UNICEF and Amadeus Partner to Improve Children's Lives Together with the Travel Industry and Travellers

LONDON, April 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

New partnership will enable selected travel providers and sellers to raise funds online for UNICEF

Amadeus, a leading technology partner for the global travel industry, and UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, have come together to help shape a better future for the world's most vulnerable children. The partnership will enable travel providers and sellers to raise funds for UNICEF by giving their customers the opportunity to make a micro donation when paying for travel online.

"This joint initiative represents an innovative model to drive donations. The technology solution that Amadeus has provided to UNICEF as a philanthropic contribution will help this international organisation harness a collective, global action to raise funds for children. The process itself will be simple for travellers: a single click, that's it. We truly believe that investing in today's children, especially in relation to their health and education, helps to break the cycle of poverty, contributing to create more stable societies and sustainable growth," said Tomás López Fernebrand, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Amadeus.

The micro-donation process will be extremely user-friendly, allowing travellers to simply add a donation to UNICEF as they complete the shopping process online. During the first stage of this programme, selected travel providers and sellers, such as airline websites and online travel agents, will integrate a 'check box' on their online booking pages. If a traveller chooses to make a donation, they will receive a confirmation email.

For participating travel brands, the product will exist as a neutral standalone system, cross-channel merchant engine. This consists of a donation interface to collect donation data that is linked to an Amadeus payment gateway. The donation payment is processed as a separate transaction from the travel purchase, simplifying things for the partner and for UNICEF.

"Partnerships are at the heart of how UNICEF achieves results for children, in the field but also in the area of fundraising. Many of UNICEF's existing Corporate Partners have established track-records of raising funds for UNICEF and engaging their staff and customers in UNICEF's work. We believe that this new initiative with Amadeus will significantly improve UNICEF's ability to reach a large number of people online and to provide them with a 'one click' opportunity to help some of the world's most vulnerable children survive and thrive," said Tim Hunter, International Fundraising Director for UNICEF.

To launch this partnership, Amadeus and UNICEF hosted a roundtable event in London where the role of innovation and the importance of partnerships between the private sector, UN agencies and NGOs were discussed. The roundtable featured speeches from Tim Hunter, International Fundraising Director for UNICEF; Tomás López Fernebrand, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Amadeus; and Professor Linda Scott, DP World Chair for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

"Addressing some of the major development and social challenges in today's world requires increasing collaboration between the private and not-for-profit sector. Deploying some of the processes, technology and expertise present in the private sector can make a significant difference to organisations that rely on funding and donations," said Professor Linda Scott, DP World Chair for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

Both Amadeus and UNICEF are leaders in their respective fields with significant global reach and scale, making them well matched to ensure this collaboration is a success. The potential for the initiative to generate significant donations is limitless.

Partnerships are critical to achieving results for children. UNICEF has an established and successful track record of engaging with the corporate sector to bring about positive change for children. With a presence in more than 190 countries, UNICEF engages with companies at global, regional, and national levels across many different industry sectors. Amadeus is a chosen technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, working across 195 countries.

This partnership aims at setting the foundation for a wider collaboration using technological innovation and engaging the global travel industry to crowd-source funds for children's projects around the world.

Katherine Doyle
kdoyle@kwitco.com
+44(0)207-401-8001