Airtel engages with JCI to support Sri Lankan youth

• The partnership entails programmes such as Empowering women with ICT, training on English and life skills with Wheel of Hope and local university based public speaking

Airtel Lanka recently announced their partnership with the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Sri Lanka as the official telecommunication partner to supportits youth driven activities for the year 2016/17. Through this alliance, programmes such as empowering women with the Girls in ICT programme, enabling underprivileged schools with training on English and life skills under the Wheel of hope initiative, connecting with local universities to enhance their public speaking capacity through JCI’s – AIESEC Youth Speaker are among other initiatives that will be executed during the year.

Speaking to the media at a ceremony organized to welcome JCI’s Executive Vice President Jennifer Gracey, the president of JCI Sri Lanka, Mr. IsuruSamarage mentioned the importance of connecting government, businesses and civil society to create a lasting impact. He further thanked for the sponsorship extended by Airtel Lanka to power its youth activities.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Jinesh Hegde- CEO/MD of Airtel Lanka said, “We take great pride in partnering with JCI Sri Lanka as the official telecommunication partner to support its youth driven activities. As our core target segment is the youth of Sri Lanka, this is a great platform for us to enhance their abilities and empower them to their fullest potential, therefore we hope to capitalize on this opportunity to extend our fullest support to JCI Sri Lanka.”

For the year 2016, JCI Sri Lanka ( the local chapter of JCI – an international non-profit organizationwith a history of over 100 years and currently operates in 120 countries around the world), has initiated a number of programs under their active citizenship framework and many of them were connected to the Sustainable Development Goals declared by the United Nations globally. The organization further focuses its programmes on the categories of Empowerment, International, Community and Development, with a vision to provide opportunities for international youth leaders to generate meaningful and positive change in their respective countries. JCI is among one of the few organizations granted consultative status by the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) that maintains a long term partnership and collaboration by sharing similar goals and working towards the enhancement of communities.

Bharti Airtel Lanka commenced commercial operations of services in Sri Lanka on January 12, 2009, and was the fastest operator to reach 1 million customers in Sri Lanka. With its network footprint panned out across the country and capturing strategic ranking positions in various areas in less than three years of operations, Airtel has emerged as Sri Lanka’s fastest expanding network. Registered under the Board of Investment in Sri Lanka, Airtel Lanka provides digital mobile services into Sri Lanka which includes voice, data and enterprise solutions. The Company has received accreditations such as ISO 27001:2005 and ISO 22301 for its continuous efforts towards information security and business continuity.