Etisalat Chief Commercial Officer Yasser Aboul Amayem and Rotary District Governor for Sri Lanka George Jesuthasan at the signing of the agreement

Leading service provider Etisalat Lanka will be joining hands with internationally renowned charitable organisation the Rotary District in Sri Lanka for a new corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy. The partnership between the two entities is set to tackle national issues in healthcare specifically those relating to vision and eyesight.

Speaking on their new CSR strategy Etisalat Lanka Chief Commercial Officer Yasser Aboul Amayem said, “We believe there are lots of opportunities here in Sri Lanka and so Etisalat is trying to be more proactive in order to add value for our nation-wide customer base.”

Etisalat has always been an ethics-oriented company and complies fully with law and guidelines outlined by the nation’s environmental and other regulatory bodies. 

Amayem said, “Our network has been operating locally for over 25 years as pioneers in telecommunication. We believe that it is our role to create emotional bonds by adding value to health and that is one aspect of our CSR strategy.”

For Etisalat’s new CSR partnership with Rotary, the decision to hone in on issues related to eyesight was a strategic and thematic one. With the rise of digital communications and smartphone technology, the mobile phone has quickly shifted from being an audio device to one that is primarily experienced through site. 

Amayem added, “We wanted to give the gift of sight to those in need and help support sustainable community-based eye care programmes. The reward will be in seeing the wonderful reaction of people who are fitted with spectacles or get their sight back for the first time. Rotary District Governor for Sri Lanka George Jesuthasan was optimistic on the value that Rotary could add to Etisalat’s CSR endeavours.  “The difficulties corporates face is the reach to the needy but the reach to the people and the network we have is our strength. Furthermore, our implementations cost is almost zero. Every cent that we get from donors goes to the project. We also have many tiers of stewardship that strictly monitor the movement of funds so corporates can rest assured that every cent that they donate is accounted for.

Jesuthasan expressed positivity about the partnership with Etisalat and support from the corporate sector in general. “Joining Etisalat is a great moment for us because they are taking it as their CSR programme to partner with us. Many of our large projects are Rotary Foundation funded but the origin of the funds starts from the corporates. We have a mechanism where the corporates send money to the foundation which is then used for high-scale projects.”

The Rotary District in Sri Lanka has a very strong track record of carrying out effective and sustainable development projects. With health and disease prevention being one of the focus areas of Rotary International, there are many Rotary Foundation funded projects in Sri Lanka including a project to setup three mobile pathological units in three hospitals.