ENVIRONMENT

Millennium Development Goals

Telefónica Group is actively contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals

On 8 September 2000, the Millennium Summit brought together 192 heads of state and government at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York with the aim of sending a clear message that the eradication of world poverty must be a priority for all nations. This spirit was reflected in the Millennium Declaration, which was signed by everyone attending the summit, and which essentially constitutes a firm commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

In 2008, the member states, groups of states and partners from civil society, including the private sector and philanthropic organisations, held a high-level meeting on 25 September, where they undertook new commitments to take the next concrete steps towards making the millennium development goals a reality by 2015.

For its part, Telefónica Group continuously strives to improve its role as a partner committed to the development of the economies in which it operates. In line with this undertaking, the company last year publicly reiterated its commitment to the Millennium Development Goals.

Its first action was the communications campaign by the Corporate Reputation Forum, “2015: Un mundo mejor para Joana” ("2015: a better world for Joana") of which the company has been part since its launch in 2007. For another year, it helped disseminate the campaign's eight aims and raise awareness in wider society about the need for cooperation to achieve them by 2015. The main medium for the campaign's message is the website: www.2015unmundomejorparajoana.com

In addition, on 6 May 2008, the company signed the "Call to Action" declaration by companies, which expressed commitment to a series of concrete measures in support of development, which will be carried through alongside governments and non-governmental organisations.

Through each of the initiatives detailed below, Telefónica seeks to show how ICT is part of the solution, helping to achieve the targets set by the United Nations.

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Challenge: Halve the proportion of people who earn less than 1 dollar a day between 1990 and 2015	Creation of info-centres in Latin America to provide low cost Internet in community centres or local neighbourhoods, employability and citizens entrepreneurial spirit. (LATAM)
Challenge: Achieve full employment, productivity and decent jobs for all, including women and young people	‘Proyecto Estela’ - Developing the capabilities and competences of technicians, in companies that provide telecommunications services to Telefónica, with aim of fostering professional development by improving CV’s in this skills area. (ARG, BRA, CHI, COL and PER)
	‘Puente Laboral’ - Developing professional skills of students of the Professional Media Qualification by developing employability skills and ICT knowledge the with the aim of maximising young people’s potential for incorporation into the job market. (CHI)
	‘It’s Your Community’ - Financial support for individual or group initiatives that promote positive changes to their environment, such as social entrepreneurship projects. (UK)
"Challenge: Halve the percentage of people suffering from hunger between 1990 and 2015."	Through Fundación Telefónica, participation in the FAO’s annual Telefood Gala, which aims to raise social awareness about the issue of world hunger and uses donations to finance sustainable projects in developing countries to increase the population’s nutrition (SPA)

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Challenge: ensure that all children in the world are able to complete primary education by 2015	Proniño - A Fundación Telefónica initiative to eradicate child labour in Latin America by providing schooling for children. At the end of 2008, the programme had benefitted 107,602 boys, girls and teenagers. (ARG, BRA, CHI, COL, ECU, ESA, GUA, MEX, NIC, PAN, PER, URU & VEN)
	Educared - the Fundación Telefónica project intended to promote ICT inclusion in schools, with the aim of contributing to enriching teaching methods, promoting learning and contributing to quality education. (ARG, BRA, CHI, COL, SPA, MEX, PER & VEN).

Goal 4: Reduce infant mortality
Challenge: Reduce child mortality among under 5’s by two thirds between 1990 and 2015	Implementation of the ‘Responsible Procurement’ programme, which aims to guarantee the absence of child labour in the supply chain and promote the economic inclusion of families of children who benefit from the Proniño programme by contracting these goods and services. (GLO)
	Participation in the ‘Red de Empresas contra el Trabajo Infantil’ (Network Against Child Labour) that aims to make the issue of child labour as an infringement of child and adolescent rights visible. (ARG)
	Inclusion of preservation of umbilical cord blood in employee health insurance policies. (SPA)

Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Challenge: Reduce maternal mortality by three quarters between 1990 and 2015	Actions to promote health and risk prevention at work through preventative gynaecological and breast examinations for women aged over 35. (SPA)
Challenge: Achieve universal access to reproductive health services by 2015

Goal 6: Combat el HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Challenge: Halt and have begun to reduce the incidence of malaria and other serious diseases by 2015	ATAM - a social project of the Telefónica Group and its workers (employees, pensioners and early retirees), whose main aim is to prevent situations where disability is an issue and provide services that help disabled people integrate into society. (SPA)
	Sponsorship of the ‘300 seconds’ concert, organised to raise funds for investigating neurofibromatosis, leukodystrophy and tubercular sclerosis. (SPA)
	Co-operation Agreement with the Asociación Española Contra el Cancer (Spanish Cancer Association), to facilitate the incorporation of new technologies in their day-to-day operations. (SPA)
	Telefónica O2 Ireland, collaboration with Irish Autism Action, an organisation that tries to improve the lives of autistic people and their families. In 2008 the company gave more than 100,000 euros to this cause. (IRL)

Goal 3: Promote sexual equality and female autonomy
Challenge: Preferably by 2005, eliminate gender inequality in primary and secondary education, and by 2015 at all levels of education	Diversity - a project which, among other objectives, aims to promote gender in inclusion across the Telefónica Group. (GLO)

Goal 7: Guarantee environmental sustainability
Challenge: Incorporate the sustainable development principles in national policies and programmes and reduce the loss of natural resources	Creation of the Climate Change Office, responsible for ensuring the reduction of company energy consumption and Greenhouse Gas emissions, for maximising the development of services that allow our clients to increase their efficiency and for positioning ICT at the heart of the solution in the fight against climate change. (GLO)
	Participation in external working groups such as GESI, ETNO and ITU, which foster the development of public policy in the area of ICT and climate change at world level. (GLO)
	Design of an overall Environmental Management System that conforms to ISO 14001, to improve the entire company’s environmental behaviour. (GLO)
	Collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in the Spanish version of The Corporate Ecosystem Services Review. This document sets objectives for including environmental goods and services into overall company management. (GLO)
	Development of the ‘El Salvador Verde’ (Green El Salvador) initiative which promotes good environmental practice by raising social awareness. (ESA)
	Marketing the Nokia 3110 Evolve handset, which aims to promote the use of recyclable materials, minimise energy consumption and raise consumer awareness. (SPA)
	Launch of the energy efficient Universal Charger for mobiles. (UK)

Challenge: by 2010, considerably slow down bio-diversity loss	With the support of Acciónatura and customers, a project was launched to repopulate riverbank areas. (SPA)
	The Telefónica Foundation joined forces with the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez del Estado de Oaxaca – Fundacion Selva Negra (Oaxaca State Benito Juárez Autonomous University’s Selva Negra Foundation) and the Centro Mexicana de la Tortuga (Mexican Tortoise Centre) to help conserve this species. (MEX)
Challenge: Halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to drinking water and basic sanitation services by 2015	Participation in the ‘Water and Sustainable Development’ Expo Zaragoza 2008, as technological partner and sponsor of the ‘Telefónica Arts Pavilion’. (SPA)
	Agreement with the Canal de Isabel II, via Telefónica R&D, signing up to the Madrid Water Challenge. (SPA)

Goal 8: Foster a world development association
Challenge: Co-operate with the private sector to provide access to information and communication technologies	Geographic divide
	Education agreement with the Tucumán Government to provide Speedy high-speed satellite Internet connection to mountain schools. (ARG)
	‘Bridges of Communication. Social Antennas’, mobile coverage for isolated areas. (CHI)
	Participation in the ‘Second Bi-annual Plan to Extend and Reposition Wireless Social Telecommunications Networks’: repositioning and extending of networks in 1,400 locations in 330 municipalities. (COL)
	‘Coverage 2008’ Project – aims to improve mobile coverage in suburban, rural areas and on roads. (ECU)
	‘Collaboration in the Rural Broadband Extension’ Project – promoted by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade. (SPA)
	Contribution to reducing the digital divide through the Ciberescuelas (Cyber schools) pilot-project, as part of the Plan Avanza. (SPA)
	Indigenous language Telefónica customer service telephone line. (MEX)
	‘Integrame’ Project: public-private partnership to develop telecommunications services in rural areas with high levels of poverty. (PER)
	Economic divide
	Development of fixed line and mobile phone services for people on lower incomes, giving them adequate control over their consumption. (LATAM)
	‘IT Desk service’ that provides the self-employed and SME’s with the necessary tools to satisfy all their IT and Internet needs for a single monthly charge. (SPA, LATAM)
	Launch of ‘Fonoya’ Service, allowing users to access the fixed line network by purchasing a telephone terminal that only requires connection to the electricity supply, for the equivalent of 1 sol a day. (PER)
	Training divide
	Launch of the ‘Interactive Generations’ project to promote responsible use of new technologies by children and teenagers. (LATAM)
	Participation in organising Campus Party whose aim is to promote digital inclusion through leisure. (BRA, COL, ESA & SPA)
	Health and Disability divide
	Creation of tele-interpretation centres for the hard hearing. (ARG, BRA & COL)
	Launch of specially designed fixed line and mobile terminals for senior citizens and the disabled such as Motorola Einfach-Handy W220, Emporia Life and the Movistar Fácil range. (GER, CZE & SPA)
	Telefónica Volunteers collaborate with the Centro Iberoamericano Cultural de Audio Lectura y Educación in ‘Oídos a la Obra’ (Hearing to Work). The project aims to help integrate the visually, aurally, mobility or neurologically impaired by providing an audio-book lending service. (ARG)
	Through Fundación Telefónica, donation of IT equipment adapted for use by disabled people at the Lanín and Nahuel Huapi National Park information centres.
	Launch of speaking text message service (which converts text messages into audio messages) for visually impaired users.
	Development of a tele-support platform to allow distance assistance for dependents that could be included in numerous future rehabilitation, monitoring, leisure and corporate services, etc. In addition, the development of a teleinterpretation pilot service for sign language. (SPA)