Leading telecommunications company Globe Telecom takes on the cause of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to reunite children with their families after being separated from each other during the chaos brought about by Typhoon Yolanda.
Utilizing its Information and Communications Technology capabilities such as data connection, SIM cards and prepaid load credits, Globe would be able to power up the phones and laptops which will be used by UNICEF to bring people together.
“Globe Telecom’s role here is crucial because uninterrupted internet connectivity is necessary to ensure that the system continues to work in the next several months as UNICEF hands it over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development,” said Fernando Esguerra, OIC, Globe Corporate Social Responsibility.
With their houses destroyed and relatives missing, reunifying children with their kin becomes a daunting task but a mobile phone application that seeks to reunite separated and unaccompanied children and their families particularly in emergency situations is expected to make things easier.
UNICEF will be using RapidFTR (Rapid Family Tracing and Reunification) which it developed in New York and Uganda early this year in collaboration with a global working group including Save the Children, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, International Committee of the Red Cross, World Vision, and International Rescue Committee.
To be launched initially in 13 municipalities in Leyte, UNICEF will register children who have been separated from their families through an Android phone application that allows quick sending of information to other people and organizations involved in the process. To do this, UNICEF will provide basic smartphones to the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Offices and Philippine National Police Women and Children Protection Desks to be used while canvassing the affected barangays in their municipalities.
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