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In a ceremony held last October 20, Telecel gave UNICEF a cheque in the amount of 18 million PTE, resulting from the revenue of calls made on the Christmas Day 1997, between Telecel Customers.

This amount is for supporting UNICEF actions in the Area of Bafatá, in Guinea-Bissau, where are over than 180,000 refugees from the armed conflict started last June. The target is to reinforce and in some cases, implement in the field, basic health services and fighting epidemics such as Cholera and Malaria that currently threaten the population.

With this action – included in the Appeal from the United Nations for Humanitarian Assistance in Guinea Bissau – it is predicted that about 5,500 children under 1 year old can be vaccinated, 40,000 will receive a supplement of Vitamin A and about 200,000 people will be informed over ways to prevent cholera.

In the occasion, Manuel Pina, President of the Portuguese Committee for UNICEF mentioned “with the restart of the conflicts, it has become more necessary than ever supporting displaced people in Guinea-Bissau.
Since the war begun, UNICEF has been given special support to health centres in districts with a high level of displaced people, by supplying and distributing vaccinations, re-hydration salts for fighting lost of fluids due to diarrhoea, nutrition supplements and essential drugs.
Water treatment, installation of manual pumps and supplying reservoirs, are essential measures to avoid cholera spreading, as well as a wide information over basic hygienic.
This contribution from Telecel, one of the highest until now, is the example of a precious co-operation that companies can give to an organisation like UNICEF which depends exclusively on volunteer contributions. Being able to contribute to minimise suffering of the inhabitants of a Portuguese language African country has for the Portuguese Committee for UNICEF a very special meaning.“