Telefónica is the only Spanish company which participated at the Business Call to Action Fifth Annual Forum in the framework of the General Assembly of the United Nations held in New York last week. During the event, the Business Call to Action first report was presented, entitled “Breaking Through: Inclusive Business and the Business Call to Action Today – Mapping Challenges, Progress and the Way Ahead” which includes 94 business initiatives for social inclusion.
During the event, Eduardo Puig de la Bellacasa, Corporate Director of Sustainability Strategy at Telefónica, presented the M-Inclusion project. This initiative, co-funded by the European Commission has as objective to foster the use and development of mobile solutions for the social integration of people at risk of exclusion.
The Director said that “M-Inclusion is a project that pretends through mobile solutions, make the life of people at risk of exclusion easier and facilitate the access to public and private services that otherwise would be impossible for certain people”. He also explained that the objective is to create an ecosystem to enable these individuals to have greater personal autonomy and greater access to services such as: financial services, health, administration, education, etc.
Business Call to Action is a global platform for business leadership born in 2008. This global action platform has more than 100 member companies around the world. Inclusive businesses are incorporating as part of their business strategy to help to advance to the Millennium Development Goals. The creation of new business models, share learned lessons and create partnerships to improve delivery and increase the impact of development, are some of its main objectives.
The launch of the forum makes clear the extent of innovative business models, which shows that companies are working to promote development in areas such as green technology, agriculture, financial services or health. Magdy Martinez-Soliman, Administrator and Director, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, Development Program of the United Nations stated that “We are very pleased to see a new development agenda on track and with the end of the Millennium Development Goals in sight, the Call to Action is on track to meet its efforts to reduce poverty.”
