250 million lives improved by Vodafone Foundation

Vodafone Foundation has improved more than 250 million lives towards its goal of 300 million by 2025.

Since April 2016, an estimated 258 million lives have been improved by projects led by Vodafone Foundation and local Foundations around the world, in partnership with governments, aid agencies, NGOs and academic institutions.

Nearly 77 million people have directly benefited, and 181 million people indirectly benefited, from Vodafone Foundation projects during the last eight years.

Vodafone Foundation was founded in 1991 with a simple mission to invest in the communities in which Vodafone operates.

Today, the Foundation combines Vodafone’s technology and charitable giving, working in partnership to address some of the world’s most pressing problems.

These range from connecting communities through natural and humanitarian disasters, to reducing maternal mortality through emergency transport.

By investing in the betterment of the communities in which Vodafone operates, and focusing on the challenges where Vodafone’s technology can make the biggest difference, Vodafone Foundation aims to improve 300 million lives by 2025.

Supporting communities through emergencies

Vodafone Foundation’s programmes are reducing maternal mortality and connecting communities in the immediate aftermath of natural and humanitarian disasters.

M-Mama tackles maternal mortality in partnership with the governments of Tanzania and Lesotho. It provides a 24/7 emergency transport service to connect mothers and newborns to vital lifesaving healthcare in rural areas. Using mobile technology, the system co-ordinates transport to medical care. To date, m-mama has reduced maternal mortality in regions by 38%.

Instant Network is an award-winning programme that deploys Vodafone employee volunteers and technologies to restore and supply free communications and technical support. It helps aid agencies, survivors, and refugees in natural and humanitarian emergencies. For more than ten years, Instant Network has been deployed on over 50 missions, with the support of employee volunteers from 14 different countries.

NG-SOS uses life-saving technology to connect people in four European countries to the emergency services. It uses location tracking to accelerate how quickly users are found, saving more lives. The app is the first service of its kind to implement video calls in the emergency calling process and has been downloaded by over 3.6 million users.

Providing support for survivors of abuse and hate crime

Vodafone Foundation also uses app technology to connect over 2.6 million people affected by domestic violence, abuse and hate crime to advice, support, and education.

Bright Sky provides people in 13 markets to practical support and information on how to respond to domestic abuse.

Zoteria is delivered in partnership with Stonewall and Galop to create a safer world for LGBTQ+ people in the UK.

Driving inclusivity through digital learning

Our world is a digital world. From learning a language to food shopping, booking a doctor’s appointment to connecting with friends, or finding a job to solving the climate crisis. But across society, there is a digital divide.

Vodafone Foundation works with partners across Europe and Africa to make sure everyone has the skills and access they need to belong in a digital world.

The Foundation’s Skills Upload Jr programme gives students across Europe the digital skills they need to safely and critically use digital tools and communicate in all aspects of their lives. And it supports teachers to shape whole curriculums and discover the possibilities of digital learning.

Through Hi Digital, the Foundation helps older people across six European countries feel at ease using digital devices, getting online, and keeping in touch with friends and family.

Instant Network Schools from Vodafone Foundation and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, connects refugee and host community students to a quality digital education, in six African countries. Since 2013, the partnership has transformed classrooms into multimedia learning hubs. These include internet connectivity, sustainable solar power, classroom kits including tablets, laptops, projectors and speakers, alongside localised digital content, and teacher training.