COSTA RICA NEWS — Costa Rica’s mobile operators Claro, Kolbi (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad – ICE) and Movistar (Telefonica) signed an agreement with the child welfare agency, the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI) and GSMA to promote a series of child protection actions.
The agreement was signed during the sixth edition of the EXPO TELECOM trade show held last week at the Intercontinental hotel in Escazú.
The initiative is part of the We Care program of GSMA, which has already been launched in Brazil, El Salvador and Nicaragua, and eventually reach the entire region.
In the case of Costa Rica, the operators agreed to provide the 1147 toll free line, for the welfare of children and adolescents and promote its expansion to other online platforms, such as social networks and applications.
Operators will offer free calls to the helpline and will build awareness of the initaitive through SMS, social networks events and promotion on their websites. In the future, the operators will undertake “We Care” programmes in the areas of handset theft, eWaste and human rights.
“For Telefónica, it is important to support social issues such as the helpline initiative driven by PANI, which gives voice to Costa Rican children and youths. We believe in promoting the development of the societies in which we operate, and we work to ensure access to information through our services, protecting young people and children. The GSMA “We Care” initiative represents an opportunity to integrate the efforts already performed with the other operators in the country, helping to maximise the benefits to society,” said Jorge Abadia, Country Director, Telefónica Costa Rica.
“We are pleased to see the further expansion of the “We Care” campaign in Latin America, building on the excellent work already underway in Brazil and Nicaragua,” said Nenita La Rose, Executive Director of Child Helpline International (CHI), a global network of 191 organisations aiming to promote and protect the rights of children and teenagers in 145 countries. “We welcome this initiative developed by GSMA Latin America and we look forward to working even more closely with operators in Costa Rica to not only build awareness, but promote the use of the 1147 child helpline run by PANI. This is an important opportunity for us to help ensure the safety of children and young people in Costa Rica.”
GSMA program
The GSMA program is a series of initiatives desgined to protect mobile users, working in collaboration with national governments and mobile operators in each country.
The GSMA is expanding the reach and scope of its “We Care” campaign in Latin America, with the goal of providing users with safer, more secure and convenient mobile experiences through programs focusing on handset theft, child protection and disaster response.
The GSMA “We Care” campaign, which was officially launched today in Costa Rica and on 28th October in El Salvador, builds on initiatives currently being implemented by operators and governments in Brazil and Nicaragua.
In the press statement, GSMA said:
“Throughout Latin America, mobile provides citizens access to a wide range of communications, information and entertainment services, enhancing their everyday lives and offering new economic opportunities,” said Tom Phillips, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA. “We are very pleased to be working with leading mobile operators and authorities in Costa Rica and El Salvador to extend the reach of our “We Care” initiatives, to ensure that every customer can enjoy mobile’s transformational benefits in a protected and trusted environment.”