TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Facedrive Inc. (“Facedrive”) (TSXV:FD), (OTC:FDVRF), a Canadian “people-and-planet first” tech ecosystem, is calling on Canadians to help combat child marriage in partnership with Plan International Canada. On International Women’s Day, Facedrive is thrilled to announce that for the rest of 2021, $1 from every Facedrive TraceSCAN device purchase will support Plan International Canada’s efforts to end the practice of child marriage in Bangladesh, which has the fourth highest rate of child marriage in the world – with such numbers on the rise due to the impact of COVID-19.
Bangladesh has the second highest number of child brides globally at nearly 4.5 million. By the time a girl reaches secondary school, over half of the girls in her class will be married, with many of them having already dropped out of school due to the practice itself and related factors such as early and unintended pregnancy. In rural areas, the numbers are greater – with 70 percent of girls married before they turn 18.
By limiting girls’ education and potential, child marriage is a practice that perpetuates poverty, inequality and insecurity. While the factors that contribute to child marriage are complex, there is one solution that can help drastically decrease the rate of this harmful practice, protecting girls’ rights and futures – education. Girls that graduate primary, secondary, and higher education, are respectively 24 per cent, 72 per cent and 94 per cent less likely to marry at a young age than girls without education.
Facedrive is a Canadian “people-and-planet first” tech ecosystem offering socially-responsible transportation, health, food delivery and marketplace services with a strong commitment to doing business fairly, equitably and sustainably. From inception, Facedrive has been driven by a mandate to contribute positively to the communities in which it operates as well as to worthy global causes. The company is pleased to join forces with Plan International Canada to combat child marriage through targeted investments in education and girls’ protection. Through the Combatting Child Marriage campaign, Facedrive’s commitment will enable Plan International staff to work with local governments, families and communities to advocate for girls’ rights and protection, while implementing change in schools and communities to educate girls about their rights.
Facedrive’s mission to empower others and give back to the community spans all of the company’s verticals, including Facedrive Health. Facedrive Health focuses on mitigating the spread of COVID-19 through its wearable contact tracing solution TraceSCAN. In addition to donating $1 per device sold, Facedrive will also be contributing to the Combatting Child Marriage campaign by allocating resources and raising awareness within its userbase and associated communities. This will include a cause marketing campaign, an employee engagement campaign, and a social media campaign. Through these channels, Facedrive will carry out a community outreach program to connect and educate the Facedrive userbase about the issue of child marriage.
“It is an honor for us to partner with Plan Canada to continue contributing to the well-being of people in a meaningful way. As an ESG platform, we believe that it is our responsibility to use our business platform to support marginalized communities and empower the less fortunate,” said Sayan Navaratnam, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Facedrive. “Eradication of child marriage through education is one of the most effective tools to address systemic barriers to human development, reproductive health and gender equality. We are confident that through this partnership between Plan Canada and Facedrive, we will be able to transform many young women’s lives and lay path to future joint initiatives to help many more,” added Navaratnam.
“At Plan International Canada, we are fortunate to have strategic, committed corporate partners – such as Facedrive – who make invaluable contributions to our programs,” said Lindsay Glassco, President and CEO, Plan International Canada. “School is one of the most powerful tools we have to combat child marriage. When girls are educated, they tend to marry at a later age, be healthier, earn more, make informed decisions and transform futures for themselves and their communities. Facedrive’s commitment will not only help girls today – it will also help break the cycle of poverty from one generation to the next.”
About Facedrive
Facedrive (TSXV:FD), (OTCQX:FDVRF) is a multi-faceted “people-and-planet first” tech ecosystem offering socially-responsible services to local communities with a strong commitment to doing business fairly, equitably and sustainably. As part of this commitment, Facedrive’s vision is to fulfil its mandate through a number of verticals that either leverage existing technologies of the Company or project synergies with existing lines of business (the “Facedrive Verticals”). The Facedrive Verticals include its rideshare business (“Facedrive Rideshare”), sustainable e-commerce platform (“Facedrive Marketplace”), food-delivery service (“Facedrive Foods”), e-social platform (“Facedrive Social”) and its contact-tracing and sustainable health services business (“Facedrive Health”).
Facedrive Rideshare was among the first to offer a wide variety of environmentally and socially responsible solutions in the Transportation as a Service (TaaS) space, planting thousands of trees based on user consumption and offering choices between electric, hybrid and conventional vehicles (including, more recently, electric and hybrid vehicles on a subscription basis through Steer). Facedrive Marketplace offers curated merchandise created from sustainably sourced materials. Facedrive Foods offers contactless delivery of a wide variety of foods right to consumers’ doorsteps, with a focus on doing so in a socially and environmentally-conscious manner. Facedrive Social strives to keep people connected in a physically-distanced world through its HiQ and other e-socialization platforms that invite users to interact based on common interests and by offering gamification and mutual community support features. Facedrive Health strives to develop and offer innovative technological solutions to the most acute health challenges including its proprietary TraceSCAN wearable technology for contact tracing. Facedrive envisions changing the ridesharing, food delivery, e-commerce, social and health tech narratives for the better, for everyone, and is currently operational in Canada and the United States.
For more about Facedrive, visit www.facedrive.com.
Facedrive Inc.
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About Plan International Canada
Plan International Canada is a member of a global organization dedicated to advancing children’s rights and equality for girls. We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years and are now active in more than 70 countries. We are calling on all Canadians to Defy Normal: to believe in the power and potential of every child and to take a stand anywhere children are oppressed, exploited or left behind and anywhere girls aren’t equally valued. Together, we can create a world where all unleash their full potential. Visit plancanada.ca for more information and follow @PlanCanada on social media to #DefyNormal and join the conversation.
Visit plancanada.ca and https://give.plancanada.ca/employee-engagement/TeamFacedrive for more information.
