2021 Universal Registration Document

NON-FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE STATEMENT: OUR ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND SOCIETAL RESPONSIBILITY

Our societal commitment

Junior Achievement In South Africa, Spain and France, high-school students participate in this year-long entrepreneurship program. In teams, they develop a business plan, prototype and sell the product or service developed. These students structure their team like a company, having heads of commercial, finance, HR, marketing, production and more. This approach allows youngsters to get to know how a company works, discover professions and develop key soft skills such as: problem-solving, critical thinking, adaptability, entrepreneurial mindset, communication skills and creativity. LP4Y The Foundation funds the “professional training for entrepreneurs” program in the training and development center of Saragaon, Raipur. Young adults 17 to 25 years old receive hard and soft skills training as well as the opportunity to develop their own businesses, meet professionals and visit companies. Participants receive an allowance, food and shelter, enabling them to focus on their own personal development, autonomy and empowerment and to have a greater potential of success. After their training, they organize and give workshops to people from their communities. By helping the participants with job-searching as well, 75% are successfully inserted into the professional sector after their participation to the program. 3.6.2.2 Writing by hand is a basic skill that helps structure the thought process. For this reason, writing instruments are indispensable tools for advancing learning conditions. In recent years, BIC teams have supported and facilitated handwriting and promoted its importance in children’s development, especially through: development of activity sheets and workshops for teachers ● such as motor development, coding, sustainable development and writing exercises; promoting education among the communities in need by ● providing them material for the classrooms (stationery, learning supports, etc.) and support schools refurbishment; activities and workshops in schools such as awareness raising ● on the importance of education and writing, creativity, production of texts or thematic coloring contests for younger children. Awareness and coaching actions

actions to help improve learning conditions, including ● awareness of the benefits of writing by hand in learning and memorization processes (discussed in Section 3.6.2.2). At end-2021, BIC estimated that 158 million children have seen their learning conditions improved through direct initiatives either involving children, teachers or parents since 2018.

158 million children saw their learning conditions improve between 2018 and 2021.

In North America on November 1, 2021, BIC announced the launch of the “BIC-CAUSEWE CARE” online community: a virtual gathering place for anyone who has a passion for improving the learning conditions for students worldwide. The “BIC-CAUSEWE CARE” community will support a multitude of efforts such as: monetary donations to educational causes and schools; ● information about local causes and events; ● facilitate discussions about education, and; ● sharing of tools and resources among teachers, parents, ● caregivers and students. Members will also receive an invitation to join numerous welcome activities and missions designed to help spread the word of the community and kick-off engagement and participation in a meaningful way. Examples of projects backed by the BIC Corporate Foundation in each of its main fields of action in 2021: Play Africa In South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Play Africa NGO offers design thinking workshops for children 7 to 12 years old from underserved backgrounds. These workshops allow the development of measurable creative skills in children by teaching them to understand social challenges and how to generate, prototype and test possible scalable solutions. The NGO works together with schools, municipalities and community-based organizations. Play Africa will train 120 facilitators throughout its collaboration with the BIC Corporate Foundation, empowering them to lead participative design thinking workshops. Every year, one solution proposal developed in the workshops will be funded for it to be built in the children’s school or community. Girls Write Now In the United States, the Girls Write Now program matches underserved high school girls and gender expansive youth with women professional writers for a year-long one-to-one mentorship. Mentees create at the intersection of language, technology, and art, exploring sub-genres within poetry, fiction, memoir, journalism and screen/playwriting, and learning digital skills such as audio and video editing, coding and design. Mentees also participate in Girls Write Now’s Writing Works programming, where they receive unique and personalized professional development, strengthening their writing and communication skills, and opening doors, on the pathway to college and career.

3.6.2.3

Philanthropic actions by BIC and its

subsidiaries The philanthropic actions of BIC and its subsidiaries take three forms:

donation of products; ● monetary gifts; and/or ● volunteer work/skills sponsorship. ●

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• BIC GROUP - 2021 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT •