Sony Corporation has established the Sony Global Relief Fund for COVID-19, a US$100 million purse to support those around the world affected by the pandemic.
The company will provide support for frontline medical and first responders; children and educators working remotely, and members of the creative community in the entertainment industry.
For medical support, $10 million will be allocated to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Sony will also work with its “external partners” to explore ways that it can support activities that prevent the further spread and contribute to treatment of COVID-19.
In the area of education, the company said its exploring ways to “leverage its technologies in support of education activities, and cooperate with educators” to implement those measures.
With its group companies engaged in the entertainment industry, Sony plans to “seek ways” to support up-and-coming creators, artists and all those in professions supporting the industry.
The company’s employees will be able to provide support through a “matching gift program,” to be offered to its approximately 110,000 employees globally.
“Sony extends its condolences to the families of those who have passed away as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, and extends its sympathies to all those who have been impacted. In order to overcome the unprecedented challenges that as a society we now face around the world, we will do all we can as a global company to support the individuals on the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19, the children who are our future, and those who have been impacted in the creative community,” Kenichiro Yoshida, president and CEO of Sony, said in a statement.