Foundations: Performance 2007/08
We said:
- We would continue to focus on disaster relief and preparedness as a flagship programme of The Vodafone Group Foundation
- We would continue to add new foundations to our established family of foundations
- We would launch a second global flagship programme by March 2008.
We have:
Donated £44.9 million in money, time and materials to charities and good causes around the world through our foundations
The Vodafone Group Foundation made community donations totalling £24 million in 2007/08. Around 77% of this was awarded in grants to our local foundations. The remainder contributed to transnational projects and global disaster relief. With the support of The Vodafone Group Foundation and local operating companies, our 23 local foundations and social investment programmes distributed £33.3 million to social, environmental, health and educational programmes in their respective countries.
The local operating companies provide valuable support to the foundations, not just funding – many managers from our operating companies are trustees of their local foundations. There are also a number of trustees from external organisations on the boards of our local foundations.
Established three new local foundations
In 2007/08, new foundations began operating in Turkey and Albania. We believe the Vodafone Albania Foundation is the first ever business charity organisation formed in Albania.
We also announced the establishment of a foundation in India – where Vodafone has recently acquired a local operating company – with an initial commitment of US$10 million. This money will be used to provide grants to locally registered charities and global NGOs operating in India that have suitable social investment aims and objectives. The Vodafone India Foundation will initially focus on providing education for young people across India, to help them develop new skills. We are engaging with stakeholders to establish the framework for a foundation in Greece. Vodafone continues to donate money to charitable organisations in Greece through the local operating company and through direct grants made by The Vodafone Group Foundation.
Donated £1 million to disaster relief efforts
The Vodafone Group Foundation has established a disaster fund of £1 million each year to enable a rapid response when a crisis occurs. In 2007/08, the fund was used to support disaster relief operations in response to the Darfur Appeal in Sudan, the Kenya Red Cross crisis appeal, fires in California and Greece, and flooding in Bangladesh, India and the UK.
Launched a partnership between The Vodafone Group Foundation, the UN World Food Programme and the UN Foundation
We launched a Global Partnership for Emergency Communications with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in 2007/08, through our long-term collaboration with the United Nations Foundation. The WFP partnership aims to create a more effective response to major emergencies around the world using information and communications technology (ICT). The United Nations Foundation and Vodafone Group Foundation has committed US$4.3 million to the partnership to train relief workers on the use of ICT equipment and procedures which will make disaster relief efforts more efficient. The programme builds on a project funded in 2006 through The Vodafone Group Foundation and the United Nations Foundation partnership to research and develop ICT best practices.
Continued to support disaster relief organisations
The Vodafone Group Foundation works in partnership with organisations such as the Oxfam 365 Alliance, Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) and MapAction. The Oxfam 365 Alliance aims to ensure resources are available to Oxfam aid workers to respond to disasters as soon as they occur. With assistance from The Vodafone Group Foundation, it supports a global rapid response team of aid workers and maintains a strategic stockpile of emergency supplies.
The Vodafone Group Foundation also supports TSF through its partnership with the United Nations Foundation. TSF’s rapid response teams were deployed to set up emergency telecommunications centres in 11 disaster situations during 2007/2008. These centres enabled aid organisations and local authorities to communicate and coordinate relief efforts.
The Vodafone Group Foundation is helping MapAction – a non-governmental organisation that helps to coordinate disaster relief efforts – to build capacity enabling it to respond to multiple emergencies at once. MapAction uses information technology including GPS and satellite imagery to provide up-to-date information to help relief agencies target their efforts where they are most needed.
Launched a second global flagship theme focusing on sport and music
Over the next three years, the Vodafone Group Foundation will contribute approximately £12 million to projects that use sport and music to help disadvantaged young people. British Paralympic athlete Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE and four times Olympic gold medal winner for rowing Sir Matthew Pinsent CBE have been appointed as advisors.
Supported international sport and music projects through The Vodafone Group Foundation
The Vodafone Group Foundation donated £1.5 million to UNICEF in 2007/08 to support projects that use sport to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS among children in Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe. This will provide thousands of young people with vital knowledge and life skills to help protect them from HIV infection.
The Vodafone Group Foundation is partnering with Red Dust Role Models, a charity that engages celebrities from the fields of sport, music and entertainment to convey social messages to young people. They relate good sporting behaviour to responsible behaviour in society and in personal life. Established in Australia in 2006, Red Dust Role Models, with a grant of £540,000 in 2007/08, is extending this programme to three other countries, starting with a pilot project held in Mumbai, India, in February 2008.
The Foundation has also granted £500,000 to the Special Olympics over three years to fund Unified Sports. This project aims to break down social barriers between individuals with and without intellectual disabilities, by bringing them together into teams for sports training and competitions. The funds will enable Unified Sports to be extended to six further countries: Belgium, France, Hungary, Romania, Turkey and the UK.
Set a target to extend the World of Difference programme globally
The World of Difference programme encourages individuals to give up their regular jobs for a year and apply their skills and experience to work with the charity or non-governmental organisation of their choice. Salary support is provided for the year to participants, who are selected on merit through a public competition.
Four Vodafone local operating company foundations are already running the World of Difference programme in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the Netherlands. The Vodafone Group Foundation is now incorporating the World of Difference programme into its strategy and has set a target to extend the programme to further countries through its network of local foundations.
We will:
- Extend the sport and music theme across our network of foundations
- Continue to focus on disaster relief and preparedness as a flagship programme of The Vodafone Group Foundation
- Extend the World of Difference programme to further Vodafone foundations.
