Over 1,8 million petitions for 1GOAL - MTN

1GOAL is a 2010 FIFA World Cup legacy initiative where MTN and other partners, including world leaders, international football stars and education champions, mobilise the public to petition governments to meet their United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) target of providing universal access to education to 72 million children worldwide by 2015.

MTN sms campaign

In support of this initiative, MTN launched an SMS campaign in May to collect a million text messages from its 129 million subscribers across its operations to petition their governments to act on their commitment to accelerate the provision of quality education.

Says Nozipho January-Bardill, MTN group executive: corporate affairs: "We are delighted at the overwhelming response we have received on this campaign, and would like to extend our gratitude to our subscribers and everyone who participated in this noble cause.

"Access to education is a basic human right that we all cannot afford to deprive our children of. It is a solution which we believe can help alleviate poverty and underdevelopment in Africa and other developing regions. As the first and only African global sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, MTN's participation in 1GOAL has given expression to the objective of leaving a lasting legacy that will endure long after the football festivities are over," says January-Bardill.

Coalition continues campaign

Post the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Global Campaign for Education and its member national coalitions are continuing the campaign until they present the petition to the world leaders in September this year.

World leaders are meeting next month to discuss their ongoing commitments to Education for All, and the 1GOAL Mobile Campaign will enable tens of millions of people to let world leaders know that universal education for all can help end world poverty.

Subscribers who have participated in this campaign join a list of football players, celebrities and world leaders who have already pledged their support for 1GOAL, including Michael Essien, Stephen Appiah, Aaron Mokoena, Matthew Booth and Nwankwo Kanu.

2010 takings

As a testimony of its ongoing commitment to 1GOAL, MTN set up two public viewing facilities in the run-up to and during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa at Montecasino in Johannesburg and V&A Waterfront in Cape Town where football fans paid a nominal entry fee to watch the FIFA World Cup games. These sites were part of the free public viewing sites dotted across the country.

A total of R550 000 generated from the gate takings has since been donated to 1GOAL and United Against Malaria (UAM), - a coalition of football stars, NGO's, corporates and celebrities that aims to combat malaria. Both 1GOAL and UAM have each received R275 000 generated from the gate takings.