The non-governmental organization EENA (European Emergency Number Association) awarded VOST Portugal the “Digital Volunteering Award” within the scope of the 112 Awards 2022, whose delivery ceremony took place in parallel with the European conference that brings together emergency professionals from all over Europe.
VOST Portugal received the European award “Digital Volunteering Award” for its online campaign within the scope of Cyclone IDAD, in Mozambique, in March 2019 and where VOST’s remote action, the first intervention of its kind and the longest ever,
made it possible to locate 41 people and, through the network created, detect the location and safety of another 171. This award was given 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 the event of an emergency. This annual conference (more info at: www.eenaconference.org) is also the biggest space for sharing between professionals of citizen support, emergency lines and initiatives to support security and public emergency.
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 sacrifice, people, do their best to save others. There are two specific categories for the activity of emergency contacts (one attributed to the technology/process to improve the handling of situations and the other dedicated to operators who answer calls and who, due to their tenacity, save lives) and a third, open, for situations of recognized merit in emergency and civil protection activities. This year, in addition to VOST Portugal, awards were given to benefactors (a couple who created a foundation after a disaster caused a tragedy personal), young heroes – two young people 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 that occurred in Belgium rescued an elderly woman trapped at home, but also the UEFA doctor responsible for the rescue of Christian Eriksen.
For VOST Portugal, this award “serves as recognition for the meritorious work that dozens and dozens of volunteers do daily”. The prize belongs to everyone, those who challenge us and those who who need help. That is what an association born of civil society is for: supporting those in need, in this case in the area of civil protection”, said Isabel Silva, president of VOST.
Portugal.