Ericsson Partners with PeaceEarth Foundation to Enhance Peace Efforts in Africa

As part of its contribution to the Social good Summit held in New York with parallel sessions in Nairobi and Beijing on Monday September 24, 2012, Swedish-based IT firm Ericsson has announced its commitment to join Oscar-winning actor, humanist and Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO, Forest Whitaker, in a new foundation whose mission it is to promote peace among youth everywhere, from troubled urban neighbourhoods in Africa – especially South Sudan and Uganda – as well as the United States.

Ericsson's engagement will begin by providing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions to schools in two locations, South Sudan and Uganda, in conjunction with the global education initiative Connect To Learn. This will enable the PeaceEarth Foundation to establish access to the internet and create a collaborative environment among the participating youth and further develop the education initiatives.

 Also through Connect To Learn, Ericsson will provide on-site project management resources, Wi-Fi coverage, and basic ICT training for teachers and students on the use of the Ericsson cloud computing solution.

 Ericsson President and CEO Hans Vestberg said that the company’s work with PeaceEarth Foundation is a natural extension of how to bring its competence to advocate for Technology for Good around the world.

 “We know that our technology has a positive link to development, where 10 per cent of increased broadband penetration leads to more than 1 per cent sustainable growth in GDP. You can't have positive social and economic development where people are suffering from conflicts or natural disasters. I hope that extending access to education will help enable the PeaceEarth Foundation further its goals," said Vestberg.

 Lars Lindén, head of Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa, who introduced a panel discussion on ‘African digital entrepreneurs’ at the Nairobi session which discussed ways in which the internet has revolutionized African businesses and the role played by organizations like Ericsson in driving this, underscored the importance of broadband revolution.

“Today, broadband is recognized as a basic need, a core part of societal infrastructure as essential as roads and bridges. It is revolutionizing all areas of our lives and enabling a new era of empowerment for people, business and society. We see this forum as an occasion to explore new ways in which we can exploit the opportunities the technology avails,” said Lindén.

The PeaceEarth Foundation brings together public and private entities and aims to serve as a vehicle for an array of programs, initiatives and campaigns in the U.S. and around the world.

"Ericsson's support to PeaceEarth will establish a truly connected program in South Sudan and Uganda. The commitment will allow us to advance our shared goal to collectively move our world towards peace, one day at a time," said Forest Whitaker.

 Currently, 1.5 billion people live in countries affected by violent conflict, and more than 8 million children have been killed or disabled through violent conflict. Working in partnership with local and regional experts, civil society and multilateral organizations, governments and businesses, PeaceEarth will work to promote peaceful conflict resolution through youth empowerment, access to knowledge, capacity-building and cultural diversity.

PeaceEarth Foundation recently launched an interactive website that gives people the power to learn, engage and act. It serves to connect and foster dialogue among communities, practitioners and scholars, giving people key information about conflict zones, best practices in peace-building, and solutions. The work of the Foundation is also instrumental to further the mission of Whitaker as UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation, and co-founder of the International Institute for Peace.

  

Ericsson was a corporate partner of the Social Good Summit 2012, which brought together influential leaders from different sectors to explore digital solutions to the world's shared challenges. The Summit is an annual event held to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly meeting.