Corporate impact for change

You could refer to children of today as homeys of the digital world as the internet is unquestionably part of their lives. Evidently, this puts these young ones at high risk of falling prey to cyber crimes and other negative online experiences.
With this knowledge and to the theme “Champions for Children”, some 300 Dentsu Aegis Network Malaysia (DAN) employees embarked on an outreach programme , as part of its annual “One Day for Change” initiative to educate children on cyber safety.
“One Day for Change” is DAN’s CSR undertaking, carried out across the 14 countries in the Asia Pacific it operates in, where employees give of their time, on the same day/date, to support a local cause of charity within the local community.
While last year DAN Malaysia’s 14 agencies sent out employee teams to 13 public primary schools in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor introducing the pilot phase of its cyber safety programme, this year, the project went all out, further improving its programme syllabus, as well as extending its reach to children in welfare homes and community learning centres.
DAN Malaysia CEO Nicky Lim shared that as a company with a goal of becoming a 100% digital economy business by 2020, it was apt to be advocating this important and relevant subject for children. “It was a tremendous team exercise and we’re glad to have all our agency brands coming together, volunteering their time to be ‘Champions for Children’, and making this educational outreach an effective and meaningful programme,” he added.
The initiative reached out to about 1,000 children aged between 10 and 12. Interesting talks, exciting activities and small group discussions touched on cyber bullying, cyber grooming, online scams, invasion of privacy and fake news, to name a few, even a pledge by the young ones.
In a nutshell, DAN North Asia CEO and CSR executive sponsor Rob Hughes commented on the extraordinary range of talent and capabilities of its company employees. “If we can direct just a fraction of that capability to impart salient digital skills to the disadvantaged, then we will make a positive impact for our young children and communities to reap the benefits of the digital economy in the areas of equality, new skills, health and well-being.”
For more information, visit www.dentsuaegisnetwork.com/asiapacific