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Cisco Expands Social Responsibility Activities in India
Launches Harvest of Hope, Feed a Child Programme With Akshaya Patra
| Source: Cisco Systems, Inc.
BANGALORE, INDIA--(Marketwire - October 31, 2007) - Cisco® (NASDAQ : CSCO ) today announced
that it is launching the Harvest of Hope, Feed a Child Programme, part of
an employee campaign aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of
Indian citizens.
A leader in global corporate social responsibility, Cisco is involved in
the improvement of the basic needs and education levels of disadvantaged
groups in India. The company announced the Harvest of Hope, Feed a Child
Programme in partnership with Akshaya Patra, which aims to provide food to
5,000 children this year. Working with Akshaya Patra, Cisco will raise
funds from employees from 1st November until 31st December for children
from schools within a 20-30 kilometer radius of the Cisco Bangalore campus.
"Through employee volunteering and high-impact social investments, we
deliver tangible benefits to our investors and the global community," said
Tae Yoo, senior vice president of corporate affairs for Cisco. "Through the
initiatives we're announcing today and others that have been in place to
assist rural India, we have the unique opportunity to truly make a
difference in India and build a foundation for economic development and
social advancement of underserved communities," she added.
Ranked in the top 10 of the Global and North American indices of KLD's
Global Sustainability Index, Cisco focuses on analysing the local
communities in which it operates and identifying the issues that can be
addressed by its global corporate social responsibility initiatives. The
Cisco India Civic Council (a steering committee of Cisco employees
responsible for developing strategic socially responsible programmes and
civic engagement initiatives) has been working with various organisations,
including Shristi Special Academy, Children's Lovecastles Trust,
Samarthanam Trust for The Disabled, Mitra Jyothi, Ashwini Charitable Trust,
Bangalore Hospice Trust, the National Association for the Blind, and SOS
Children's Villages.
Dedicated to leading the development and delivery of innovative training
programmes in information and communications technology (ICT) skills,
particularly in fast-developing countries such as India, Cisco is also
making significant investments in its education and certification
programmes to equip more students for successful careers in networking.
Recently, Cisco celebrated its 10th anniversary of the Cisco Networking
Academy® programme. More than 160 academies exist in India today, serving
more than 11,000 students (26 percent of which are female). Since this
public-private partnership launched in 1997, more than 2 million students
in more than 160 countries have participated in the Networking Academy.
Cisco also supports the LifeLines India programme in India, a
multi-stakeholder partnership which provides small-scale rural farmers with
access to useful farming advise via a voicemail system based on the Cisco
Unified Messaging platform. The voicemail system assists farmers in
obtaining information about crop prices and yields, animal care, and
weather conditions; and in making more effective farming decisions.
Cisco's social investment strategy focuses on empowering individuals and
organizations as well as transforming communities through public-private
partnerships and the benefits of networking.
About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ : CSCO ) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms
how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco
can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to
http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in India is supplied by Cisco
Systems International BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.
Cisco, the Cisco logo, Cisco Systems, Networking Academy are registered
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use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between
Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.
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