Corporate Social Responsibility: Hormuud’s Contribution To Somalis

The cornerstone objectives of Hormuud Telecom extended beyond the establishment of lucrative commercial enterprises; rather, it included philanthropic and development initiatives which the company intended for the Somali people, particularly those who needed direct assistance (direct aid) and those who are vulnerable in the community.

Hormuud Telecom and Salaam Somali Bank created Hormuud Salaam Foundation, a Waqf institution, in order to assure and execute charitable and support initiatives. The foundation became the first charitable organization in Somalia owned by Somali business entity, whose responsibility it is to enable the fulfilment of the philanthropic obligations of the Hormuud Telecom Company to the nation and the Somali people.

Hormuud Salaam Foundation has established a program to accomplish and ensure that Hormuud Telecom and Salaam Somali Bank satisfy their social welfare commitments and participate in Somalia’s development.  The program is composed of three core pillars and one pillar that is dependent on the country’s condition; these pillars are as follows:

1. Health,

2. Education,

3. Employment opportunities and

4. Emergency response

HEALTH

Beginning in 2019, there was a global epidemic of the Covid-19 illness, which caused a great deal of trouble, particularly in developing nations with inadequate medical infrastructure. Using the organization’s health promotion pillar, the Hormuud Salaam Foundation played a significant role in the Somali Government’s efforts to prevent and increase awareness of the illness and limit its losses, since our nation was unable to react to the disease’s challenging consequences, HSF made constant efforts and donations expressly focused at aiding efforts to combat the illness.

The organization has demonstrated the following successful measures:

1. Constructing of four sections at the Banadir Hospital which can accommodate 212 beds for Covid-19 patients.
2. The establishment of an oxygen factory capable of producing 144 tons of oxygen per day. The plant’s implementation cost more than $600,000 US dollars, with  HSF paying the plant’s operating and maintenance expenses on a regular basis (maintenance costs).
3. The HSF has created the short code 449, which patients with covid-19 may use to receive free medical help and advice.
4. HSF has initiated an awareness campaign for  all mobile phone users about Covid19 (ringtone).
5. Regionally, HSF has provided an ambulance to Kismayo Hospital in order to serve Covid-19-infected patients with emergency care.
6. Hormuud Salaam Foundation Hospital donated 5 kidney machines to the Renal Surgery Unit of Darussalam, which offers free support to patients who need dialysis.
7. During outbreaks of infectious illnesses such as waterborne diarrhea, the organization has provided several hospitals in the nation with equipment such as laboratory equipment, generators, beds, fuel, and some medications.
8. In 2022, the Hormuud Salaam Foundation provided ten items to Banadir Hospital, including a bed used to care for preterm infants and a fire engine, as well as working on an efficient project to prepare the hospital’s Central Oxygen Supply System.
9. In terms of the development of maternity and child care, the Hormuud Salaam Foundation has established two facilities for mother and child care (MCH) in Mogadishu, which it has executed primarily in the camps of displaced persons, which the organization assists in terms of Fuel, Medicine, and Wages economy.

EDUCATION

In the field of Educational Development, the Hormoud Salaam Foundation has completed a number of initiatives to support the education of the poor, such as establishing and maintaining the School for the Blind in Al-Nur!

The Buruj School of Technology is a Polytechnic Institution with the aims to create graduates of the highest caliber in the sectors of construction, metal welding, electronics, electricity, and home renovation. Sixty percent of Buruj Technical School graduates are employed by the Buruj construction firm, while forty percent work for other construction enterprises in the country.

Annually, 120 students are awarded Hormuud Telecom Scholarships.

The Hormuud Salaam Foundation provides education grants to students at Hormuud University, paying the entire educational charge for 40 students and partly paying the educational fee for 300 others.  Regarding decreasing discrimination and financing the community, HSF covers the expenses of 100 underprivileged students and 20% of the Logistics and Procurement course fees at Hormoud University.

The good news is that in 2021, the Hormuud Salaam Foundation became a member of the UK Chevening Scholarship Program,  also, HSF, gives unwavering support to educational institutions throughout the country by assisting in the sales of instructional materials, engines, computers, and educational programs, in addition to the organization’s role to assisting students in attaining job experience.

It organizes the STEM (Science Technology Engineer and Medicine) conference yearly and performs an educational promotion overseas to promote university graduates, such as in the United Kingdom, where the British Somalia graduates’ ceremony is held annually.

The group fosters the return of educated Somali diaspora in order to build and promote educational opportunities.

Employment opportunities

Hormuud Salaam Foundation administers throughout the country’s regions and cities the “Free Microfinance” financing program, which is offered to impoverished entrepreneurs, particularly women, with the goal of promoting business and fostering innovation done by women, while entrepreneurs make investments of more than $1 million.

The firm Rikaab, which works in logistics, has initiated a job development initiative in 2022 that will employ around one thousand individuals in an effort to enhance and expand employment prospects. The initiative will continue for two years and is particularly useful to the nation’s young.

The Hormuud Salaam Foundation is establishing an Academy for the study of contemporary computer sciences, such as Programming and Creative Designing.

Humanitarian and emergency response

The Hormuud Salaam Foundation’s role in disaster response, which includes reacting to droughts and floods, is enormous; from 2005 to 20202, the HSF will have spent $5 million on such activities.

All of the programs carried out by the Hormuud Salaam Foundation are charitable and provided without charge; the organization does not intend to generate a profit from it.