Vivendi, a world leader in communications and entertainment, today announced the fourth cycle of its Vivendi Create Joy Fund, a corporate social responsibility initiative providing funds to innovative projects focused on bringing joy and opportunities to young people in need. Proposals will be accepted from November 1, 2009 through November 30, 2009 at createjoy.vivendi.com.

Now in its second year, the Vivendi Create Joy Fund has supported over 20 projects in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Africa in Morocco, Burkina Faso and Mali.

Housed within the Sustainable Development section of the corporate website, the newly launched Vivendi Create Joy website allows organizations to review objectives and criteria and to submit proposals. The site also highlights current and past partners and showcases beneficiaries of the initiative.

For more information or to submit a proposal, please visit createjoy.vivendi.com.

About the Vivendi Create Joy Fund

Since 2008, the Vivendi Create Joy Fund has supported over 20 NGOs in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Africa. The Fund brings joy and opportunities through entertainment and communications to young people in need. See www.createjoy.vivendi.com

About Vivendi

A world leader in communications and entertainment, Vivendi controls Activision Blizzard (#1 in video games worldwide), Universal Music Group (#1 in music worldwide), SFR (#2 in mobile and fixed telecom in France), Maroc Telecom Group (#1 in mobile and fixed telecom in Morocco), Canal+ Group (#1 in pay-TV in France) and owns 20% of NBCU (leading U.S. media and entertainment group). In 2008, Vivendi achieved revenues of €25.4 billion and adjusted net income of €2.7 billion. With operations in 77 countries, the Group has about 43,000 employees. www.vivendi.com

Vivendi

Vivendi

A world leader in communications and entertainment, Vivendi controls Activision Blizzard (#1 in video games worldwide), Universal Music Group (#1 in music worldwide), SFR (#2 in mobile and fixed telecom in France), Maroc Telecom Group (#1 in mobile and fixed telecom in Morocco), GVT (#1 alternative operator in fixed telecom and Internet in Brazil), Canal+ Group (#1 in pay-TV in France) and owns 20% of NBCU (leading U.S. media and entertainment group). In 2009, Vivendi achieved revenues of €27.1 billion and adjusted net income of €2.6 billion. With operations in 77 countries, the Group has over 49,000 employees.

About Vivendi’s Sustainable Development Policy
Vivendi’s contribution to sustainable development consists of enabling present and future generations to satisfy their need to communicate, responding to their desire for entertainment, feeding their curiosity, developing their talents, and encouraging exchange among them.

To succeed in that mission, Vivendi is engaged in a responsibility process that takes economic, social, societal and environmental performance related to our business activities and geographic locations into account.

Our sustainable-development policy is defined on the basis of Vivendi’s specific characteristics as a group:

• that is a producer and distributor of content;
• that is at the very heart of the technological progress enabled by broadband and mobility;
• that is centered on the subscription business model.

The first of these characteristics requires that Vivendi evaluate the opportunities and risks its content and services can give rise to for its various audiences. That is why Vivendi has set apart three specific sustainable-development issues: protecting youth, promoting cultural diversity, and sharing knowledge. These issues have been defined in 2003, as Vivendi was refocusing its strategic business units. They are specific to the group’s production and content distribution activities and are analyzed in light of new uses stemmed by the combination of mobility and broadband. The second characteristic has to do with Vivendi’s need to reconcile the digital revolution, which is radically changing uses and modes of content consumption, with awareness of its stakeholders’ needs (employees, consumers, artists, suppliers, civil society, etc.) and of regulatory requirements. The third raises the question of relations with subscribers - meeting or anticipating their expectations and conducting a rigorous policy of personal data management.

More from Vivendi