Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
We consult widely on an ongoing basis with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) when their campaign or focus is relevant to our business. We do this by organising face-to-face meetings and meeting representatives at CR events.
We also have partnerships with some organisations, including Forum for the Future who we work with on a range of issues, including the impact of reused mobile phones and access to communications in emerging markets.
We engage with certain NGOs on specific issues. For example, we consult regularly on content standards with the Children's Charities Coalition for Internet Safety (CHIS) – a group of leading children's charities campaigning on a range of safety and other issues affecting children's use of the internet. We worked in partnership with European Schoolnet, an online education organisation, to develop a website launched in April 2008 that will help teachers understand new mobile and internet technology and encourage their students to use it responsibly. In the UK, we worked with UK charity BeatBullying on a campaign to address bullying among 13 to 17 year olds.
Vodafone is working with NGOs and other stakeholders in a multi-stakeholder dialogue to draft industry principles on freedom of expression and privacy. NGOs also participated in our privacy focus group in 2007 to explore how to achieve the right balance between safeguarding consumer privacy and assisting law enforcement authorities.
We track relevant campaigns and take into account the findings of NGO reports in our approach to CR management. For example, we discussed with our suppliers the implications of reports published by SOMO (the Centre for Research of Multi-National Companies) and SACOM (Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehaviour) in 2006/07 highlighting unacceptable practices in the electronics supply chain.