The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in partnership with Airtel is set to increase access to social change related information and provide opportunities for participation whilst pushing forward U-Report, an innovative project supported by UNICEF, across the country.

The partnership allows UNICEF to tap into Airtel’s mobile services in making health, education, child protection and community-focused content available to Airtel customers across the country to ensure that more Nigerians have free access to mobile applications and services developed by UNICEF. 

Commenting on the initiative, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, has said the company is committed to empowering Nigerians and it is keen on supporting programmes that would enrich the lives of its various stakeholders.

 “At Airtel Nigeria, we constantly look for opportunities to excite, delight and empower our customers. This innovative partnership with UNICEF offers Nigerians a golden opportunity to transform the country and we are glad to be part of the U-Report project,” he said. 

Jean Gough, UNICEF representative in Nigeria, said: “UNICEF is committed to providing innovative solutions towards better delivery of services and social change. This partnership with Airtel has the potential to empower millions of Nigerians through access to information and with opportunities to help them transform their societies.”

U-Report, an innovative SMS-based platform, was launched officially in Nigeria on 29 April, 2015 and has over 400,000 registered users, making Nigeria the leading U-Report platform globally, among 16 other countries that are running the same application.

U-Report Nigeria has sent out more than 70 polls and 25 million messages over the past year. About 15 million text messages were sent and received through the U-Report platform, while the country battled Ebola in 2014 to combat rumours about mythical remedies such as bathing with hot water and salt and taking bitter kola to cure the disease. U-Report participants were informed about how to identify the disease, and how to keep safe.