The H&M Foundation pledges over $20 million to education, clean water and women´s empowerment

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May 23, 2017, 10:14 ET

NEW YORK, May 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- With a donation of $20.5 million and three new Global Programs the non-profit H&M Foundation makes a new strong commitment to long-lasting improvements in education, clean water and women's economic empowerment. The goal is not only to transform lives for some of the world´s poorest, but also to influence national, regional and global agendas to work towards an equal society.

The new three-year partnerships with UNICEF (Education), WaterAid (Clean water) and CARE (Women's economic empowerment) build on the achievements and learnings made in the previous Global Programs which ended in January 2017. With this new pledge, the total donation since 2014 to the Global Programs is $41 million.

So far, over 100,000 children are reached with education, over 250,000 school children have access to clean water and toilets and 100,000 women are empowered to start or expand their businesses. In addition, dialogues with governments have resulted in more resources to education and implementation of clean water, improved hygiene and sanitation in some of the poorest parts of the world. Due to the success of these programs, a renewed three-year commitment has been made.

"We've seen that our programs can make real change and that makes both the H&M Foundation and our partner organizations very eager to move into the next stage. With our insights from the first three years, we are well-equipped to create even more impact together in the years to come," says Diana Amini, Global Manager, H&M Foundation.

To make even more impact, all three programs include a component to break new ground. UNICEF will develop a tool to highlight the relevance of Early Childhood Development efforts for tolerance, cooperation and respect to prevent conflicts and bring communities together. CARE will launch a pioneering Global Report on the economic and social value of investing in women's enterprise development and WaterAid will share learnings and best practice on how to deliver long lasting access to water, sanitation and hygiene services.

"There is a constant need for new partnerships and innovative solutions and the H&M Foundation will continue to be a catalyst for positive change for the planet, communities and people. It is a long-term commitment from my family and this work has just begun," says Karl-Johan Persson, Board member, H&M Foundation and CEO H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB.

In a recently launched Impact Report 2013-2016, H&M Foundation has compiled all its efforts so far, and the progress is also described in a short film.

For more information, contact:
Marybeth Schmitt, H&M
Email: [email protected]
Tel: (646) 336-3200

Note; The donations to the Global Programs are made in Swedish krona. USD amounts are based on the exchange rate 16 May 2017.

About H&M Foundation
The H&M Foundation is a non-profit global foundation, privately funded by the Stefan Persson family, founders and main owners of H&M. Its mission is to drive long lasting positive change and improve living conditions by investing in people, communities and innovative ideas. Through partnerships with organizations around the globe, the H&M Foundation drives change within four focus areas; Education, Water, Equality and Planet. In addition to this, the Foundation can also provide emergency relief. Since 2013, the Stefan Persson family has donated 1.1 billion Swedish krona (USD 154 million/EUR 123 million) to the Foundation.
For more information, visit hmfoundation.com.

SOURCE H&M