A total of 81 projects and business leaders across Asia were selected as recipients of the Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREAs) 2020, including two Cambodian businesses picking up recognition in two categories.
Widely regarded as the gold standard for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability practice, this year’s award ceremony was organised virtually because of the unprecedented global healthcare crisis. A diversity of industries and leading organisations from all over the region received AREAs, demonstrating continued dedication to responsible business practices despite the pandemic.
Organised by Enterprise Asia, the leading nongovernmental organisation for responsible entrepreneurship in Asia, the AREAs aim to recognise and honour Asian businesses and leaders for championing sustainable and socially responsible business practices.
The award categories are Social Empowerment, Investment in People, Health Promotion, Green Leadership, Corporate Governance, Circular Economy Leadership and Responsible Business Leadership.
Richard Tsang, Enterprise Asia’s newly elected president, said: “The pandemic has forced us to revisit our values and to focus on balancing economic, social and environmental progress as envisioned by the 2030 agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG). Leveraging this moment of crisis, it is important for us to turn the recovery into a real opportunity to do things right for the future.”
Smart Axiata’s Digital Literacy and Internet Safety Pilot Program, which provided more than 1,500 Cambodian high school students in the capital and two provinces with practical information on digital literacy and online safety during last year, won an award in the Social Empowerment category.
The Digital Literacy and Internet Safety Pilot Program was established by Smart Axiata in partnership with global internet giant Google and the GSMA – the global trade association for mobile network operators.
The programme, supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPTC), was initially made available last year to students in grades 10 and 11 in schools in Phnom Penh, Kampong Cham and Kampong Chhnang.
Through the programme, high school students were trained in basic digital literacy and educated on the importance of password security, online threats and digital citizenship.
The programme also featured workshops on creating good quality videos for the internet, with videos created by the students entered into a competition in which the winners received cash prizes for their schools.
“This award is a welcome recognition of this pilot programme, which we are happy to say has also been recognised as a great success by the ministries and schools we have partnered with. We will continue the programme to create larger impacts on students across nine different high schools in Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom and Kampong Chhnang once the COVID-19 situation improves,” said Smart Axiata Chief Executive Officer Thomas Hundt.
The digital literacy programme is among the latest educational initiatives from Smart Axiata, which aims to be the Kingdom’s digital champion through digital education programmes such as the SmartEdu Scholarship, SmartEdu University Student Development Program and many more.
The second winner of an award was Kulara Water Co Ltd. It took away an award in the Investment in People category.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
