Mobilink wins the GSMA Award on “SMS Based Literacy” program

In one of the most prestigious telecom operator award winning ceremony last night, the Global Mobile Awards, Mobilink was given an award on its work and contribution in the “SMS Based Literacy” program under their corporate social responsibility initiative. The “SMS Based Literacy” program is being conducted with the help of three organizations out of which Mobilink is the technical facilitator and The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) serves as the implementation agency. On the other hand two Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Dhaka Ahsania Mission Pakistan and Bunyad Project are mainly responsible for execution of the program.

SMS Based Literacy’ program is the flagship of Mobilink Foundation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project in the education sector. It aims at educating the women in the rural areas of Pakistan. The program was initiated in May 2009 in collaboration with UNESCO, and is the first and the only service in Pakistan that utilizes Short Messaging Service (SMS) to impart education. Currently in its third phase, the program is being implemented in Punjab and Khyber Pukhtunkwa and has been able to reach out to over 4,000 female learners across Pakistan.

The Global Mobile Awards aim to recognize excellence and innovation within the mobile communications industry, and the 2013 edition has 158 nominees across thirty seven (37) categories. The awards for 2013 were presented at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on 26 February.

The judges were quite impressed by the work Mobilink had done in under the umbrella of corporate social responsibility. Their comments were

“Excellent and needed mobile initiative with an explicit educational ideology that opens up new learning opportunities for a disadvantaged, rural group.” via