In time for the Christmas season, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and Southeast Asian online shopping platform Lazada have joined hands to facilitate donations for Filipino children.
Under the partnership of Unicef and Lazada Philippines, online shoppers can now donate an “inspired gift” to a Filipino child through the Unicef online shop in Lazada from November 1 to December 31, 2018.
These “inspired gifts” are in the form of backpacks, hygiene kits, and emergency supplies, which will be directly given to a Filipino child once a shopper makes the donation.
According to Unicef’s special advocate Daphne Oseña-Paez, it is vital that the organization reaches out to online platforms to help facilitate donations.
“Having online channels for fundraising is very very important,” Oseña-Paez said during the launch of Lazada’s 11.11 Shopping Festival on Tuesday.
She noted that ongoing fundraising by Unicef for victims of Typhoon “Ompong” that devastated Northern Luzon in September has so far garnered P700,000 worth of contributions in less than a month. Half of this amount came from online donations.
“So for us having more channels where people can help, and people can see where their help makes a difference, a direct impact, it’s very very important,” she said.
“And as the studies and the result show, Filipinos are really willing to help,” she added.
During a panel discussion on the state of e-commerce in Southeast Asia, Oseña-Paez cited a 2014 Nielsen Global Survey of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) study that showed Filipinos are the most socially conscious consumers.
The study found that eight out of 10 Filipinos are willing to pay extra for goods and services to make a difference in the community that they live in.
She also cited a McCann Truth Central study in 2016 which showed that 96 percent of the Filipino youth feel that they have a responsibility to make a positive contribution to their community.
“The awareness is there, the willingness is there, and we have an existing donate button in the Unicef website for years, and we’ve generated funds directly through that,” she said.
The partnership is part of Lazada’s 11.11 online shopping festival starting November 11. /ee