We are raising awareness about autism
On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, as part of our Diversity & Inclusion initiatives, we organized a seminar on "Invisible Disability: the Autism Spectrum" for all our colleagues. The guest speaker was the former international basketball player and Autism Awareness Motivator, Dimitris Papanikolaou.
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated every year on December 3 and was established by the UN General Assembly with the adoption of the “World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons” in December 1992. This Day provides an opportunity for organizations and society to focus on the rights and the potential of people with disabilities.
According to UN data, around one billion people worldwide face some form of disability, 80% of whom live in developing countries, while more than 168 countries are now signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was established a decade ago.
Autism is not a disease
To discuss this important issue, we invited former basketball star Dimitris Papanikolaou to a seminar which we hosted at our offices. Dimitris, whose playing career ran from 1992 to 2011, made history on the basketball court. He twice won the triple crown (championship, cup and Euroleague in the same season) with two different teams, with 131 appearances in the Men's National Team, in addition to winning the Under-19 Basketball World Cup in 1995.
He recently revealed that he has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. As a public figure, his goal is to help fellow human beings and especially children, to accept their disability, learn how to live with it, talk about it openly and to realize that they can have a normal life, without feeling hindered.
At our event, he shared his own personal experiences with autism as well as the lessons he has learned, such as the importance of the parents accepting the situation and keeping their child informed. He also took many questions from employees, with the ultimate purpose of raising awareness on this issue.
Various actions for Diversity
We have established 2022 as Year of Diversity & Inclusion and we have already organized various actions and initiatives aimed at informing and raising awareness among our employees. We are the first Renewable Energy Company in Greece to sign the European Diversity Charter of the European Union, which promotes the voluntary engagement of private companies and organizations to promote diversity.
We are also part of "Valuable 500," a global community of 500 companies committed to empowering people with disabilities through the "Value for Disability" program. In this context, we are supporting the table tennis player Giorgos Mouchthis in his efforts to qualify for the Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024.
The culmination of our initiatives was the call to all employees in the Group around the world to take part in the Authentic Athens Marathon in November.