New Delhi, Jul 27 (IANS): WhatsApp on Tuesday announced to empower 100 social impact organisations in India that would be trained on using the mobile messaging platform for better community engagement.

The virtual ‘Chat for Impact Bootcamp' on August 10-11, curated by WhatsApp in partnership with Praekelt.org and hosted by Turn.io, is aimed at supporting and accelerating the work NGOs are doing to provide vulnerable, disempowered and minority communities with easy and secure access to vital information and support via WhatsApp.

"As an easy and accessible platform, WhatsApp has been a preferred medium for several government institutions, municipal corporations, civic actors and volunteer groups to take Covid-19 relief efforts and information to people at scale," said Abhijit Bose, Head of WhatsApp India.

"Through the Bootcamp, we look forward to supporting more such solutions and working with social impact organisations to continue contributing meaningfully," he added..

The 100 organisations that meet the criteria will attend the two-day Bootcamp, which includes online sessions, pre-event work, and a follow-up session. The registration will close on July 30, said the company.

The bootcamp is open to any NGO aiming to launch a WhatsApp helpline to support their work and engage their communities.

The 100 selected organizations will receive the following valued at $5,000 — training via two-day virtual 'Chat for Impact Bootcamp, a free WhatsApp helpline for their organisation, a free Turn.io licence for six months to help organisations manage and automate their WhatsApp service and 100,000 free messaging credits for their service until the end of the Covid pandemic.

The bootcamp is a follow-on from the recent Chat for Impact Summit powered by WhatsApp which saw participation form 30 organisations.