DAVOS – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is honouring Hans Vestberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ericsson, for Ericsson’s pioneering work providing telecommunications solutions in support of humanitarian response. The 2016 Hunger Hero Award was presented to him yesterday at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Vestberg, CEO of the telecommunications and services company since 2010, is a strong advocate for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and for tackling global challenges such as poverty, hunger and climate change.

For the past 15 years Ericsson has provided humanitarian relief agencies such as WFP with essential mobile communications support during disaster relief operations through its global employee volunteer programme Ericsson Response. The programme includes 150 staff specially trained in disaster response. Ericsson Response has to date deployed in over 40 humanitarian relief efforts in more than 30 countries.

Last year alone, Ericsson worked closely with WFP through the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster and deployed volunteers 34 times in support of the Ebola response as well as emergencies in Vanuatu, Nepal, Iraq and South Sudan.

“Hans Vestberg is a true champion of the Sustainable Development Goals,” says WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin. “And Ericsson and its employees are shining examples of the type of private sector collaborations that are vital to reaching zero hunger by 2030.”

A founding member of the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, Vestberg chaired that commission’s task group on the post-2015 development agenda. He is also a member of the Leadership Council of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network and since June 2015, a member of the board of the UN Foundation.

Upon receiving the award, Hans Vestberg said, “I am humbled to accept this award on behalf of the Ericsson Response program and the dedicated employees who have worked tirelessly as volunteers over the past 15 years. Ericsson Response is our flagship Technology for Good program, leveraging our technology leadership combined with the competence, passion and dedication of our employees to address challenges and provide solutions in humanitarian response around the world. The program truly embodies the culture and the soul of what Ericsson is all about.” 

The award ceremony took place during the World Leaders Dinner event at the WFP tent.

Read more about WFP’s involvement at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting at: www.wfp.org/davos

#                              #                                 #

About the World Food Programme

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 80 countries.

Follow us on Twitter @wfp_media

About Hans Vestberg

Hans Vestberg has held various international positions with Ericsson in China, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States and was the company’s Chief Financial Officer from 2007 to 2009 before becoming CEO. He is a leading voice in the industry as well as playing a leadership role in promoting sustainable development and the role of telecommunications in supporting long-term solutions for the globe’s development challenges.

About Ericsson

Ericsson is a world leader in the rapidly changing environment of communications technology – providing equipment, software and services to enable transformation through mobility. Some 40 percent of global mobile traffic runs through networks Ericsson has supplied. More than 1 billion subscribers around the world rely every day on networks that Ericsson manage. With more than 37,000 granted patents, Ericsson has one of the industry’s strongest intellectual property rights portfolios.

For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):

Tyler Guthrie, WFP/Davos, Mob. +39 348 024 4246

Jane Howard, WFP/Rome, Tel. +39 06 65132321, Mob. +39 346 7600521

Gregory Barrow, WFP/London, Tel.  +44 20 72409001, Mob.  +44 7968 008474

Bettina Luescher, WFP/Geneva, Tel. +41 22 917 8564, Mob. + 41-79-842-8057

Gerald Bourke, WFP/New York, Tel. +1-646-5566909, Mob.  +1-646 525 9982

Originally appeared on WFP.org