Partnership with the International Youth Foundation

The International Youth Foundation (IYF) is one of Nokia’s main community involvement partners. IYF believes in the extraordinary potential of young people, investing in effective programs around the world that prepare today’s youth to be healthy, productive, engaged citizens. In 2008, Nokia-supported projects directly benefited more than 43,000 young people, and indirectly influenced the lives of over 175,000 children, youth, teachers, social service providers, and community members. Cumulatively, over nine years, this global partnership has impacted the lives of more than 440,000 young people. Country programs, tailored to meet local needs, promote the spirit of youth volunteerism, harness the power of technology to improve education, and equip unemployed youth with valuable skills and access to jobs.

Nokia is the founding sponsor of the YouthActionNet®, a program that seeks to develop a new generation of socially conscious citizens who create positive change in their local and global communities. In 2008, we awarded 20 YouthActionNet® Global Fellowships to accomplished young leaders in 16 countries. The 2008 Fellows include 27-year-old Bright Simons from Accra, Ghana, who co-founded mPedigree, a mobile phone-based drug authentication system. Bright took action after learning about the growing threat of pharmaceutical fraud globally. Statistics from the World Health Organization suggested that a quarter of all medicines sold in the developing world were fakes. Bright’s solution is simple, sustainable, and socially significant. When consumers purchase a prescription drug it comes with a scratch panel on the packaging, that when scraped off reveals an eight-digit number. The purchaser creates an SMS containing the eight numbers and sends it to a fourdigit code (1393). Soon afterward, he/she receives a message informing them if the prescription drug is genuine or a fake. The text message is free and paid for by the drug manufacturer. mPedigree was successfully tested with locally manufactured drugs in a 2008 pilot scheme in Ghana. Says Bright: “The initial evidence is that people are ready to jump on as long as the service is free.” The next goal is to get international drug manufacturers involved.

Through YouthActionNet®, Fellows receive valuable training, recognition, and networking opportunities. Read more about Bright, and other inspiring young social entrepreneurs at http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Corporate_Responsibility/Sidebars_new_concept/Society/2008%20YAN%20Face%20Book.pdf.

YouthActionNet leadership program
Nokia is the founding sponsor of the YouthActionNet leadership program aimed at reaching young people who are leading societal change. In 2008 we awarded 20 fellowships in 17 countries.

The 2008 Fellows included 27-year-old Bright Simons from Accra, Ghana. He is looking to combat pharmaceutical fraud in Africa via a phone-based drug authentication system. He developed the system as a result of seeing shocking figures showing 80 percent of medicines sold in pharmacies in Lagos, Nigeria were fake. In addition the World Health Organization has suggested that a quarter of all medicines sold in the developing world are fake.

The drug authentication system is an SMS based service with an ingenious authentication element called mPedigree. The idea is simple, sustainable and socially significant. When you buy a prescription drug it comes with a scratch panel on the packaging that reveals an authentication code. The user sends the code by SMS and receives a reply SMS shortly after that tells whether the drug is genuine or fake.

The text message is free and paid for by the drug manufacturer. mPedigree was successfully tested in a pilot scheme with locally manufactured drugs in March 2008 with over 2,000 participants who were later interviewed. The next goal is to involve international drug manufacturers.

YouthActionNet runs training and networking events for the Fellows and connects them with each other through a networking website. Read more about Bright Simons and other stories of YouthActionNet

Partnership with PLAN
Nokia has partnered with the international child-centered development organization, Plan, to empower young people to communicate about issues that are important to them and to raise their awareness of rights and opportunities.

We believe that access to various media such as radio, music video, the internet, mobile devices and television helps to empower young people. Engaging young people helps them become active citizens and enables them to have a say in decisions that affect their lives. Plan and Nokia are running projects linked to child protection including Child Helplines in East Africa and have projects in Kenya, Uganda, Egypt and Senegal, as well as Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Togo.