H&M Conscious Foundation and WaterAid are launching a new global partnership for safe water and sanitation in schools, with the goal to achieve long-term transformational change that will directly benefit over a quarter of a million of the world’s poorest school children.
The primary goal of this global program is to change the lives and future prospects of students by delivering safe water, sanitation and hygiene in schools to improve health and education. The program will with $A10 million deliver both immediate and long term transformational change; changing lives of students and influencing policies at national and international levels.
“H&M and WaterAid have been working together on clean water and safe sanitation since 2002. Today, the H&M Conscious Foundation is proud to announce that WaterAid will drive one of our global programs for change. The focus is to deliver clean water, sanitation and hygiene in schools to improve health, attendance and education and thereby transforming children’s futures,” says Karl-Johan Persson, CEO H&M and board member of the H&M Conscious Foundation.
During 2013, H&M asked its customers and employees to decide which three development issues the H&M Conscious Foundation should support over the coming years. The result was clear: ‘clean water’ was one of the issues of most concern.
Barbara Frost, Chief Executive of WaterAid International, comments on the new partnership, “This unique partnership with the H&M Conscious Foundation will change children’s lives immensely. By ensuring that both girls and boys have an equal chance to stay in school and learn in a safe, healthy environment will allow them to fulfil the potential and provide a promising future. The H&M Conscious Foundation’s funding helps us in our aim to ensure that everyone, everywhere has safe water and sanitation by 2030.”
“As H&M moves into the Australian market this year we are thrilled that they have decided to support WaterAid globally and help improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of children around the world through the provision of safe water, toilets and hygiene in schools,” Adam Laidlaw, Chief Executive of WaterAid Australia, said.
Source: WaterAid Australia
