Airtel Nigeria says it has renewed its Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations International Children Education Fund on U-Report for another four years.
The Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, made this known on Monday at the signing of the MoU with UNICEF in Lagos.
NAN reports that U-Report is a platform that offers a voice to the poor, voiceless, rich and those dwelling in the remotest villages across Nigeria.
It is also a social messaging tool and data collection system developed by UNICEF to improve citizen engagement, inform leaders and foster positive change.
The programme sends SMS polls and alerts to its participants, collecting real-time responses, and subsequently publishes gathered data.
Ogunsanya said he was delighted that the U-Report platform had recorded the most success in Nigeria, going by the sheer volume of participants that had latched on the platform.
He said: “At Airtel, we believe that no one should be excluded regardless of income, level, age, religion, gender or economic power.
“We believe that this partnership with UNICEF will provide more Nigerians with a voice and also promote a more inclusive society.”
Commenting on the partnership, Peter Hawkings, the Country Representative of UNICEF, said the organisation had signed an MoU with Airtel.
Hawkings said this would allow them to send five million text messages and 700,000 voice minutes free of charge to people.
He said: “We at UNICEF Nigeria believe in innovative partnership to achieve a quantum leap in results for children, adolescent and young people.
“U-Report is a unique social media platform that empowers young people and communities with information to transform their communities.
“It drives positive change on a wide range of issues affecting children and young people.”
Hawkings noted that U-Report relied on volunteer community members, mostly young people, serving as U-Reporters to provide information through polls on issues that affect their communities and their lives.
Hawkings said their relationship with Airtel over the years had contributed to the continuous growth and improvement of the U-Report platform.
He said: “Our incredible performance till date, which has fetched us more than 3.2 million subscribers nationwide, is as a result of our renewed partnership with Airtel.
“This is a perfect example of how we can leverage partnerships effectively to scale up change and to provide young people with opportunities and a voice to speak out on issues affecting the country they love.”
The country representative said in partnership with Airtel, UNICEF plans to make use of data to understand better what people want and with that they would be able to interpret and deliver the services required.
He said they had already signed a MoU on U-Report, which lasted for four years, and they were renewing for another four years.
Hawkings commended Airtel for partnering with UNICEF to become part of the global movement to amplify the voices of youths in Nigeria and beyond.
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