Ayala Foundation, Huawei scale up efforts towards building sustainable communities
Ayala Foundation Inc. (AFI) and Huawei Technologies Philippines Inc. held a virtual signing ceremony.
This marks another milestone in their purposeful partnership.
This aims to provide digital education to Filipinos and building sustainable and resilient communities, with the long-term goal of contributing to Philippine nation-building.
At the event, AFI Senior Director for Social Development Joanna Maria Duarte, Huawei Philippines Vice President Daniel Guo, and Huawei Philippines Director for Globe Telecom Zeh Zhang inked a Memorandum of Understanding to formalize the partnership between AFI and Huawei.
The collaboration coincides with the celebration of AFI’s 60th anniversary with the theme: “Faith in the Filipino – 60 Years of Partnerships in Nation-building.”
Donating for a purpose
Under the MoU, Huawei is donating $200,000 to support AFI’s programs.
Their programs focus on disaster recovery and emergency response, education and training, and sustainable livelihood for women and indigenous peoples.
Huawei also extends its support to Globe’s environmental programs with a donation of $100,000.
This is for the telco’s rainforest bio-diversity program in Mindanao.
Their donation bringing the total to $300,000 for the Ayala Group of Companies’ sustainable development initiatives.
In her message during the signing ceremony, Duarte recalled AFI’s partnership journey with Huawei over the years.
“Huawei Philippines has been a long-time supporter of Ayala Foundation’s programs, particularly in the education sector. Throughout the years, Huawei has provided students in our partner communities all over the Philippines with facilities and equipment to improve their learning experience,”
A much-needed assistance
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, such assistance to educational institutions is immensely needed to help students and teachers cope with the challenges of online learning.
Duarte said,
“In the past year, we have seen the extraordinary effects brought about by COVID-19. The Philippine education sector has been hit hard as teachers and students adapt to no face-to-face learning,”
Also, the pandemic affected small-scale producers, as well, due to movement restrictions.
Duarte emphasized, noting that Huawei’s donation will enable AFI to create and scale up its efforts through technology,
“It is now, more than ever, that sustainable development must be at the forefront of our organizations,”
A positive impact
Sharing the same advocacies as AFI, Huawei Philippines believes in the positive impact of social responsibility programs.
These gear towards enabling the Filipino youth to achieve their dreams and improving the lives of people in local communities.
Guo said Huawei Philippines looks forward to continuing its partnership with Ayala Foundation.
Moreover, they look forward to doing more sustainability programs for the benefit of Filipinos.
“In the future, we want to be more active in contributing to Ayala Foundation’s CSR programs and in giving back to the Philippines,”
Furthermore, guided by its global digital inclusion initiative, TECH4ALL, Huawei Philippines has been working with its local partners to create real change by connecting the unconnected communities, providing equitable access to technologies to underserved groups, and protecting the environment.
AFI continues to nurture partnerships with a wide network of government, non-governmental, corporate, and community-based organizations, as well as private individuals.
Lastly, it is on a mission to build communities that are creative, productive, self-reliant, and proud to be Filipino.
