Allianz calls on Africans to run for health, SOS Children’s Village
The third World Run, has been slated from July 26, and the event organisers, Allianz Global is calling on running and walking enthusiasts from all sectors of society in Africa to join in the biggest global running event.
The event which is expected to end on October 24, 2018 is aimed at promoting health, well-being and an unbeatable team-spirit and raises funds for SOS Children‘s Villages.
According to statement from the company, Runtastic, a global fitness platform, will provide technical infrastructure for the competition through their in-depth running knowledge and a huge community of 240 million app downloads and 130 million registered users.
The Allianz World Run will comprise of five global teams, namely Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America and South America. These teams will represent one dedicated SOS Children‘s Village and one specific project related to the overall social responsibility framework of “Improving Future Generations”.
Thusang Mahlangu, Allianz Global Corporate Specialty (AGCS) Africa CEO, comments: “By utilizing the global power of running while tracking and sharing progress for 90 days in a creative and engaging way, the Allianz World Run has become one of the most powerful engagement activities ever. More than 20,000 Allianz employees across all functions and management levels participated and provided some really impressive milestones during 180 days of running in the last two years. This year we are calling on all walking and running enthusiasts across the continent to join us in running the Allianz World running for health, fitness and for good.”
“We have been delighted in previous years to see so many runners, ranging from novices to veteran marathoners, joining the Allianz World Run,” says Norbert Meder, CEO at SOS Children’s Villages International. “We provide 87,000 children and young people in 135 countries with a safe place to call home and strengthen the families of half a million more. Having a global partner like Allianz helps to make our work possible.”
Based on the running efforts during the 90 days, Allianz will support five SOS Children‘s Villages across the world – one specific village and topic per team. With more than 580,000 displaced people, the situation for refugees in Chad remains extremely challenging especially for children, who are forced to leave camps and sites to seek livelihoods and access to food, forcing them in turn to adopt negative coping strategies such as begging and survival sex. That’s why the African team will be running for SOS Children’s Village in Chad, which will provide an emergency programme to reach close to 2000 vulnerable people including children in the refugee camp of Amboko in the Gore region bordering Central African Republic. The programme will provide a child friendly space to ensure children have access to psycho social support in a safe and secure environment as well as access to formal education.
To join in the event, participants are to visit www.allianzworldrun.com and follow the instructions.
