A call to action: Telenor joins the GSMA’s 1GOAL campaign for education
Article:
Telenor Group has joined the 1GOAL mobile phone campaign co-ordinated by the GSM Association. The purpose of this campaign is to use mobile phones to "reach the world" and help fulfil the 1GOAL promise of education for all by 2015.
The fantastic reach of mobile phone
“For Telenor Group, the 1GOAL campaign is a welcome opportunity to help secure a better future for children around the world, and it is a good way of demonstrating the fantastic reach of the mobile phone,” said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, Telenor Group President and CEO.
To garner support for this initiative, several Telenor companies around the world are sending SMS invitations to their customers, asking for their “vote”. The hope is that customers will reply with their endorsements and their names will be added to the 1GOAL petition.The petition will be presented to world leaders at an education summit in late 2010, and it will urge both developing and developed countries to provide increased funding for education.
Joining forces for 1GOAL
In order to engage people in meeting this goal, Telenor companies have joined forces with local NGOs, renowned sports figures and other mobile operators. For example, Telenor Montenegro joined forces with the Montenegrin Secretary of Culture and Sport, Budo Miranovic, to host a rather untraditional press conference from the football pitch. The 1GOAL press event was followed by a football match between the Telenor team and sports journalists.
1GOAL is a reminder of the education promise made 10 years ago
Seizing the power of football and the attention of millions captured by the World Cup, 1GOAL is a reminder of the promise made by 164 world governments in the year 2000. Realizing that education fights poverty, they made a commitment to ensure that all boys and girls complete primary schooling by 2015, with equal education opportunities for both genders. Although an additional 40 million children have started schooling since the start of this initiative, it is believed that approximately 72 million children remain without education.