IBM CSR initiatives embrace SDGs 3 and 4 on health, well-being, education

30 / 06 / 2019

• Companies

IBMers have focused their efforts to serve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) no 3 on Good Health and Well-Being and no 4 on Quality Education.

IBM joined hands for the second straight year with the American Red Cross in its “Missing Types” campaign – from June 11 to 30 – to address critical blood shortages in the United States.

The need for blood donations continues throughout the summer which is tough as donations drop off. IBM called on people to join other IBMers in helping fill the shortages by making an appointment to donate blood. Last year 5,400 appointments were made by IBMers to donate blood through this campaign.

IBM was awarded the American Red Cross’ Centennial Partnership award in 2018. IBM’s first employee blood donation campaign started in 1948. IBMers around the globe help their country Red Cross or Red Crescent societies.
Global Humanitarian Response Manager and Senior Program Manager, IBM Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs Rebecca Curzon said “I am proud to be an IBMer, and I am proud to volunteer for the American Red Cross. I will also be proud to donate blood again this year so there is enough blood to meet the needs.”

Curzone said “I am just one of more than 500,000 American Red Cross volunteers in the United States. Many other IBMers volunteer, give blood, have been trained in lifesaving skills through the Red Cross, and donate generously to its mission. In fact, since 2003, IBMers in the United States have pledged more than $18M to the American Red Cross through our annual Employee Charitable Contributions Campaign. IBMers around the globe help their country Red Cross or Red Crescent societies.”

“Donating blood is an easy way to serve your community,” she said, urging people to schedule their appointment to donate.
Serving SDG 3 on Health and Well-being, IBM volunteers launched in February an initiative to use artificical intelligence (AI) in India to help girls recover from the trauma of human trafficking as about 150 million people in India urgently need mental health interventions and care.

To help address the problem, a team of IBM research scientists has created a framework using artificial intelligence to help aid organizations identify and hire lay counselors.
AI can accelerate the identification of the better suited lay counselors, who can then be hired and deployed faster, and in larger numbers, to help those in need.

“It is a very sad situation to think about these girls who face such mental and physical trauma,” says Prerna Agarwal, a research scientist for IBM in India who is part of the volunteer team.
The lack of rehabilitative services and personnel in India compound the high rates of untreated mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, acute anxiety, suicide and depression, and can lead to subsequent re-trafficking.

“Many of the girls experience depressive symptoms like poor sleep, concentration and energy that affects their ability to achieve school success. They need someone to talk to, to sit with them and support them,” says Dr. Priyanka Halli, the chief medical officer and psychiatrist at EmancipAction, the nongovernmental agency (NGO) the IBM team is supporting.
The IBM team has turned to matching counselors with girls to the increase the potential of healthy and positive outcomes.
“Understanding the needs of a girl is vital to determine the frequency of counseling sessions and which counselor is best suited for her,” said Prerna Agarwal, a research scientist for IBM in India who is part of the volunteer team. It’s not a simple task.

“We are working on identifying levels of stress, depression, suicidal tendencies or behaviors with AI,” explained Anupama Ray – who joined three other researchers and volunteers in India whose responsibilities include developing solutions to problems using machine learning and artificial intelligence. “Then, we can determine counseling sessions for the women with suitable counselors based on demographic information. This could have a huge impact on speeding recovery.”
Pursuing the Sustainable Development Goal 4 on quality education, “Voices of IBM Volunteers” was launched as part of the All Things STEM program to reach young people through STEM-related volunteering.

The drive to close the global skills gap is among IBM’s most important initiatives. All Things STEM calls on IBM volunteers to promote activities that enable digital literacy with young people, introduce them to hands-on problem solving, and sparks their interest in STEM learning—using resources and support on the IBM Volunteers website.

In the series, IBM volunteers share their passion and perspective, in their own words, on what it means to be a volunteer and the positive impact we can all have on society.

In April 2019, five IBMers and ten IBM teams across 13 countries copped the 2018 Volunteer Excellence Awards. This award recognizes IBM employees and teams for what they do best – developing and applying IBM technologies to making the world better – in service of their local communities. This year’s winners hail from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Japan, The Philippines, Spain and more. Just 15 individuals and teams were chosen from more than 250 nominations worldwide.

IBMers around the world are volunteering their time. In 2018, IBMers spent over 1.3 million hours in volunteer services.

IBM is proud to encourage, support and recognize volunteer service. To underscore that commitment, IBM pledged to issue cash grants to each winner’s partner organization for the first time in the history of the Volunteer Excellence Awards. Each partnering organization is scheduled to receive $10,000, for a total of $150,000 in grants across all 15 winners. These funds will help scale the work started by these IBMers to reach more people across their communities.

Across all industries, many companies are beginning to discover the value of integrating service into their business strategies. Even major investment funds are taking notice and insisting that the companies they invest in have a societal contribution. None of this is new to IBM. As the responsible steward of the technology industry – and as the trusted partner for many of the world’s largest enterprises and governments – IBM embraces its leadership role in business and society.

For over 100 years, IBMers have created positive change in the world through their day-to-day work and their service in local communities. Since 2004, over 300,000 IBM employees and retirees have contributed more than 20 million hours of volunteer service.