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25 Years

Integrated Report

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AIRTEL’S QUEST
FOR CARE

AT BHARTI AIRTEL, WE ARE TAKING AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO OUR RESPONSIBILITIES. WE ASPIRE TO BE A COMPANY FOR ALL, CREATING VALUE FOR OUR STAKEHOLDERS.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a vital component of Bharti Airtel’s corporate ethos, and we are committed to contributing to the communities and society in which we operate. We aim to leave a positive impact on the communities in a meaningful and enduring way through multiple projects.

Our constant efforts in the field of education, women empowerment, healthcare, sanitation and employment generation motivates us to remain committed to make the world a better place. Airtel’s operations are spread across 18 countries and serve more than 423 Mn customers in India and abroad. As part of our responsibility to serve the remotest pockets of India, we strive to reach communities suffering from poverty, lack of healthcare facilities and access to quality education. Airtel's network spreads to rural and remote areas, where we are contributing to fulfill the unmet requirements of underserved communities, through programs pertaining to education and health, to ensure their holistic development.

Bharti Airtel Limited made significant contributions towards multiple welfare and development programs during FY 2019-20. In its endeavour to ensure sustainable development, Airtel contributed ₹ 2.15 Mn to Bharti Foundation, ₹ 300 Mn to Satya Bharti Foundation for establishing Satya Bharti Institute of Technology and ₹ 16.39 Mn for various other philanthropic initiatives and community development projects.

INDIA

Bharti Foundation

Bharti Foundation was set up in the year 2000 as the philanthropic arm of Bharti Enterprises. It implements and supports programs in primary, secondary, and higher education as well as sanitation. The flagship Satya Bharti School Program, launched in 2006, provides free quality education to underprivileged children in rural India across six states, with a focus on the girl child. Since 2013, the Foundation has also been working in partnership

with the government to improve the quality of overall schooling experience for students in government schools through the Satya Bharti Quality Support Program. Launched in 2014, Satya Bharti Abhiyan, the sanitation initiative has been improving sanitation conditions in the districts of Ludhiana and Amritsar, in the State of Punjab, by providing toilets and fostering behavioural change in communities.

The higher education partnerships and initiatives are designed to meet the education paradigms of the 21st century. Bharti School of Telecommunication Technology and Management (IIT, Delhi), Bharti Centre for Communication (IIT, Bombay) and Bharti Institute of Public Policy (ISB, Mohali) are among the leading higher education institutions in the country.

Highlights

425,000+

Students

5,800+

Villages

2,500+

Schools

274,000+

Students impacted in the current academic year

2+ Mn

Community members impacted

18,500+

Teachers

*The above data includes all programs and reflects their impact created since inception

Education

THE SATYA BHARTI SCHOOL PROGRAM

The flagship program of Bharti Foundation, Satya Bharti School Program was launched with a chain of rural schools in 2006. The schools provide quality education to underprivileged children, absolutely free of cost. It also supports them with free text-books, uniform, notebooks, stationery and nutritious mid-day meals. The program, with a special focus on the girl child, has many children who are first-generation learners. The program aims to deliver transformative education to children to make them educated, confident, responsible and self-reliant citizens with a deep sense of commitment to their society.

Activities within and outside the classrooms are given equal importance to allow students to learn ‘from life, for life’; thereby inculcating the right values, attitudes, life-skills, and confidence. Parents, community and like-minded organizations are active partners in the schools and all the Satya Bharti Schools uphold this way of functioning.

Satya Bharti School Students - Joyous and Confident

Free Quality Education

Satya Bharti Schools provide students free education including:

6

States

192

Scools

39,489^

Students

50%

Girls

75%

Students from SC/ST/OBC communities

1,359

Teachers

73%

Female Teachers

All data as of 31 March, 2020

^ data as of February 29, 2020 due to school closure since mid-March, due to nationwide lockdown for containing COVID-19

Key Achievements (2019-20)*

Satya Bharti Schools emphasize holistic development that helps develop 21st-century life skills. As a result, coscholastic activities are given as much importance as scholastic activities. Students are encouraged to participate in a range of activities within the school as well as in external competitions at the cluster, block, district, state, national as well as international level.

  • 117 Satya Bharti School students secured merit-based admissions for elementary/ higher secondary education in schools such as Navodaya, Aarohi, Dr. BR Ambedkar, Sewa Bharti, KGBV and Punjab Meritorious schools.
  • 11 Satya Bharti Schools featured among the ‘Top 100’ in ‘Design for Change (DFC)’. Of these, three schools (Satya Bharti Schools, Cheema and Jijjeani, and Satya Bharti Adarsh Senior Secondary School, Jhaneri, Punjab) featured in the ‘Top 20’.
  • Two students from Satya Elementary schools Balliyewal and Dhulka, Punjab, won Individual Silver and Bronze at ‘Pramerica Spirit of Community Award’ for making a positive difference in their communities.

Brainfeed School Excellence Award 2019

  • Satya Bharti School, Umarpura, Amritsar, Punjab has won ‘India Country Prize’ for Best Business Plan’ at internationally acclaimed ‘School Enterprise Challenge run’ by the educational charity Teach a Man to Fish.
  • All five Senior Secondary Schools were awarded ‘Top 500 Schools’ in India by the ‘Brainfeed School Excellence Awards 2019’ for excellence in providing quality education.
  • 10 students of Satya Bharti Adarsh Secondary Schools (eight from Sherpur Kalan and two from Rauni) won Science Talent Search competition conducted by ‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan’, a national competition in collaboration with Dept. of Science & Technology.
  • 67 students won ‘Saksham National Competition 2019’ in Painting organized by Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, GOI.
  • Satya Elementary School, Bagga Khurd (Ludhiana) ranked 2nd while Satya Bharti Adarsh Sr. Secondary Schools Chogawan and Rauni ranked 3rd. Both schools earned a ‘special recognition’ in the ‘Design Awards 2019’ conducted by IGenPlus, a nation-wide competition recognizing students of grade VIII-XII for design thinking, to generate innovative ideas for overcoming real-life problems.
  • 27 students featured in ‘Top 100’ and one student from Satya Bharti Adarsh Senior Secondary School, Sherpur Kalan secured the first state rank in level 2, in the ‘Green Olympiad examination’ conducted by Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI).
  • Over 5,400 students participated in ‘Bricsmath 2019’, an online mathematics competition for BRIC countries, organized for classes I-XII. More than 1,900 students were declared ‘winners’ and over 2,000 were graded as ‘achievers’.
  • Four schools received the ‘Green’ certificate under the ‘Green School Program Audit’ conducted by the Center for science environment (CSE).
  • 29 students emerged winners of ‘Inspire Aspire’ (Inspiring Purpose, supported by the John Templeton Foundation) poster-making competition.
  • Eight students secured honorable mentions in ‘Khula Aasmaan’ painting competition organized by India Art Foundation. Integrated Report Statutory Reports Financial Statements Bharti Airtel Limited 098 Integrated Report and Annual Financial Statements 2019-20 Airtel’s quest for care The Foundation believes in continuous capacity building for teachers through training as well as on-the-job mentoring. Teachers are recruited locally for their passion and commitment towards teaching and development of underprivileged children. A few salient teachers’ achievements at the national level included:
  • Three teachers awarded ‘Centre for Teacher Accreditation (CENTA)’ – an olympiad for Teaching Professionals – one each for ‘Subject Toppers – Primary Hindi Medium’, ‘Regional Toppers – Middle School Maths’ and ‘Subject Toppers – Secondary School Maths’ category.
  • 17 teachers declared winners in the ‘Zero Investment Innovation for Education Initiatives’ (ZIIEI) award for creating zero cost innovation TLM conducted by Sri Aurobindo Society.
  • One teacher was selected among top 25 national level awardees for ‘Edustar’, organized by Teachershelp Teachers, for making a difference.

Road Safety Project by Satya Bharti School Cheema, Punjab - DFC Top 20 winner

A student lost her uncle in a road accident due to fog and absence of lights on the village road. Determined to find a solution, she, together with a group of students, pasted 'reflectors' on roadside poles and trees, fixed broken poles and installed convex mirrors on turns, blind spots and crossings.

Pramerica Spirit of Community award Bronze medal for students of Satya Elementary School Balliyewal, Punjab

Students undertook rallies in the village to raise awareness about the menace of polythene bags. They stitched hundreds of cloth bags in a span of 2-3 months with unused pieces of cloth, collected from households. The villagers supported this initiative wholeheartedly and switched to using cloth bags.

SATYA BHARTI QUALITY SUPPORT PROGRAM

The Satya Bharti Quality Support Program aims to improve the overall education quality in Government schools in partnership with the State Governments. It supports children, teachers, parents and administrators to transform schools into vibrant and integrated institutions of learning, ensuring holistic development through the introducing of co-scholastic interventions. While the program framework revolves around engaging students, parents, communities and motivating teachers, the school’s leadership also receives support to prioritize areas of improvement and create goals for further development. The core philosophy of the Program focuses on making schools engaging and happy spaces. This has resulted in the holistic development of students, as they acquire leadership, communication, collaboration, and other 21st Century skills along with learning.

Since its inception, the Program has rapidly grown its footprints in 14 states/UTs, swiftly leaving a mark on school leadership, teachers, parents, communities and most importantly, on students of partner government SATYA BHARTI QUALITY SUPPORT PROGRAM schools. Each school decides the place and trajectory depending on the School’s leadership vision for bringing about a sustainable change.

804

Schools (in 14 states/UTs)

234,570^

Students

50%

Girls

58%

Children from SC/ST/OBC communities

9,815

Teachers

All data as of 31 March, 2020

^ data as of February 29, 2020 due to school closure since mid-March, due to nationwide lockdown for containing COVID-19

Key initiatives and achievements

Student Empowerment

The interventions focused on students’ all-round development by instilling life-skills and leadership spirit. It also sensitized them towards the society and the environment. The initiatives also focused on the creation of student clubs and leadership groups to secure opportunities for holistic growth; building aspirations & exposure through lecture series, participation in competitions, etc

Over 4,400

Awards won by students at different levels.

5+

Average number of awards received by each school in 2019-20 (up from 2.5 in 2018-2019)

Overall, girls held 52% of *leadership positions in student clubs and houses formed in partner co-educational government schools.

A range of thematic workshops benefitted thousands of students in hundreds of partner government schools on topics ranging from Science, Stress Management and Career Planning to Electrocution, and Lightening. These workshops were organized independently or in partnership with industry experts for augmenting students’ cognitive abilities. The interventions focused on students’ all-round development by instilling life-skills and leadership spirit, while sensitizing them towards the society and environment.

School Leadership and Teachers’ Engagement

A joint vision for the school’s journey towards excellence is created with the school leadership; encouraging them to believe in their ability to bring about a change; motivating teachers to innovate, be more involved with students and to institutionalize new processes in schools, teachers are given need-based support and opportunities to showcase their expertise with creative teachinglearning material and processes.

Annual Satya Bharti Education Rockstar Achievers (SBERA) award 2019 saw 600 teachers participate from nine states (Assam, Delhi, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh) and 60 teachers were selected as block and district level winners. SBERA awards are instituted to recognize teachers for creating Innovative TLMs.

In addition, six teachers were awarded the ‘Teacher Innovation Award’ for ‘Zero Investment Innovative Ideas in Education Initiatives’ (ZIIEI) hosted by Sri Aurobindo Society. One teacher qualified for CENTA, the teaching professionals’ Olympiad.

Parents’ and Community Involvement

The program encourages structured parent-teacher interactions (PTMs) and creates initiatives around involving the community to support the school by bringing in resources as well as ensuring SMC contribution in the school’s development. The community support system was further strengthened and the school leadership was trained to increase community involvement in the form of volunteering, material contributions as well as financial support. Home Mentor program was piloted for nine schools under the Department of Education (DOE), Delhi with the objective of involving parents in the education of their children. Under this program, parents were oriented on how-to guide and supervise a child’s time spent on studies along with games/ outdoor activities. The program received encouraging feedback not only from the parents but, teachers as well.

School Environment

A safe, warm and vibrant learning environment is facilitated by encouraging optimal utilization of the existing school infrastructure through initiatives such as cleanliness, plantation, energizing labs/libraries, formalizing child safety processes and enabling colorful spaces for displaying students’ creative work.

5+

Avg awards per school

3+

Avg no. of PTMs Held per school

19+

Avg no. of events per school

64%

of schools received community contribution

2500+

Days of deployed teacher training

Words of Encouragement

“As per my observation during inspection and responses received from schools, commendable progress has been noted due to Satya Bharti Quality Support Program on certain aspects such as teachers’ orientation, formation of students’ houses, workshops on life skills, participation in external competition and various social campaigns, school development plan and annual calendar.”

- Shri Shyam Sunder Solanki

Chief District Education Officer, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Pali, Rajasthan


“I would like to offer my heartiest thanks to Bharti Foundation for their collaborative approach with RMSA, Kamrup.”

- Shri Prasanna Borah

Inspector of schools, KDC cum District Program Coordinator, RMSA, Kamrup, Assam

“Samagra Shiksha has entered into a MoU with Bharti Foundation on the 16th of Oct 2018 and during this period (up to Dec 2019), Bharti Foundation has done some very appreciable work including guidance and counseling of students of 10th and 12th of partnered schools (30 schools), organized Satya Bharti Spell Wizard Competition and exposure visits along with many more productive activities.”

- Shri Ashish Kohli

State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Himachal Pradesh, Shimla

Advisor to the Governor of J&K acknowledged Bharti Foundation’s contribution for promoting quality education in the Union Territory at a felicitation function on 2nd Oct 2019

Partnering with non-government schools

Bharti Foundation organized and supported a number of workshops, activities and competitions for students, in partnership with respective state education departments. Bharti Foundation led Satya Bharti Spell Wizard*, initiated in 2018, reached out to over 14,000 students from more than 600 partner government schools. In addition, around 20,000 students from over 1,200 non-partner government schools across nine states/ UTs (Assam, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Rajasthan and Telangana) participated in the competition.

The Satya Bharti Math Wizard**, initiated in 2019, saw participation from around 2,500 students from 160 partner government schools and more than 16,000 students from 1,000 nonpartner government schools from the states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

*An English language spelling competition for improving vocabulary and spelling competencies

** A competition to improve numeracy skills

Awards

  • Nine schools selected among ‘Top 100’, of which three are ranked among the ‘Top 20’ in the prestigious ‘Design for Change’ contest.
  • Two student groups from schools in Pakur and Dumka in Jharkhand, respectively, won a silver and a bronze in the ‘Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards 2020’ for voluntary community service.
  • 46 students declared winners of ‘Inspire-Aspire’ (Inspiring Purpose, supported by the John Templeton Foundation) poster-making competition. One student secured an honourable mention in ‘Khula Aasmaan,’ painting competition by India Art Foundation.
  • 32 students from schools in Telangana, Karnataka, Haryana and Delhi qualified for ‘National Means cum Merit Scholarship’.
  • Five students qualified for ‘INSPIRE’ (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research), an initiative by the Department of Science & Technology for attracting talent.
  • Two schools (one each from Haryana and Telangana) have been selected for establishing ‘Atal Tinkering Lab’ (ATL) by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under NITI Aayog to foster curiosity and innovation in students.
  • Two schools in Karnataka have been certified Green under the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE)’s ‘Green School Program Audit’.
  • Six students won ‘Saksham National Competition 2019’ in Karnataka and Rajasthan for Painting, organized by Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, GoI.

Reducing the Impact of COVID-19 on Education

As the education sector battles school closures due to the nationwide lockdown to contain COVID-19, the Foundation’s school education programs have supported teachers to continuously engage students with education, while remaining at home. The Satya Bharti Schools’ teachers worked with parents to ensure optimum learning during the lockdown. Special attention was given to students appearing for Board exams.

In rural households, most of the parents are not equipped to teach. For the majority, the only digital device is one smartphone available for the entire family, or in some cases, none. Non-availability of books for new sessions also added to the challenge. However, Satya Bharti teachers have reached out to the students and have connected with them over phone through class-wise WhatsApp groups or voice calls.

Teaching-learning has continued with the help of worksheets, activity-based assignments, videos and voice notes by teachers as well as one-to-one phone calls with students, who do not have access to a smartphone. Two key initiatives with parents, which started last year, supported this outreach:

(i) training of parents on how to access recommended free education apps on the phone and;

(ii) initiating the ‘home-mentoring’ process, which prepares them for supporting their child create a study plan while balancing the time between studying and playing.

The Satya Bharti Quality Support Program team has been working with government school teachers and Principals for reaching out to students and parents, and are also helping in implementing many government-led initiatives. The key initiatives that are being undertaken are to help government school teachers use technology for teaching as well as to stay connected with their students. A detailed guidance, training and content module has been shared with them. Government schools are also being encouraged to hold virtual Summer Camps to keep students occupied with meaningful activities leading to skill-development. Programs around creative writing,

public speaking, art and craft using waste material are being organized virtually, with students sharing their work with teachers over phone-based groups. A Teachers’ training module, especially on the use of technology and virtual pedagogy is being organized for the government school teachers as well.

Drawn by students during Summer Skill Fest

HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Partnerships with Indian Education Institutions

The Bharti School of Telecommunication, Technology and Management was set up through a joint initiative of IIT Delhi and Bharti Enterprises, with a vision "to develop telecom leaders through excellence in education and research". The school has emerged as a premier education center in the country, offering specialized courses in telecommunications. The school has also evolved as a focal point for telecom-related activities in IIT Delhi.

The school is adding Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Cyber Security in its M. Tech curriculum to meet the needs of emerging technologies and associated research. Eminent professionals and faculty from leading global institutions delivered lectures, workshops, and talk sessions on topics such as 5G technology, machine learning and future networks. An ‘Open Technology Festival’ was also organized for intellectual and academic exchange. During the year, there were several workshops conducted in collaboration with leading technology institutes on topics related to future and next-generation technologies. In addition, lecture series were organized, inviting renowned professors from the field of telecom and management, to guide students on latest trends.

135

Students enrolled in the M.Tech, MS(R), MBA, and PhD program

BITS Seminar- Bharti School of Communication, IITB

The Bharti Institute of Public Policy (BIPP) is an integral part of the ISB’s Mohali campus. Functioning as an independent think-tank, the institute engages with policymakers by providing them with critical, evidencebased analysis of public policy. The institute works on policy challenges across diverse domains, including Agriculture and Food, Environment, Education, Financial Policy, Governance and Digital identity.

The institute partners with Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and apart from its flagship program, the Advanced Management Program in Public Policy, offers specialization in public policy through ISB’s flagship Post-Graduate Program.

Bharti Centre for Communication, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay nurtures knowledge in telecommunication and allied systems. The centre hosted 18 research students and seven eminent speakers from across the world and has published 15 papers in international conferences and journals in the reporting year.

Bharti Enterprises now intends to establish Satya Bharti Institute of Technology (Satya Bharti) sponsored by the Satya Bharti Foundation as a world-class institute, which will be accessible to all. Satya Bharti will focus on future technologies, promote innovation and equip students with tools to face the challenges of a new world.

Ministry of Human Resource Development has issued the letter of intent to set up Satya Bharti as a Greenfield Institute of Eminence. The Institute intends to attain global recognition through its eminent faculty, research opportunities, worldclass infrastructure and amenities comparable to the top 500 institutes of the world. In the long run, it aspires to be amongst the top 100 institutions attracting talent from across the world.

Research

University of Cambridge and Bharti Foundation signed an MoU in 2016 for conducting a corn/baby corn crop improvement research program in India. Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences and the Cambridge Centre for Crop Science, Punjab Agricultural University, and Field Fresh Foods Pvt Ltd are currently working on the joint research.

Newcastle University and Bharti Foundation are collaboratively working since 2016 and signed an MoU in 2018 for students’ internship and joint academic research. In 2019, four undergraduate students completed research oriented group projects on school education programs, whose outcomes are expected to add value to the programs.

Manmohan Singh Bursary Fund has offered scholarships to 15 meritorious students for studying at the University of Cambridge, since 2010.

Sanitation

SATYA BHARTI ABHIYAN

The Satya Bharti Abhiyan is supporting the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission for Clean and Open Defecation Free India, since 2014. The program has been operational in Ludhiana, the second largest and the most populous district, and in rural Amritsar, a district of Punjab. The Abhiyan has contributed to the government’s efforts by providing access to individual toilets to households in Ludhiana and rural Amritsar, separate toilets for girls in government schools in rural Ludhiana, and ladies’ toilets for staff and visitors to various police premises under Ludhiana Police Commissionerate.

The construction of toilets was outsourced to experienced partners in Ludhiana whereas, in Amritsar, beneficiaries are constructing toilets in accordance with procedures laid down by the government of Punjab. The provision for toilets is complemented with activities for fostering behavioural change to promote proper usage and maintenance of toilets. Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) was implemented through partners and reinforced through the government and the Foundation. The Abhiyan has enabled the government to achieve its mandate of improving sanitation conditions by ending open defecation in Ludhiana and rural Amritsar

17,628+774

Toilets (rural + urban Ludhiana)

7,353

Toilets (rural Amritsar)

37

Ladies' toilets constructed in FY 2019-20 (Ludhiana Police Commissionerate)

14

Girls' Toilets in government schools (across rural Ludhiana)

186,461

Total Beneficiaries (including 56,031 annual beneficiaries of ladies toilets in Police Stations)

Data as of March 31, 2020

Ladies' toilet for staff and visitors in Ludhiana Police Station

Ensuring sanitation for people in need

Hartej Singh,

Village Pakhowal, Ludhiana

Hartej, who lives with his mother, has an amputated leg since childhood. He has learned to walk with the support of a bamboo stick. Hartej is now a trained electrician and works on call-basis. Going out for open defecation was a huge struggle for him. Moreover, since children from his community defecated near roads, walking around on those roads too was quite painful.

“When I was a child, my mother had to carry me over her back for defecation. I earn only ₹50 a day, and could not save enough to construct a toilet. Our life has changed ever since Bharti Foundation constructed a toilet in our house. We don’t have a properly constructed kitchen and thus my mother cooks in the open, but we own a well-constructed toilet. Defecation is no more a struggle for me. Since no one else in the community defecates in the open anymore, the roads are cleaner, making it a lot easier for me to move around for work”, shares Hartej.

Hartej’s mother is now very happy and she plans to get him married. The family looks forward to a better future.

Key Highlights

  • Department of Water Supply and Sanitation (DWSS) and Bharti Foundation jointly organized a Poster Making Competition for school children to mark ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ movement and for instilling healthy sanitation habits. They also organized a competition for DWSS staff for acknowledging and celebrating their efforts.
  • Bharti Foundation team was invited to participate in the World Bank review of the ‘Surface Water Supply Project’ in Sept`19 to seek inputs for strengthening their behavioural change initiatives towards improving uptake of services and community mobilization.
  • Department of Water Supply and Sanitation, Moga, invited Bharti Foundation as a member in ‘District Swachh Bharat Mission’ and ’District Swachh Bharat Mission Management Committee’, for seeking advice on implementation of the Swachha Bharat Mission (Gramin) in the district.

Swachhta hi sewa – Winners – Students and DWSS staff


ACT

ACT - (A Caring Touch) is an employee engagement program involving employees from Group companies to contribute their time, skills, money or knowledge. ACT campaigns are planned and implemented in coordination with the communication and key team members of each Airtel circle with the objective to actively create awareness and engage as many employees as possible.


Volunteering

Employees from the Group companies are invited as volunteers for adding value to Bharti Foundation’s various programs, especially the flagship Satya Bharti School Program, to visit and interact with students. In the reporting year, volunteers from Airtel engaged and added value to the educational experience of underprivileged children by conducting sessions on life skills, conversational activities and other educational interventions. A predefined schedule for the volunteers is designed, matching their skills with the requirements of the school.

AFRICA

We believe that aligning our CSR initiatives with our core business is the best way to drive change. Our sustainability framework is focused on the areas where we can have the greatest impact. In our endeavour to create possibilities for the future, we are making a distinctive and positive contribution to the world we live in. Airtel Africa continues to delight its consumers while driving the ambitions of the broader community. Our focus areas include:

...

Create Educational Opportunities

...

Health Improvement

...

Increasing Internet Access

...

Assistance during crisis / disasters


We have partnered with leading government and non-government institutions in Africa to achieve our socio-economic goals. They include,

  • Kenya Wildlife Service
  • United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation
  • Ministry of Health in Nigeria, Uganda and Madagascar
  • Unicef Rwanda
  • Vocational Educational and Training Authority (VETA) in Tanzania
  • Adopt a school
...

Education

...

Education is one of our core programmes set out in our sustainability charter. In the subsaharan African region, at least 10 Mn children drop out of primary school every year. In addition, 38% of the region’s adults, about 167 Mn people, still lack basic literacy and educational skills. We endeavour to create long-term value for the communities through multiple educational programmes and aim to engage better with our stakeholders.

Adopt a school

Our flagship program, ‘Adopt a school’ connects 58 schools across Africa, empowering more than 320,000 underprivileged children with education. Of the total students, around 49% are girls, thereby promoting gender balance and equality. Under the program, we undertake activities like providing books/reading materials, stationery, feeding programs in schools and mentorship events. We also actively participate in renovating classrooms, dormitories and donation of school furniture to partner schools.

...

Adopt a school

Digital education

We continue to empower children across the African continent with ‘free internet’ program to enhance the quality of education. We took this initiative across Kenya, Uganda, Chad, Zambia, Nigeria and Madagascar. We partnered with schools, libraries, universities, hubs and community centres in these regions to provide internet access to more than 4 lac students across all countries.

400,000+

Students provided access to free internet in six countries

Touching Lives

Airtel Nigeria has been conscious of the inequalities within the population and in 2015 made a decision to touch the lives of as many Nigerians as possible with one of the most ambitious Corporate Social responsibility projects ever undertaken in Nigeria - Airtel Touching Lives.

...

Over 3 Mn

people indirectly impacted

27

families of 4 to 8 people

15

NGOs reaching out to nearly 190 people

18

communities of 150 people

10

communities of over 2,500 people

2

IDP communities of over 60,000

Employee volunteering

The success of our social responsibility initiatives can be attributed to the efforts of our employees. Their active participation and continuous monitoring of activities helps reestablish our community engagement initiatives. During the fiscal, the team contributed to different causes:

  • 2800 Meals delivered to the underprivileged during Xmas in Kenya
  • 423 units blood donated to Uganda blood bank
  • Staff donated equipment & insurance to children at Mkwanga District hospital in Tanzania

  • Gift a child scheme by employees for 10 orphanages, touching 400 children in Zambia
  • Donation of basic necessities by staff to Ambohibao orphanage over Xmas in Madagascar
  • Staff donation of food and clothing to CHUCK hospital in Rwanda
  • Payment of School fees for 8 year old blind boy and surgical expenses of medical preterm twins with a hole in the heart, in Nigeria

Health Improvement

With an objective to provide adequate information about health utilizing technology, especially by phone, Malawi Chipatala Ch Pa Foni (Health Centre by Phone), a m-health initiative was launched to bridge the healthcare information gap and provide relevant and trustworthy information on health related topics. Here's what it included:


  • With a phased regional approach, the nationwide project was transitioned from Village Reach (NGO) to the Ministry of Health
  • Over 75% of calls to CCPFs hotlines are resolved without referral to a health facility
  • Annual call volume of 31,433, representing monthly average of 5,000

COVID-19 support

Zambia

The Zambian Ministry of Health (provincial office) was in need of 10 ULCH handsets to follow-up/track possible COVID 19 patients; Airtel provided phones with talktime to assist communication.


Tanzania

On request from the Government, Airtel Tanzania provided 20 Wi-Fi routers and 20 sim cards to the Ministry of Health and the Wi-Fi devices have been allocated to different hospitals to enable flow of information.


Kenya

  • Airtel Kenya partnered with Longhorn Publishers to offer free internet access to Airtel users, enabling students to continue learning through the Longhorn e-learning Platform.
  • In partnership with the government, Airtel Kenya set up a toll free line, where customers can now access information and updates on COVID-19.

Madagascar

In partnership with the government, Airtel Madagascar set up 3 toll free lines, where customers can now access information and updates on COVID-19


Tanzania

On request from the Government, Airtel Tanzania provided 20 Wi-Fi routers and 20 sim cards to the Ministry of Health and the Wi-Fi devices have been allocated to different hospitals to enable flow of information.


Nigeria

  • Nigerian Port Health Authority: 40 phones, sim cards and 40 CUG lines were offered to the staff to support verification of Passenger information at the five international airports across the nation during the Coronavirus Screening process to reach out to passengers from incoming flights from affected countries, to ensure further medical checks and quarantine, wherever necessary
  • National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC): 50 phones, 45 CUG lines for the NCDC staff and 5 toll free lines for 3 months for the public.
  • Lagos State Government: Financial support from Airtel Employee Volunteer Scheme to provide relief materials during the pandemic for the most-hard hit and impoverished families

Vocational training

Our VSOMO program is a vocational education program in Tanzania, with the objective to perfect youth skills and enable self-employment. A mobile application, VSOMO was widely accepted among the youth who enrolled for several courses on the portal.

Highlights

  • More than 34,000 VSOMO application downloads.
  • ~9934 registered students with 93 enrolled for different courses and 60 received certificates.
  • The application offers courses in local (Swahili) and English language for multiple courses.

Community engagement

Airtel Tanzania partnered with UNESCO for installation of transmitters on telecom towers to provide free power to community radio operations in areas where without electricity. This empowered the region with better communication, provided access to timely information, particularly in rural areas and in challenging topographies. The information covered topics like health, agriculture, education, water management and entrepreneurship through programs like broadcasts, interviews and call-ins and listener groups.

1.6 Mn

people indirectly impacted

24 hrs

Daily coverage with emphasis on local issues

Protecting wildlife

Project Ngulia is a ‘tech-forconservation’ initiative that aims to develop and deploy technology such as long-range radar, motion and heat tracking sensors, combined with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist animal conservation.

Tragically, rhinos are endangered species and are in danger of extinction, globally. In the 1970s, Rhino Valley,

...

in the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, was home to around 10,000 black rhinos, constituting half of Kenya’s rhino population. In 2019, there are just about 100 rhinos, representing about 13% of Kenya’s rhino population.

We undertook the following key measures to conserve the rhino population in the region

  • Public-Private Partnership in conjunction with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and Linköping University (LiU), Airtel Kenya, and Kolmården Wildlife Park
  • 3G H+ coverage due to contributions from NOKIA and Airtel.
  • All reports completed with a smartphone app offering real-time GPS- and time-tagged reports with photo and annotations.
  • Dashboard for commanders and officers for real-time monitoring and automatic report generation.
  • Only 1 rhino has been lost to poaching since 2016.

Awards and recognition

  • Marion Wambua, Senior Communication and CSR Executive Airtel Kenya was 3rd Runner up at the UN Global Impact SDG pioneer Event.
  • Nigeria Regional Operations Director North west, Mr.ThankGod Otorkpa, received the Red Ribbon award for fight against HIV/AIDs, at the NACA Awards (National Action for the Control of Aids).
  • Airtel Nigeria received an award for best use of Story Telling in CSR, at the SERAs Awards (Sustainability, Enterprise and Responsibility Awards).
  • Airtel Zambia received a CSR Award, in recognition of the Organization’s Corporate Social Responsibility efforts, from the Zambia CSR Network.