Last checked at 3 Mar 2014 07:30
3 March 2014
VODAFONE FOUNDATION AND MALALA FUND PARTNERSHIP TO TACKLE FEMALE ILLITERACY AND EXPAND GIRLS' ACCESS TO EDUCATION
The Vodafone Foundation has today announced the launch of a partnership with the Malala Fund - the philanthropic organisation established by Malala Yousafzai, ambassador for girls' education worldwide through the Malala Fund and author of I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education - to promote mobile-based literacy and education projects around the world.
The Malala Fund was established in 2013 to support efforts to ensure girls in all countries and cultures are able to benefit from access to education. The Vodafone Foundation-Malala Fund partnership will explore ways of using mobile technology to tackle illiteracy among women and girls around the world and expand female access to education.
The Vodafone Foundation-Malala Fund collaboration comes in the light of the significant potential for mobile to transform female literacy levels in developing countries, with the Connected Women report*, also announced today, concluding that mobile technology could be used to lift 5.3m women out of illiteracy by 2020. The report was commissioned by Vodafone with research undertaken by Accenture and Oxford University's Saïd Business School.
The Vodafone Foundation's Mobile for Good programme combines Vodafone's charitable giving and technology to make a difference in the world. Globally, the Vodafone Foundation supports projects that are focused on delivering public benefit through the use of mobile technology across the areas of health, education and disaster relief.
Andrew Dunnett, Director, Vodafone Foundation, said: "Getting a mobile for the first time can change a woman's life forever, and - as the Vodafone Connected Women report demonstrates -preventing the gender gap from widening would yield a significant economic benefit. We look forward to working with the Malala Fund to give more women the knowledge and skills to take greater control of their lives and increase their participation in the workforce."
Shiza Shahid, CEO of the Malala Fund, said: "We are delighted to announce our partnership with Vodafone Foundation. We hope our work will help empower the most disenfranchised girls through education and mobile technology."
For further information:
Vodafone Group
Media Relations
groupmedia@vodafone.com
Note to editors
* http://www.vodafone.com/content/dam/connectedwomen/pdf/VF_WomensReport_V12 Final.pdf
About the Vodafone Foundation
The Vodafone Foundation invests in the communities in which Vodafone operates and is at the centre of a network of global and local social investment programmes. In countries in which Vodafone operates, social investment is delivered by a unique footprint of 28 Vodafone Foundations and social investment programmes. These programmes are directed and chosen by the Foundation Trustees and receive funding from the Vodafone Foundation in the UK as well as their local Vodafone company. The Vodafone Foundation is a registered charity in England and Wales (registered number 1089625).