Google announces COVID-19 support for five countries including Pakistan
Google has announced a total commitment of USD$7.5 million in new grant funding and other support to help alleviate the current pandemic crisis in Pakistan and other Southeast Asian countries grappling with a surge in cases.
Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, is providing a USD$1.5 million grant to UNICEF to support urgent COVID-19 response needs across five countries including Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
With this grant, UNICEF will deploy female vaccinators in Covid Vaccination Centers to increase the number of women being vaccinated and boost vaccine communication in Pakistan. UNICEF will also continue to support governments and communities to control the spread of the virus and reduce the number of deaths including by, including by enhancing preparedness for possible future waves of COVID-19.
Farhan Qureshi, Country Director for Google Pakistan said, “The current surge in COVID-19 cases is causing immense pressure on our healthcare system, and this Google.org grant to UNICEF aims to deepen our support for Pakistan at this critical time. We’ll also continue to focus on ensuring timely access to information, as well as tools for all Pakistanis to stay informed, connected and safe during this crisis.”
“We are grateful for Google.org’s contribution to UNICEF as we continue to respond tirelessly to the global pandemic by providing fair access to COVID-19 vaccines and services to target populations with a focus on the most vulnerable,” said Karin Hulshof, Regional Director, UNICEF, East Asia and the Pacific.
Beyond this grant to UNICEF, Google.org is also providing an additional USD$1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to address the urgent need for oxygen supplies and medical equipment in Indonesia.
In addition, Google.org will provide USD$5 million worth of Ad Grants to local government agencies and organizations across Southeast Asia, including Pakistan, to run public health information campaigns for free.
Google has also focused its efforts in ensuring that information serves everyone in Pakistan through its tools and products. For example, Google previously gave ad grants to help the Government of Pakistan provide critical information on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other measures to help local communities. Google has also surfaced the latest updates and health advice from Pakistani health authorities across Search, Maps and YouTube in Urdu and English. And during Ramadan in 2020 and 2021, the company supported a PTV live stream broadcast of Tarawih prayers on YouTube, facilitating observance of an important religious event with enhanced public health and safety measures.