Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Jan 21 : Vodafone India, today announced the third season of ‘World of Difference’ (WoD) programme in India, a flagship initiative run by the Vodafone Foundation.
Operating in 22 countries worldwide, the WoD programme is Vodafone’s unique way of corporate giving that goes beyond the traditional ‘cheque book’ approach. The WoD programme in India runs in partnership with Dasra, India’s leading strategic philanthropy foundation. This was stated in a handout issued by Vodafone here today.
Total 33 highly skilled Vodafone employees, identified after a rigorous selections process, will work with 29 NGOs addressing women issues in India for a period of 8 weeks. WoD taps into the skills, expertise and passion of employees and enables them to take time out from their regular jobs and work for a charity of their choice. The employees continue to receive their salary and all related benefits from Vodafone India throughout the WoD Programme.
Beginning this year, Vodafone Foundation is also introducing World of Difference Connect programme, thus taking engagement deeper by providing four senior managers to work on key strategic projects of four NGOs for a period of eight weeks in a specific format.
Speaking about the initiative, Marten Pieters, Managing Director and CEO, Vodafone India said, “The World of Difference programme is an integral part of our commitment to contribute to society in the most meaningful way. Our employees are true representatives of the commitment and we gain from the rich experiences and learnings that they bring back from their stint in the programme. We have received phenomenal response over the last two years and will continue to build this exclusive employee volunteering programme.”
He said during this time, Vodafone India will also raise funds through “Giving Championships” for the NGO-‘Educate Girls’, for the second consecutive year. The Giving Championships aim to put nearly 30,000 out-of-school girls in school and ensure they stay there through one academic year. The cost to enable one girl to do this is only Rs.250. Vodafone’s robust network of 454 exclusive retail stores will also raise funds and create awareness about girl child education through the sale of special school-theme ZooZoo and Zumi merchandise.
He said another interesting innovation in this year’s WoD program is the new World of Difference Mobile App. This application that has been developed by mVentus will improve reporting, connect and communications from the ground whilst the 33 WoD winners are in their respective NGO locations.
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