Give old mobiles a new life in Africa - Bruce

12.59.47pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 20th Oct 2006

The campaign aims to give old mobile phones to Africa

Malcolm Bruce MP is calling on Gordon residents to donate their old, unwanted mobile phone handsets to African countries.

The 'Phones 4 Africa' campaign, which was launched in Parliament this week, will send old, unwanted mobile phones to be reconditioned and reused in African nations.

Mr Bruce who is Chair of the influential International Development Select Committee said:

"Every hour, 1,700 mobile phones are upgraded in the UK alone after around 18 months of use, despite having a lifespan of around 10 years. If each mobile phone user in the UK were to throw away their handsets we'd be land filling around £650,000 of silver each year.

"Sending your unwanted mobile phones to developing countries benefits not only the environment but also helps improve communication in Africa and has proven to be an important element in tackling poverty. Having a phone can let children to keep in touch with their parents, help people do business and be a vital tool in medical emergencies.

"Residents can send their old mobile phones to the freepost address: FREEPOST Fonebak Vodafone Africa."

Musician Peter Gabriel, who launched the 'Phones 4 Africa' campaign in Parliament this week, said:

"Phones 4 Africa is a brilliant idea. Mobiles have been adopted faster in the developing world than in the developed world. They have the capability for improving lives.

"I work with the Mandela Foundation which worked with coffee growers in Zimbabwe who were being ripped off by middle men. As soon as they had mobile phones they were able to get commodity prices directly from the Chicago Exchange. This transformed their local economy.

"We have developed a hub on the internet to which anyone can upload images using their mobile phone or video. We believe this has the potential to transform human rights campaigning because when individuals have footage it is easier to get transmission of it. Also it's harder for those who are doing it to deny it. This is the Human Rights Video Hub, part of www.witness.org which I set up."