Millicom reinforces its commitment to empowering women, educating children and developing communities during global health crisis

Luxembourg, April 22, 2020- Millicom is pleased to announce that it will continue its corporate responsibility flagship programs -Conéctate Segur@, Conectadas, and Tigo Comunidades- through enhanced online platforms. Millicom is committed to connecting and helping communities through the global COVID-19 health crisis, while maintaining also its focus on sustainability efforts, highlighted this week through Earth Day and Girls in ICT day. By leveraging its digital highways across Latin America and Africa and working creatively with its key NGO and government partners, all TIGO operations are digitally transforming and enhancing their iconic flagship programs, while adding the skills and resources needed during the crisis.   

“Our Corporate Responsibility programs are at the core of our business strategy and are further evolving into digital platforms to be able to connect, engage and help more people during this critical point in time. We have adapted our programs to work closer than ever with our communities despite our physical distance,” said Rachel Samrén, EVP Chief External Affairs Officer at Millicom. “Through our flagship programs, we are not only keeping our communities connected but also providing them with much needed support  and education.”

Conectadas: Online Female Empowerment
TIGO’s Conectadas program, which trains women and girls on digital literacy and entrepreneurship to provide them access to the opportunities associated with the digital world, is moving to virtual trainings to continue with the work of empowering women and girls without congregating in groups. The program will also expand its curriculum to help women navigate through changes at home and work, maintain their physical and psychological health, and prepare for the changes in their lives after the crisis. Millicom has also partnered with Sheva in Guatemala and FUNDEMAS is El Salvador to offer free capability trainings and courses on digital tools and entrepreneurial technical skills for women and girls. From 2017 to 2019, over 324,000 adolescent girls and women have been trained through the Conectadas program.

Conéctate Segur@: Children Online Protection

With the exponential increase in numbers of children navigating online due to their classes being conducted virtually, there is a pressing need to protect children and be vigilant of their online activity. TIGO’s flagship program Conéctate Segur@, which is dedicated to helping children safely explore, learn and grow through digital tools by educating children, parents, teachers and caregivers on the risks and opportunities of digital technology, has also transitioned to providing sessions online. These sessions are being conducted and recorded by highly committed and dedicated employees who belong to the volunteer program Acción Tigo. Over 480,000 children have been reached through in-person workshops since 2016, now moving to the online trainings.

Conéctate Segur@: Tools for Educators
TIGO is also responding to the urgent need to provide digital tools to teachers in Latin America. In partnership with BIIA LAB Foundation and AHYU, TIGO developed the “First International Online Conference on Digital Education in a crisis”  called “Inzpira Online” that brought  together 10   education and digital education experts from 8 different countries and provided practical tools and best practices to help teachers throughout Latin America navigate through this new era of online education. More than 400,000 people attended the conference online.

Conéctate Segur@: Partnership with UNICEF
In support of its long-term partnership with UNICEF, TIGO is providing access to UNICEF’s Learning at Home program online and adding modules of child online protection from Conéctate Segur@. The Learning at Home program supports families with educational and entertaining activities to do as a family in addition to providing them with information to keep children safe as they continue their education.

Tigo Comunidades: Enabling digital tools
All TIGO operations are supporting local governments to provide free Internet connections at critical premises like shelters, relief centers, and hospitals, and providing free navigation to essential government information such as health pages in particular. TIGO is also working hand in hand with local authorities to provide digital tools to strengthen people and SMEs and allow them to rebuild, reconnect and thrive.  The company’s e-wallet platform, Tigo Money, for example, is being used to help unbanked citizens not only pay for their bills and do purchases in retail establishments, but in certain countries TIGO has also partnered with the government to use Tigo Money as the main platform for the government to provide subsidies to citizens throughout this period. TIGO has  strengthened the digital customer journey so that all commercial transactions such as recharging credits for pre-paid mobile services can be done online without leaving home.

As the current global health crisis continues to evolve, TIGO will continue to connect and drive digital and financial inclusion for businesses, communities, and women, and to educate children, parents and teachers on the safe and productive use of the internet.

Today, when the relevance of the telecommunications industry becomes greater in maintaining connections that strengthen economies and keep everyone informed and productive, TIGO's commitment is even greater.

For additional information on the programs, please use the following links:
Conectadas
Conéctate Segur@
Tigo UNICEF Partnership Program
Tools for Educators: Inzpira Online
Tigo Money Paraguay

Courtesy media available for download:

• Picture 1 – Conectadas [Download]
• Picture 2 – Conéctate Segur@ [Download]
• Picture 3 – Tigo Comunidades [Download]

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For further information, please contact:

About Millicom
Millicom (NASDAQ U.S.: TIGO, Nasdaq Stockholm: TIGO_SDB) is a leading provider of cable and mobile services dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America and Africa. Millicom sets the pace when it comes to providing high-speed broadband and innovation around The Digital Lifestyle® services through its principal brand, TIGO. As of December 31, 2019, Millicom operating subsidiaries and joint ventures employed more than 22,000 people and provided mobile services to approximately 52 million customers, with a cable footprint of more than 11 million homes passed. Founded in 1990, Millicom International Cellular S.A. is headquartered in Luxembourg.