CSR News

 

Partnership with UNAIDS

On May 25, 2007, Grameenphone embarked upon a CSR partnership with UNAIDS, to initiate the Asia Pacific Leadership Campaign on HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh, an advocacy campaign to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and create an enabling and supportive environment for positive policy changes.
The initiative involves high-level leaders from different sectors of the country, including government, business, media and women, and to engage them in helping to create an enabling environment in support of action on HIV and AIDS as per the global directive from the UN. A major focus of the initiative is to feature these leaders in the media as high profile advocates for the necessary policy reforms.

  Organogram
 Organogram

 The six Leaders (UNAIDS Ambassadors) of the campaign in Bangladesh are Advisor for Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Water Resources and Religious Affairs, Major General (rtd) Dr. A S M Matiur Rahman, Runa Laila and Alamgir (cultural personalities), Shykh Seraj (media personality and agriculture development expert), Bibi Russell (fashion icon and activist), and Kafil H.S. Muyeed (Director, New Business Division, Grameenphone).

Under the terms of the MoU, Grameenphone will work jointly with UNAIDS in their advocacy campaign to raise awareness on the causes and consequences of HIV and AIDS and generate greater empathy for the afflicted. The organizations will also jointly fund all communication campaigns undertaken nationwide for the advocacy initiative.


Partnership with Dhaka Ahsania Mission

On 24th May ’07 Grameenphone launched a partnership with Dhaka Ahsania Mission. Through this partnership, Grameenphone will provide financial assistance to establish 5 wards and 1 Operation Theater to provide cancer treatment to the poorest of the poor patients. Along with that, when the hospital begins its operation, Grameenphone will provide further financial assistance as administrative and operational cost for treatment to the poor patients.

  Organogram
 Organogram  One third of the beds sponsored by GP will be reserved for the most economically disadvantaged patients who will receive free treatment; the rest of the disadvantaged patients screened will also receive treatment, significantly subsidized by Grameenphone.

NSDP Conference 2007

Grameenphone recently co-organized NSDP Conference 2007 with NGO Service Delivery Program (NSDP) of USAID, on the occasion of the Program’s closing after completing five years of operation, in Bangladesh. The conference was held on 23rd May 2007.

  Organogram
 Organogram  This one-day conference was organized for the stakeholders from the Government, donors, NGOs, and corporate sectors. The aim was to share NSDP’s achievements and lessons learned over the past five years in implementing the project. In the conference, issues that Bangladesh will face in the health sector in the coming years were also discussed. The conference included presentations made by six of the participating NGOs, an exhibition on their activities and achievement so far as well as six thematic seminars.

Grameenphone Safe Motherhood and Infant Care Project

Grameenphone recently launched a nationwide healthcare project titled ‘Safe Motherhood and Infant Care’ in partnership with NGO Service Delivery Program (NSDP) of USAID. The MoU signing ceremony took place on 20th May ’07.

Through this Grameenphone will provide all necessary assistance free yet comprehensive primary healthcare services to the poorest of the poor population of the country for safe motherhood and infant care, with a special focus on the hard-to-reach areas.

  Organogram
 Organogram Grameenphone will also contribute towards the necessary infrastructure development and extension of basic healthcare services in these areas, by providing assistance in enhancing the service quality through recruitment and field placement of additional community-based health-workers and upgradation of some of the existing static clinics into emergency obstetric care centers. Through this nationwide initiative of Safe Motherhood and Infant Care Project, Grameenphone hopes to aide in reaching Millennium development Goals set for Bangladesh.


Donation to Tauri Foundation

Grameenphone has donated a microbus and three computers, in addition to a financial contribution, to the Tauri Foundation, which runs the School for Gifted Children in the city.

  Organogram
 Organogram  The donation was a continuation of the support lent to the Foundation by Grameenphone, as this is the second time Grameenphone has made such a donation to the organization for the benefit of its school program. The School for Gifted Children provides special education and necessary therapies (speech therapy, physiotherapy) to the mentally or physically challenged children. The program was held at Grameenphone office on 17th May 2007.

 National Disability Day rally

The National Disability Day was observed on April 4, 2007 to acknowledge and honor people with disabilities. This year, Grameenphone, jointly with the Center for Disabled Concern (CDC), a local support group in Chittagong, celebrated the day through a number of activities.
Established in 1997, CDC is run by Mr. Selim Nazrul, who is himself a physically challenged person. He was honored by Prothom-Alo and Grameenphone for his achievements and contribution in the community through an award giving ceremony of “Prothom Alo-Grameenphone Shommanona 2006” earlier this year. CDC is involved in a wide range of advocacy and counseling programs as well as treatment and rehabilitation services for the physically and mentally challenged individuals at Dampara, Chittagong.

  Organogram

Organogram

  The National Disability Day was observed with activities, aimed at raising awareness on the needs and rights of physically and mentally challenged individuals with special focus on their right to social security. A large rally was also organized on the occasion.  Each year CDC observes this day, which is attended by both mentally and physically challenged people of Chittagong, along with the development activists and members of the local community.
Grameenphone also took part in a national discussion session titled "Social Security and Human Rights Situation of the Challenged Citizens", organized by Action on Disability and Development (ADD) at CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka on the occasion of National Disability Day.
 

GP organizes eye-camp in Cox's Bazaar

Grameenphone, jointly with Sight Savers International, organized a two-day eye-camp in Cox's Bazaar Public Library Auditorium from 28th-29th March, 2007 to provide free eye-care support to the underprivileged people of that region.

Over 1100 patients were screened and given prescriptions. Among the patients, 141 were given prescription for refractive error and 114 were selected for cataract surgery. These cataract surgeries were conducted in the following two days.
Organogram
 Organogram  

The Deputy Commissioner of Cox's Bazaar District, Md. Aminul Islam, who was present at the inaugural session of the camp as chief guest, said that Grameenphone's effort in incorporating humanitarian initiatives into its business is extremely commendable, as it clearly demonstrates Grameenphone's commitment in taking Bangladesh forward.
This initiative undertaken by Grameenphone was greatly appreciated by all those present, especially considering that the program reached out to those who do not have access to proper health care. As a responsible corporate citizen, Grameenphone has always recognized its social responsibilities, especially to the less privileged sections of the society.

Grameenphone sponsors International Conference on ICT

Grameenphone has recently sponsored the International Conference on Information and Communication Technology (ICICT) 2007. The conference, organized by the Institute of Information and Communication Technology (IICT), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), ran on March 7-9, 2007. This is the first time ever that Bangladesh had hosted such a prestigious ICT conference.

The ICICT is a bi-annual conference, dedicated to presenting and discussing scientific results, emerging ideas, practical applications, topical issues and new trends in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The conference brings together academia, researchers, scholars, and industry representatives.

  Organogram
 Organogram  Prof. Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, Vice Chancellor of BRAC University was the chief guest of the program. In his speech, he praised GP’s contribution in the ICT sector and highlighted programs like Village Phone (VP) and Community Information Center (CIC). He also added, that “while a lot of thoughts and dreams were shared by the Government and other organizations in the past years by identifying ICT as a powerful sector, it was only GP which, with about 300,000 Village Phone operators and more than 500 Community Information Centers across the country, that has made it a reality.” 

Honoring unsung heroes

Grameenphone in collaboration with Prothom Alo, a leading daily newspaper in Bangladesh, organized a program titled “Prothom Alo-Grameenphone Shommanona 2006” on 28th February ‘07 to pay tribute to those people in the country who, in their own way, have strived for betterment of their community.

The aim of this program was to bring the little-known development practitioners to the limelight creating inspiration and confidence for others.

 

  Organogram
 Organogram

Since 2003, Prothom Alo, the leading national daily Bengali newspaper of the country, has been publishing weekly articles on lesser known development practitioners, who have been contributing directly to the socio-economic development of the country in different ways. These people have been selflessly working without any assistance from the Government or from any other organization - working from their social commitment to improve the quality of lives in their communities. 

 
 Fifty-two such individuals were recognized on the day. While, each of the recipients were overjoyed at the recognition, one of the recipients could not contain herself as she claimed that she felt as though she had received the Nobel Prize itself. She also added that she hopes Grameenphone and Prothom Alo continue their efforts in acknowledging those who deserve it, so that it encourages others to do the same.  Organogram

GP distributes winter clothes

Grameenphone distributed blankets and winter clothes among the poor people throughout the country who were affected by the severe cold wave during the month of January this year.

In addition to Grameenphone's contribution, the company called for donations from its employees, both centrally and regionally. Through this initiative, Grameenphone and its employees donated and then distributed some 12,400 blankets and 50 cartons of winter clothes among the affected poor people across the country.

  Organogram
 Organogram  Since the northern region was the worst affected, this initiative's primary focus was Kurigram and Rangpur in Rajshahi division which is also a very economically-challenged zone. In the other divisions, Grameenphone had distributed blankets and winter clothes among the poor slum-dwellers and floating people in the divisional cities.
The number of beneficiaries in Rajshahi Division was 5200, 1900 in Khulna, 1500 in Sylhet, 1200 in Barisal, 1100 in Chittagong and 1500 in Dhaka. Each of these distribution programs was directly organized by the Grameenphone employees while necessary counseling was sought from local government offices in identifying the affected areas and the recipients.

 During distribution of winter clothes in Kamrangir Char area of Dhaka, Erik Aas, CEO of Grameenphone commented, "Every year, Grameenphone organizes and distributes warm clothes and blankets among the affected people. But this year, realizing the ferocity of the cold-wave, we decided to extend our support in different affected parts throughout the country. We look forward to contribute in the community in the future as well and thus live by our vision to help."

 

  Organogram
 Organogram

GP volunteers at Wari-Bateshwar

As part of GP’s employee involvement program in social activities, volunteers were called in to take part in the excavation work at the Wari-Bateshwar on 16-17 February 2007.
Since 2005, Grameenphone has partnered with the organization named ‘Otihiya Onneshwon’ in the excavation work at Wari-Bateshwar, a historically significant site dating back to the 2nd urbanization (approx. 500 BC) in the Indian sub-continent.
 This project is being implemented by the Archeological Department of Jahangirnagar University. GP commits long-term to be the sole and exclusive sponsor of this initiative and supports both through financial resources and assistance in raising public awareness.  Organogram
 Organogram Recently a team of 34 volunteers from Grameenphone got a first hand experience of the excavation work at Wari-Bateshwar on 16-17 February 2007. The volunteers were divided into two teams, and then taken to the main sites of work where they got the opportunity to help in the excavation work. The volunteers worked on-site with the supervision of the senior students of the Archeology Department of Jahangirnagar University.

Stay Close