Why Google is committing $100m fund to support COVID-19 fight
As business organisations across the world continue to take active measures to support the fight against COVID-19, technology giant Google, has rolled out new measures to tackle the virus and its effect on businesses and individuals.
The company has announced that its charitable wing – Google.org, is donating a total of $100 million towards COVID-19 relief operations. A few months ago, it had donated $50 million for the cause, now it is donating another $50 million in COVID-19 relief to bring the total relief fund to $100 million.
Google said it took the action to keep people safe and ensure they have access to the information they need during the crisis that forced more than 100 countries to go on lockdown and halted activities across tthe world.
“When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Google.org committed $50 million in grants focused on the areas where our resources and people can have the most impact: health and science, economic relief and recovery, and distance learning. Today we’re committing another $50 million, bringing our total contribution up to $100 million,” Vice President of Google.org Jacquelline Fuller wrote in a blog post.
“Additionally, Google.org Fellows will give a total of 50,000 hours to COVID-19-specific projects,” she added.
Fuller further explained that of the $50 million that Google has committed to COVID-19 relief, a $5 million grant will be to Common Future to provide capital and technical assistance to 2,000 women and minority small business entrepreneurs in the US, while another $5 million will be given to Youth Business International to launch a Rapid Response and Recovery Program that will provide critical support services including crisis helplines to more than 200,000 underserved small medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in 32 countries across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific.
Google believes this will give succour to millions from local communities across the world and individuals hard-hit by the pandemic as businesses across the world close their doors. It promised to continue to deploy resources to help the most affected and underserved communities recover and thrive.
A month ago, Google said it will fund Africa Check, a fact-checking organisation based in South Africa from its $6.5 million funding package earmarked for fact-checkers and non-profit media outlets to fight “fake news” and misinformation circulating on the internet about COVID-19. The fund would be received by Africa Check’s Nigeria office.
Since the COVID-19 crisis spread across the world early this year, tech giants have been acting with magnanimity. Facebook, Netflix, and Chinese based Tencent have also announced donations of $100 million to support the fight against COVID-19. In April, Amazon also said it would increase pay and hire an additional 75,000 workers in addition to the 100,000 hired in March. Most of the new workers hired by the company are people who have lost their jobs since the COVID-19 crisis hit businesses, forcing them to layoff and place staff on unpaid leave.
