Telenor Group and UNICEF partnering for children

Telenor Group and UNICEF partnering for children Press Releases: 17 February 2014

Telenor Group and UNICEF have signed a global partnership agreement and are joining forces to promote children's development. The five-year agreement includes both financial support and access to a range of mobile technology solutions that will help advance children's rights.

The parties will focus on UNICEF programmes to advance child survival, development and protection, using mobile technology. The new agreement includes an annual contribution from Telenor Group to UNICEF of NOK 3.6 million (approximately US$580,000) for the next five years. This partnership will support UNICEF's work for children, with a focus on countries in Asia where Telenor is present.

Telenor and UNICEF have signed a global partnership agreement.

UNICEF's Executive Director Tony Lake (left) with Jon Fredrik Baksaas of Telenor. Download image

Jon Fredrik Baksaas, Telenor Group President and CEO, and Anthony Lake, Executive Director of UNICEF, met recently to discuss the relevance of innovative technology solutions to UNICEF's work for children's rights.

I am pleased that we have signed this global partnership agreement with UNICEF, a driving force in promoting and realizing rights for each individual child. Telenor Group regards UNICEF as a strong partner with a proven track record of addressing development needs and a keen interest in leveraging mobile technology and ICT. Telenor has a large presence in Asia and we are looking forward to be working together with UNICEF in support of children's rights and development in the region. The mobile industry has proven to have positive effects on economic and social welfare, it is our ambition to extend the benefits of telecommunications into all markets where we operate, said Telenor Group President and CEO, Jon Fredrik Baksaas.

Innovation has driven tremendous progress for children, not only by helping us reach the most remote and disadvantaged communities with critical services, but also by giving those communities and children new ways to improve their own lives and make their voices heard, said Mr. Lake, UNICEF's Executive Director. UNICEF is very glad to deepen our partnership with an industry leader like Telenor. By developing new products and solutions to global challenges, Telenor helps drive further progress for the most vulnerable children, ultimately strengthening the societies in which it does business.

Prior to signing the new global agreement, Telenor Group and UNICEF collaborated locally for several years, with a focus on education against child labour in Bangladesh, the provision of health services for Roma people in Serbia, and health information services in Thailand.

In order to meet the global challenges, UNICEF needs to cooperate with the leading performers. Telenor Group takes active social responsibility by contributing to our work both financially and by using its core competence. Mobile technology has proven important in order to serve the most vulnerable, with services such as online health advices and birth registration by SMS. We are also proud to launch UNICEF's first global partnership agreement with a Norwegian-based company, said Bernt G. Apeland, Executive Director of UNICEF Norway.

About UNICEF

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. For more information, please visit www.unicef.org. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook

About Telenor Group

Telenor Group is an international provider of tele, data and media communication services. Telenor Group has mobile operations in 13 markets in the Nordic region, Central and Eastern Europe and in Asia, as well as a voting stake of 42.95 per cent (economic stake 33 per cent) in VimpelCom Ltd., operating in 17 markets. Headquartered in Norway, Telenor Group is one of the world's major mobile operators with 166 million mobile subscriptions in its consolidated operations per Q4 2013, revenues in 2013 of NOK 104 billion, and a workforce of about 33,000. For more information about Telenor Group, please visit www.telenor.com

For more information, please contact:

UNICEF:

Merete Agerbak-Jensen, Director of Communication, UNICEF Norway,

e-mail: merete@unicef.no, mobile: 47 91 83 95 96

Telenor Group:

Glenn Mandelid, Head of Media Relations,

e-mail: glenn.mandelid@telenor.com, mobile: 47 92 66 13 00

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