3rd September, 2014 – Digicel today announced its Smartphone prize winners following a 4 week online Weather Together competition in partnership with the World Meteorological Organisation. The competition was sponsored in support of a global campaign to improve weather and climate services for all Small Island Developing States. The campaign was launched on 4th August with the additional support of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
The Small Islands, Weather Together campaign (www.weathertogether.org) main aim was to show how the small island developing states of the world can work together to improve their vital weather and climate services. Digicel showed their support by partnering with the WMO in a joint social media competition via the Weather Together website and sponsored Smartphones as prizes and assisted in driving entries and promotion of the competition. The partnership involved two competitions which encompassed content sharing amplifying the main message behind the campaign.
Digicel Pacific Had of Marketing, Katie Taylor said ‘’we are very pleased with the overwhelming participation from all our participating Digicel markets of Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, Nauru, PNG and Samoa. We set out in support of this campaign to create awareness of climate change in SIDs and we’re glad that our support to generate greater understanding of how mobile technology works to provide early warnings and post event support for extreme weather in Digicel markets has resulted in positive engagement from participants. The campaign has provided valuable insight and highlights how people actually use their mobile phones to help loved ones during extreme weather’’.
The Smartphone winners from participating Digicel markets are: Yesudass Naiker from Fiji; Angela Hazelman from Samoa; Uluaki Taumalolo from Tonga; Monsheree Dageago from Nauru; Nicky Moliva from Vanuatu; and Joann Diala from Papua New Guinea.
Winner of our Regional photo caption competition is Mathew Taiki from Samoa. His winning photo entry captured the aftermath of Cyclone Evan in Apia in December 2012. Mr. Taiki’s winning caption described how he used his mobile phone to contact his family and friends to ensure they were safe and to warn them of the dangers of flash floods in which case they needed to evacuate early.
The Small Islands, Weather Together campaign was launched specifically to coincide with the lead up to the United Nations Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, currently being held in Apia, Samoa, from 1–4 September, 2014.
Please visit our Digicel Facebook pages and our Digicel Friends & Family Facebook and Twitter page to view the winners and their winning entries.
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