Nokia’s Season’s Greetings campaigns

Supported by Nokia’s Season’s Greetings campaign, Plan International continued its work with the Digital Gender Divide program, which builds up young people’s work-related skills and capacities in Uganda and Ethiopia.

Main image copyright: Maruf Hasan/Oxfam

The world is rapidly becoming more digital, but technological development is not equal everywhere. Instead, it seems that the digital gap between genders is only increasing. In developing countries, girls face many obstacles when it comes to accessing technology. If a family can only afford one smartphone, it is usually given to the man in the family. Providing girls access to technology would be important for the countries’ financial development as well.

Smartup Factory is Plan International’s project that focuses on improving the lives and livelihoods of young people. The work is conducted in innovation centres where young people learn technology, entrepreneurship and life skills. For example, Fiona, a 19-year-old from Uganda got to participate in Smartup Factory’s training programme and has now coded two apps. One is focused on offering safe motorcycle rides, the other improves home safety by turning on lights with sensors. Fiona is now teaching robotics and coding and acting as a mentor to other young Smartup participants. She is just one example of how Smartup Factory opens up possibilities for young women in technology.

Nokia’s Season’s Greetings charity campaign helped Plan International in continuing this
important work. 

Copyright: Ryan Atkinson / SMARTUP /
Plan International

With the aid of Nokia Season’s Greetings donation, the Finnish Red Cross provided disaster relief and deployed a field hospital to help victims of Cyclone Idai in Mozambique.

On March 15, 2019, Cyclone Idai made landfall in Mozambique, affecting over 1.8 million people*, destroying homes and agricultural land on a huge scale. The damage caused
was immense.

The Finnish Red Cross was able to respond quickly and released funds from its Disaster Relief Fund, to which the Nokia Season’s Greetings donation was also directed, to help victims of Cyclone Idai.

The Finnish Red Cross contributed to the Idai operation, under the coordination of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), by providing non-food items and deploying a field hospital together with the Canadian Red Cross. 

The field hospital was established in the disaster area in Nhamatanda, approximately 100 kilometers west of Beira, to support the local hospital which was damaged during the cyclone. The Finnish Red Cross aid workers assisted the hospital in provision of health services e.g. in the maternity and emergency room as well as through capacity building of the staff. In addition, medical supplies and medicines were provided and access to electricity and water was improved in the premises.

In order to immediately treat and control the spread of Acute Watery Diarrhea cases, a cholera treatment unit was set up. Ensuring access to clean drinking water and providing rapid and effective treatment to those infected were important preventive measures. Later on, a specialized treatment unit was also set up to provide care for
people suffering from malaria.

Finnish Red Cross also deployed an IT/telecoms Emergency Response Unit to support the overall IFRC operation, and a Field Communications Unit to produce high-quality communication material.

*Source: International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Copyright: Finnish Red Cross

Copyright: Benjamin Suomela / Finnish Red Cross

With Nokia’s support, Oxfam was able to support refugees affected by the Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Bangladesh.

Almost a million Rohingya people have fled the violence in Myanmar to seek refuge across the border in Bangladesh. The large number of refugees, of whom more than half are children, has caused a large-scale humanitarian crisis.

With the support of Nokia’s Season’s Greeting funding, Oxfam is providing almost 25,000 Rohingya households with vouchers that can be exchanged at market stalls for fresh vegetables and ingredients to supplement their basic rations. Choosing from 13 items such as spinach, aubergine, potatoes, eggs, dried fish and spices, families can prepare tastier, more nutritious meals, significantly improving their daily lives. An efficient new e-voucher system enables refugees to make their purchase by simply scanning a card pre-charged
with credit.

Oxfam encouraged Bangladeshi food traders who live nearby to set up shops inside the Rohingya refugee camp, ensuring a stream of customers via the voucher scheme. The increase in business helps to benefit the local community, which has seen a strain on resources like firewood and water due to the arrival of close to a million refugees.

In addition, Nokia’s help was also directed to respond to Cyclone Bubul, which hit the coast of India and Bangladesh in November 2019. Oxfam teams were able to mitigate the damage, by tying down latrines and other infrastructure to make sure it will not be blown away; checking stock in so that Oxfam were prepared to help any vulnerable families who lose basic household items in the floods; cleaning drains and carting away trash from the dump sites; and continuing messaging about keeping good sanitation and hygiene.

Copyright: Maruf Hasan/Oxfam