Signify Foundation has benefited 14.8 million people

Signify announced that since 2017, the Signify Foundation has provided lighting services to 14.8 million people worldwide. The recently released "Signify Foundation 2025 Annual Report" points out that sustainable lighting is of great significance to building safer, healthier and more dynamic communities.

Despite numerous examples showing that community lighting can effectively improve street safety, improve health and well-being, and enhance community resilience, community lighting projects still do not receive adequate funding and attention in municipal development plans. The Signify Foundation calls on governments, financial institutions and enterprises to regard sustainable lighting as core infrastructure for investment, maintenance and management.

Mario Giordano, Chairman of the Signify Foundation, said: "Lighting is often seen as a secondary issue in development plans, but in fact it is fundamental. Without lighting, the operating hours of medical institutions will be greatly shortened, children will have to finish their studies early, and the safety of women traveling at night is not guaranteed. The opportunity we have is to systematically integrate lighting into broader development plans, climate action and public infrastructure construction."

Key data for 2025

The daily lives of more than 600 million people around the world are still limited by lack of lighting. Lighting not only brings visibility, but also improves people’s sense of security, personal dignity and economic opportunities by extending the effective activity time of the community. In addition to providing lighting, the Signify Foundation's "Shining Communities" program also provides training in energy efficiency improvement, system installation and maintenance in three major areas:

Promote educational development: Provide lighting for more than 1,000 schools, student residences and playgrounds, allowing children to have safe learning and activity spaces at night.

Improve health and well-being: Provide reliable lighting for 161 hospitals, medical centers and clinics to help improve the quality of medical services.

Improving the living environment: providing lighting to 152 villages and informal settlements to improve the safety of streets and public spaces.

The above projects directly contribute to the realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on Goal 3 (good health and well-being), Goal 4 (quality education), Goal 5 (gender equality), Goal 7 (affordable and clean energy) and Goal 11 (sustainable cities and communities).

From funding model to long-term resilience system

The foundation’s practical experience shows that if lighting facilities are to truly benefit local residents, the key is that they can be independently managed by the community after installation. To this end, the foundation focuses on strengthening local capabilities, attracting supporting investments from government and enterprises, and ensuring long-term maintenance of facilities.

The Palabek Refugee Settlement Project in Uganda, a collaboration between the Foundation and the United Nations Refugee Agency, fully implements this concept. Through community discussions, the project team optimized the layout of lighting facilities based on residents’ actual usage habits of public spaces. Residents were trained on the installation, maintenance and protection of the system, and their respective responsibilities were clearly defined. This initiative not only helped them acquire skills with job prospects, but also gave them a tangible sense of belonging to the facility they were building together. More than a year after the project was installed, nearly 100% of the lighting facilities at the Palabek resettlement site are still operating normally.

Strengthening collaboration to drive long-term impact

The Ugandan project shows that community engagement and local ownership are key to achieving long-term sustainability of infrastructure.

Yue Cui, director of the Signify Foundation, said: "When community residents point to the street lights and say, 'We installed this,' the project is truly integrated into the community and is no longer an external intervention. We call on partners from all walks of life in government and enterprises to regard public lighting as infrastructure to ensure safety, travel, and economic activities."