Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 19
Trend:
The company has received the first place award in "The best educational CSR project" nomination Bakcell, The First Mobile Operator and The Leading Mobile Internet provider of Azerbaijan has received the first place award in "The best educational CSR project" nomination, awarded by the American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan (AmCham).
Project aimed at supporting the education of children in need for special care, implemented within the frames of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program of Bakcell, became the winner of the 1st place amongst around 70 projects submitted by 30 AmCham members, by receiving 110 out of 176 points from the evaluation Jury.
Within the frames of the "Community-Based Rehabilitation" project, implemented in cooperation with the United Aid for Azerbaijan (UAFA) organization, more than 260 children with disabilities are provided with social rehabilitation services, and their social skills are also being developed. Starting from the year 2010, this project has helped the children with special needs to acquire various skills at sporting, dancing, drama, arts, computer, photography and other useful classes. At the same time, various holiday events and trips were frequently organized for the children.
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Being one of the largest players of Azerbaijani telecommunications industry, Bakcell is proud to perform its functions as a responsible corporate citizen of the country. CSR strategy of Bakcell is implemented in two main areas of activity: integration of children with need for special care into the society and the education of youth.
Bakcell believes that the company plays an important role in making all children believe, that they are equal members of the society. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program of Bakcell, which was initiated in the year 2009 under the name of "Bakcell Stars", has a very simple and sincere purpose: to help children with need for special care. By means of its CSR policy, Bakcell gives hope to children with physical and emotional disabilities, and their families all over Azerbaijan. In this mission, we work together with organizations famous for their successful projects aimed at children with special needs all over the world, such as "Save the Children", "SOS Children's Villages", "United Aid for Azerbaijan" and "Sports for Development" Public Association.
The purpose of the Educational program, which is a second direction of our CSR strategy, is to bring young people closer to the world of Information and Communication Technology, increase their knowledge and experience in this field, and support young personnel with a potential to gain success in the country's telecommunications industry. Bakcell understands the importance of preparing professional ICT specialists, in order to meet the growing demands of this innovative sector. Therefore we significantly invest into training and career development of youth, which is our social responsibility contribution aimed at the future of our society. The biggest partner of Bakcell in this area is JAA Azerbaijan. Moreover, Bakcell implements graduate projects and cooperates with a number of leading universities of our country.
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Bakcell is implementing "Digital Village" project jointly with "SOS Children's Villages - Azerbaijan" Association.
The main goal of this project is to create conditions for the children living under the patronage of the "SOS Children's Villages Azerbaijan" Association for using the modern information and communication technologies and Internet resources. The project will ensure the children's access to the necessary information, as well as provide support in doing their homework and acquiring additional knowledge by using the Internet resources.
For this purpose, all the houses in the SOS children's villages of Baku and Ganja have been equipped with modern computer equipment by "Bakcell". Wi-Fi infrastructure has also been established in both of these Children's Villages. In addition, content filtering has been implemented to ensure the children's safe access to the Internet.
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"TOPs Program - improving physical and mental fitness as well as the academic performance of students" project supported by Bakcell, the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the British Council Azerbaijan, aimed at providing physical education teachers from three selected secondary schools with modern educational technologies on this particular subject. Application of this method will also serve the creation of a favorable environment for development of moving and motor capabilities of students as well as the protection of their physical and mental fitness during the period of education.
By results of this project, the active education methodology for application the physical education curriculum will be improved and an active training method, suitable for the country's all secondary schools, will be developed. At the same time, more than 3000 students and parents will improve their knowledge about the role of healthy food, active lifestyle and sports in development of social skills.
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Last year, for the first time in Azerbaijan the "Sports for Development" Public Association with the support of Bakcell has supplied and donated special computer equipment for people with disabilities to the child development centers and inclusive education institutions.
The project entitled "The road to equal opportunities and inclusion" implemented by Bakcell and "Sports for Development" PA is aimed at increasing the knowledge and skills in the field of computer science of children with different degrees of disability, organizing the exchange of knowledge, skills and experience among the parents of children with disabilities, and providing child development centers and inclusive education institutions functioning in Azerbaijan with supporting computer equipment adapted to the needs of children with disabilities.
Within the frames of the project, alternative computer displays, keyboards and mouse devices especially designed for the people with disabilities have been purchased from the British "Inclusive Technology Ltd" company, which is specialized in this field, and delivered to Baku by Bakcell for the first time ever in Azerbaijan.
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Bakcell will continue supporting the development of education at various levels in Azerbaijan, by means of the CSR and other sponsored projects.