More than 1,000 families of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) will benefit from the Rs 81 million fund set up by Mobilink, the country’s market leader in cellular communication services and a subsidiary of Orascom Telecom. This is in addition to the Rs 3.3 million raised with the help of Employee donations, SMS fund and Aid Collection Points set up by Mobilink at its select main offices across Pakistan.
The Rs 81 million fund, which will be utilized to establish an entire camp that can accommodate up to 1,000 families for a period of 3 months. This is the largest such commitment by Pakistan’s private sector for IDPs relief.
The camp is to be established at Kund near Jehangira with the facilitation of Emergency Response Unit (ERU). While Mobilink will be relying on the expertise of ERU and UN’s implementing partner agencies, in line with company policy that encourages employee volunteerism, Mobilink employees will remain personally involved in various areas of camp management, procurement of items and other requirements.
This support is in addition to delivery of relief items by Mobilink to families residing in hujras, schools and dispensaries of Mardan and Swabi including far-flung villages bordering Buner. To date, Mobilink’s Security team continues to personally deliver weekly ration packs utilizing the Rs 3.3 million raised via employee donations, SMS fund and Aid collection points and have reached out to more than 2,200 families to date.
Mobilink and Orascom have shown unwavering commitment in the past as well by actively engaging in the relief and rehabilitation of the Oct 2005 earthquake affectees.
