UK, GSMA engage in £38 m partnership to serve SDGs

17 / 07 / 2019

By Marwa Nassar - -

The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) engaged in a £38 million partnership with mobile technology trade body, the GSMA, to improve access to essential digital services to over 26 million people around the world over the next 3.5 years within the framework of serving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mobile phones are an effective tool that can help lift people out of poverty and keep them safe by having greater access to healthcare such as lifesaving maternal and newborn child health and nutrition information. However, it’s estimated that 2.5 billion people in developing countries are still without mobile internet, which is challenging for communities who need access to a range of essential services such as clean energy, water and sanitation as well as government services such as birth registration.

The new partnership builds on the GSMA’s long-standing relationship with DFID. Since 2013, over 20 million lives across 39 countries have been impacted, of which over 70% have been women. The link-up has already impacted all 17 SDGs, in particular SDG 5 which focuses on Gender Equality, SDG 10 which focuses on Reduced Inequalities and SDG 7 which looks at Affordable and Clean Energy.

The ‘Partnership for Inclusion, Innovation and Scale’ will provide funding for the GSMA’s Mobile for Development work on digital inclusion, digital identity, energy, water, sanitation and the reduction of the mobile gender gap. It will also include two new areas of focus: disability and climate.

“This landmark partnership with DFID reinforces the joint power and potential of the private and public sectors working together and ensures that we will continue our crucial role of stimulating digital innovation to deliver both sustainable business and large-scale socio-economic impact for the underserved,” said Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA. “This project reinforces our commitment to supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and using the power of technology to reduce global inequalities.”

The partnership will unearth critical insights on the needs of the underserved and identify and invest in mobile-enabled innovations and business models which can drive inclusion at scale. New technologies and business models, such as mobile money and pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar energy, have been crucial to delivering socio-economic impact to the underserved. DFID, one of the world’s first donors to embrace digital technologies, has been at the forefront of these innovations. The GSMA’s Mobile for Development programme is experienced in bringing digital innovations to scale, by engaging the private sector, especially mobile operators and digital innovators.