Save the Children and Vodafone Foundation launch global partnership to support children before, during and after crises

Save the Children and Vodafone Foundation have announced a new global humanitarian partnership at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), bringing together their humanitarian expertise, technology and global reach to better support children and communities before, during and after emergencies.

The partnership will strengthen emergency preparedness and humanitarian response and expand access to Vodafone Foundation’s technology and connectivity solutions in some of the world's most challenging environments.

The collaboration was announced as recent climate-linked emergencies around the world - including flash floods in Nepal, heatwaves and forest fires globally - as well as ongoing conflict and displacement, continue to put millions of children at risk.

These crises underscore the importance of greater investment in resilient infrastructure, technology and partnerships that can help communities better anticipate, withstand and recover from emergencies.

A key element of the partnership is Vodafone Foundation's donation of six Instant Network kits — portable communications systems that can rapidly restore connectivity when conventional networks are disrupted by disasters or conflict.

Pre-positioned at humanitarian hubs around the world and deployed by Save the Children during emergencies, the kits will help response teams coordinate operations, assess needs and deliver life-saving assistance more quickly. Vodafone Foundation will provide the technology, training and technical support for the kits, while Save the

Children will oversee secure routine testing and deployment.
Instant Network has already been used by Save the Children during emergency responses, including in Mozambique, where the technology helped improve operational coordination.

To mark the launch, Save the Children and Vodafone Foundation co-hosted a high-level roundtable at UNGA, bringing together leaders from government, humanitarian organisations, philanthropy and business to discuss what’s needed to prepare for increasingly frequent and complex humanitarian emergencies over the next decade.

Inger Ashing, CEO, Save the Children, said:

“Children must be at the heart of every humanitarian response and as recent crises in our world have shown us, we can no longer just react. Communities must be equipped with the tools to better anticipate, withstand and recover from emergencies and technology and better connectivity absolutely plays a vital role. That’s why Save the Children’s partnership with Vodafone Foundation is an important one that helps to better support communities in times of crisis.”

Joakim Reiter, Vodafone Foundation Trustee and Chief External and Corporate Affairs Officer, Vodafone Group, said:

“In a crisis, reliable connectivity can make a vital difference — helping responders coordinate more quickly, communities access the support they need and strengthening preparedness for the future. That’s why we’re pleased to partner with Save the Children, bringing together its humanitarian expertise with Vodafone Foundation’s technology and connectivity to support children and communities before, during and after emergencies.”

Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said:

"With humanitarian needs higher than ever, and budgets being slashed, it is vital that we do all we can to maximize our impact for those facing their hour of need. Preparedness is at the heart of this and can make all the difference to those in crisis. I’ve seen for myself the difference it can make – from Sudan, to Ukraine, to Gaza – when skilled local partners work in lockstep with international actors bringing vital resources to communities.  The cost of acting only once a crisis has broken out is vast and can be measured in lives destroyed and communities shattered. It’s vital we make the case for funding models that can support preparedness, and I welcome all initiatives that bring about faster action and greater impact when it really counts.”

Dylan Winder, Director of Global Humanitarian Diplomacy, IFRC, said:

"Anticipatory Action and Early Warning Systems save lives. It is essential that communities are at the heart of these and that they have the funding to act." Dylan Winder, IFRC

The partnership builds on a longstanding relationship between Save the Children and Vodafone Foundation, including collaboration on Skills Upload Junior, part of Vodafone Foundation's wider work supporting young people's digital wellbeing, skills and resilience. The new global partnership extends this relationship into humanitarian preparedness and response.

The partnership will also explore how Vodafone Foundation's TerraGuard software and Vodacom’s M-Pesa cash-transfer payments could strengthen humanitarian response. Integrating these technologies into Save the Children's systems could help teams anticipate risks and enable assistance to reach families faster and more efficiently.

Vodafone Foundation will also support Save the Children’s Emergency Fund, enabling rapid response when crises occur and investment in action before disaster strikes. Vodafone Foundation will also join Save the Children’s Humanitarian Network, a community of partners committed to faster, more effective humanitarian action for children.

About the partnership

Save the Children and Vodafone Foundation have launched a new global humanitarian partnership to strengthen emergency preparedness and response. Vodafone Foundation is donating six Instant Network Kits to restore connectivity when conventional networks are disrupted, and the partners will explore how TerraGuard and Vodacom’s M-Pesa payments could help teams anticipate risks and deliver assistance more quickly. The partnership also includes support for Save the Children’s Children’s Emergency Fund and aims to raise £1 million through Vodafone employee fundraising.

About Save the Children’s Children’s Emergency Fund

In 2025 Save the Children raised £18 million for emergency responses while responding to crises across Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar and beyond delivering what children need most during an emergency – food, water, medical care and safe spaces.