Airtel Africa signs MOU with UN WOMEN on initiatives to
promote the empowerment of women and girls. Airtel will establish a Farmer’s Information System which
will provide real time information to women farmers through its network in Africa.
NAIROBI,
Kenya, March 1, 2013/ -- Women
farmers in the East and Horn of Africa region are poised to benefit from
practical information-sharing tools via Airtel’s mobile networks (http://www.airtel.com).
This follows a memorandum of understanding signed between the UN Women (The
United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women) and
Airtel Africa.
As per
the MoU, UN Women will identify the farmers to be covered under this
initiative, whilst Airtel will package and deliver the appropriate mobile
solutions to support their livelihoods and enhance their efficiency.
Commenting
on the partnership, Andre Beyers, the Chief Marketing Officer of Airtel Africa
said: “The empowerment of women is essential to economic development,
especially in rural and agricultural economies. We are pleased to partner with
UN Women and contribute to their agenda of gender equality and empowerment of
women by leveraging the possibilities mobile telephony has to offer.”
Under the
agreement, Airtel Africa will establish a Farmer's Information System, which
will enable women farmers to access real time information related to weather,
changes to the policy environment (such as taxation and regulation), available
support services; as well as other areas. In addition, Airtel will also offer
Internet protocol messaging services and closed user groups.
Mobile connectivity
gives rural communities access to education, banking facilities and
opportunities to increase trade. By connecting rural communities through its
mobile networks, Airtel aims to create positive community impact, greater
social interaction and opportunities for economic development.
Christine
Musisi, UN Women’s Regional Programme Director for the East & Horn of
Africa, said: “This exciting new partnership will use the power of mobile
telecommunications to engage and empower women in rural and urban areas.
Working with Airtel, UN Women can reach entrepreneurs faster, through
communications platforms as they already own mobile phones. Increasingly, both
the public and private sectors recognize that empowering women is smart
economics, and that women must be brought to the heart of Africa’s development.
We will work closely with Airtel to train women so that they, their families,
and the region can reap the benefits of this opportunity.”
The
two-year partnership between Airtel and UN WOMEN aims at building the skills,
capabilities and resources of women entrepreneurs. Women provide approximately
70 percent of agricultural labour and produce 90 percent of all food, yet do
not always share equally in the economic benefits of the industry. Airtel and
UN Women are dedicated to helping women farmers enhance their productive
capacity and international competitiveness in the countries where they jointly
operate.
Airtel
believes that entrepreneurship and the development of the private sector are
essential to achieving economic development and poverty eradication. Under this
agreement, Airtel will also co-finance initiatives and projects promoting the
empowerment of women and the girl child.
Distributed by the African Press Organization
on behalf of Bharti Airtel Limited