participants gain an income increase of 100% within three months. Now its second phase, it has already trained and impacted a total of 2,100 participants regionally in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, including the 117 participants in Metro Manila and another 138 participants in Cebu. In the Philippines, the programme is being implemented through Maybank Foundation’s partner organizations: social enterprise People Systems Consultancy and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
“Our commitment to supporting and empowering the disadvantaged, especially the differently-abled, is very much in line with Maybank’s mission of humanising financial services. We believe that in helping all segments of the community to gain financial independence, we can contribute to the overall prosperity and sustainability of society.”
Maybank Philippines has been operating in the country for 20 years since 1997. Presently, it has 80 branches nationwide, of which 30 are in Metro Manila, 4 branches in Cebu, and the rest are strategically located in key cities of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
