Madeleine Jacobs, Head of Group Sustainability of ABN AMRO: "We are corporate risk managers ourselves, so of course we have those skills, but we were eager to hear from Novib about the risks of charity projects in emerging markets." ABN AMRO and Novib have a prolonged dialogue on sustainability topics such as forestry, mining and poverty reduction, so both partners are well acquainted. In last year's master class ABN AMRO gave an insight in the specifics of banking, including the way the bank assesses its engagements before and during financial transactions. This year Novib could return the favour. ABN AMRO employees worldwide had donated a considerable amount of money for the victims of the tsunami. So suddenly the bank was facing the task to choose charity projects in tsunami-hit countries. Madeleine Jacobs: "We do have experience in community investments in the markets and communities that we serve. But this is different. We wanted to direct the money in a fast and responsible way, with a maximum of transparency towards our colleagues who donated the money. Of course they want it to be well spent and want to know what the results are." And that is where the expertise of Novib was opportune. Novib works with hundreds of local partner organisations and has developed its own risk assessment methods. Madeleine Jacobs: "There are certainly similarities between their work and ours, but charity projects involve different risks." ABN AMRO will soon start three or four projects in each of the tsunami-affected countries. The projects will be conducted by local NGO's, carefully selected by experienced international organisations, such as Unicef, IUCN or Novib. P+ Webtip: ABN AMRO Sustainability Report 2004