Ooredoo has concluded its 2020 Ramadan campaign, a comprehensive programme of charitable initiatives supporting communities across its global network of operating companies, while responding to the worldwide challenges of the novel coronavirus.
Ooredoo Group companies across the Middle East, North Africa and South East Asia established projects and initiatives targeting marginalised and under-served communities, while rewarding medical staff and others on the front lines of fighting disease.
Whereas in previous years the members of the Ooredoo Group have engaged with the communities in which they operate, this year the campaign has been about community-building, bringing people together at a time when essential public health policies are confining them to the home.
As part of the Ramadan campaign, Ooredoo Group released its annual Ramadan commercial with a very distinctive message to usual. 2020’s video focused on the way that Muslims across the globe would have a very different Ramadan from the usual, staying apart from family members, friends and neighbours. Shot completely on smartphones in eight different countries, Ooredoo’s global Ramadan message encouraged communities to remain strong and keep connected to their loved ones using digital technologies, despite being physically apart.
With its message “even if we can’t be together, at least we can still be close”, Ooredoo’s Ramadan campaign reached 44 million video views, exceeding all expectations and the records set in previous years.
Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani, Group Chief Executive Officer, Ooredoo, said: “Traditionally the holy month of Ramadan brings families together in reflection and gratitude, but this has proven challenging during the pandemic. We are proud of the way our annual Ramadan campaign addressed these issues this year, from the 2020 video promoting digital togetherness, to the practical steps taken to help citizens, customers, communities and the medics and other public servants who support them.”
Ooredoo Qatar announced a raft of Ramadan offers under the umbrella of the ‘Giving More In Ramadan’ campaign, designed to support customers in these challenging times. The company has stepped up efforts to the challenge of maintaining its corporate social responsibility activities despite the logistical challenges posed by the outbreak. This meant Ramadan gifts were delivered to patients at the Fahad Bin Jassim Kidney Center, to the elderly at Ehsan Center, to the children at the Orphans Care Center (Deama) and to labourers working at Katara and Souq Waqif, Doha’s historic market area, while taking all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of volunteers and gift recipients.
More broadly, a wide range of heavily discounted or free packages of data were made available to customers in order to build practical support for the call, during the holy month and beyond, to #StayHomeWithOoredoo . Existing digital initiatives have helped Ooredoo Qatar to bring families and communities closer together at this time of year.
Ooredoo Kuwait has celebrated Girgian — a mid-Ramadan celebration marked with children wearing traditional clothes and going door-to-door to neighbours to receive sweets and nuts while also singing traditional songs — very differently this year amid the ongoing COVID-19 situation in the country. The company distributed gifts to frontline staff at Sheikh Jaber Hospital and delivered gifts with every order placed through one of the popular delivery companies operating in the country.
In Oman, Ooredoo ensured its customers could stay connected to friends and loved ones over Ramadan with special offers on local calls. By making it easier for people to be together even when social distancing, the Ramadan offer on calls cut stress while encouraging people to stay home.
Ooredoo Algeria launched a solidarity caravan in the west, east and centre of Algeria, designed to distribute sohour meals to crucial medical staff, at work saving lives.
Ooredoo Tunisia built upon an impulse of solidarity between the company and its employees to help hospitals, students and especially needy families impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
Under its “Ramadan Share to Unite Against COVID-19” programme, Indosat Ooredoo made a substantial donation to Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB), buying protective equipment and surgical masks, while funding special buses, portable washing stations and disinfectant chambers for use in the fight against the virus.
Ooredoo Maldives increased support to customers, by strengthening their increasingly important digital connections to friends and family.
Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani concluded: “It gives me great pleasure this holy month to see Ooredoo’s corporate ethos demonstrated in an unwavering message, backed up by practical measures across our whole global footprint. Ooredoo teams in the Middle East, North Africa and South East Asia have responded responsibly and courageously to the unprecedented and challenging situation we face, exemplifying Ooredoo Group’s values, expressed in a genuine commitment to the spirit of our corporate social responsibility.”
