A collage of monochromic thumbnails on black background, depicting the 10 World of Difference winners. At the bottom left of the picture, there is a white-letter text in greek, saying: Challenges inspire us to change the world. Below that, in English: Connecting for Good. At the bottom right corner of the picture, the logo of Vodafone Foundation in Greece.

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Translation of the original text (in Greek): Eleni Dravopoulou

The Vodafone Foundation has successfully completed the World of Difference program for the eleventh consecutive year.

World of Difference, the program that enables young people aged 18 to 35 to work in the Non-Profit Organization of their choice, while the Vodafone Foundation covers their salary and employer contributions, completed 11 years of positive impact on Greek society. Since 2010 when the program was first implemented, it has counted more than 2,000 applications, has offered employment to 89 young people while strengthening the work of 81 Non-Profit Organizations throughout the country and has indirectly benefited approximately 434,000 of our fellow citizens.

Ten young people worked for six months in the Non-Profit Organization of their choice, while the Vodafone foundation covered their salary.

Despite the difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ten winners of the program – aged 18 to 35 – motivated by the belief that technology can change the world for the better managed to stand out in the program. The winners worked to strengthen NGOs and their beneficiaries by utilizing digital tools and adapting their way of working to the new data. The aim was to eliminate stereotypes, empower disabled people, promote reading in children, cultivate social & environmental awareness, and strengthen social entrepreneurship. ” The World of Difference program has become an institution, with more than 434,000 beneficiaries. At the Vodafone Foundation, with the belief that technology is an important tool both for the development of modern society and for achieving a social purpose, we strive to create a significant wave of change. The nomination of 10 additional young people this year, who will work in the NGO of their choice and contribute in different fields, fills us with optimism for the country’s future.” says Alexandra Papanikolaou, Head of Social Offering Programs at Vodafone Greece.

Civil Non-Profit Company (CNPC) “Me Alla Matia” also benefited from the World of Difference program, including Dimitra Kontova to its staff, who assumed the position of Campaign Manager at the CNPC. Dimitra’s primary purpose was to develop the Organization’s #SpeakUp digital campaign, which worked and continues to work as a digital tool to break down stereotypes around disability. During the campaign, aspects of the everyday life of disabled people, with which the general public is less familiar, were put in the spotlight.

Meet Dimitra, but also Vaggelis —Chairman of NPCP “Me Alla Matia”— here (audio and subtitles only in Greek):

At meallamatia.gr, we seek:

  • To break stereotypes and perceptions of disability
  • To transform the image of disability —which is considered “not suitable for the media”— into a positive life model
  • To reverse the under-representation of disabled people in the media and public debate
  • To highlight everyday aspects of disabled people and their families in daily life such as arts, dance, sport, etc.
  • To use videos as a familiarisation tool.

The #SpeakUp campaign of Me Alla Matia, a visibility campaign of disabled people and their everyday life that started broadcasting through our social media, soon exceeded 2 million views! Today, the 80 videos (still being) created as part of #SpeakUp have garnered over 6.5 million views on social media!

The campaign seeks to answer many questions such as:

What is everyday life like for a disabled person?

How do they move around?

Can they have fun?

These and many other questions find answers in our #SpeakUp campaign, which is spreading! More of it to come…

One like-share, and —why not?— a video of your own with the hashtag #SpeakUp can make us stronger!

You have highlighted the following videos as the most popular of the awareness and familiarization campaign:

You can see the entire #SpeakUp campaign on our social media:

🔸 Facebook
🔸 YouTube
🔸 Instagram
🔸 TikTok

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