The non-governmental organisation EENA (European Emergency Number Association) awarded VOST Portugal with the Digital Volunteering Award as part of the 112 Awards 2022 ceremony held in parallel with the European conference bringing together emergency professionals from all over Europe
VOST Portugal received today a European prize “Digital Volunteering
Award” for its online campaign in the context of Cyclone IDAD, in Mozambique, in March 2019 and where VOST's remote operation, the first intervention of its kind and the longest ever to date, allowed it to locate 41 people and, through the network created, detect the location and security of another 171. This award was presented to the president of VOST Portugal, Isabel Silva, during the EENA Conference, the largest non-governmental organization for prevention and emergency, based in Brussels, with the aim of contributing to the strengthening of initiatives to help citizens in case of emergency. This annual conference (more info at: www.eenaconference.org) is also the largest sharing space between citizen support professionals, hotlines and public safety and emergency support initiatives.
The EENA (https://eena.org/), created 23 years ago (1999) by Olivier Paul-Morandini, awards every year a set of prizes that aim to promote those who, often with enormous personal sacrifice, do their best to save others. There are two specific categories for the activity of emergency contacts (one attributed to technology/process improves the care of emergency situations and the other dedicated to operators who answer calls and that due to tenacity, save lives) and a third, open, for situations of recognized merit in emergency activity and civil protection. This year, in addition to VOST Portugal, awards were given to benefactors (a couple who set up a foundation after a disaster caused a personal tragedy), young heroes – two young men who, in a kidnapping, managed to pick up the phone and call 112 while saying they were praying) and also to those who in the floods in Belgium saved an elderly woman imprisoned at home, but also to the UEFA doctor responsible for the rescue operation of Christian Eriksen.
For VOST Portugal, this award “serves as recognition for the meritorious work that dozens and dozens of volunteers do on a daily basis”. The prize belongs to everyone, to those who challenge us and to those who
who need help. This is what an association born of civil society is for: support those in need, in this case in the area of civil protection", said Isabel Silva, president of VOST
Portugal.
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