Sharad Sapara, Director of UNICEF’s Innovation Centre and Christian de Faria, MD & CEO, Airtel Africa exchanging contracts.
UNICEF and Airtel have entered into a partnership that aims at improving Africa’s population access to health and education-related information while pushing forward innovative projects supported by UNICEF.
The partnership will see UNICEF tap into Airtel’s mobile services in a bid to avail health, education and youth-focused content to customers across 17 African countries. The partnership will also see more Africans access mobile applications developed by UNICEF for free.
“Access to information is a basic human right, and is fundamental to UNICEF’s innovation agenda. Without access to information children and young people are stifled and cannot make the right decisions on matters concerning them. By improving connectivity, this partnership has the potential to empower millions of African children and youth with information and opportunities to help them become agents of change in their societies.†said Sharad Sapara, Director of UNICEF’s Innovation Centre based in Nairobi. “
“Airtel is committed to providing innovative solutions that overcome access and quality challenges around the delivery of services. Our partnership with UNICEF provides an opportunity to deploy Health innovations that can support healthcare systems and provide helpful education-related information.†Said Christian de Faria, Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Africa
The partnership covers the following seventeen countries: Malawi, Madagascar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia; and in West and Central Africa: Burkina Faso, Chad, DRC, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.