UNICEF AND HENNES & MAURITZ IN GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP

GENEVA/NEW YORK/STOCKHOLM, – UNICEF today announced a new partnership and thanked the global fashion company H & M Hennes & Maurtiz AB for its donation of $1.5 million toward UNICEF girls’ education programmes worldwide and HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in Cambodia. The donation will be given over a three-year period.

H&M will support UNICEF’s global initiative for accelerating girls’ education, “25 by 2005”. 121 million children are out of school, most of them are girls. The donation will help thousands of girls obtain the same access to basic education as boys.

In addition, thousands of adolescents in Cambodia will receive HIV/AIDS awareness training, a toll-free hotline for HIV/AIDS counselling and information will be established, 75 youth club associations will be started, and 2,500 teachers will receive HIV/AIDS prevention training.

“Thanks to H&M’s generous donation, thousands of children’s lives will be changed and improved,” said UNICEF Executive Director, Carol Bellamy. “H&M is showing how corporate sponsors can use their resources to work for the good of children.”

For H&M, the alliance with UNICEF highlights the company’s supportive and responsible global role.

“The new partnership clearly communicates to employees and customers the importance of social responsibility for H&M,” said Rolf Eriksen, CEO of H&M. “The presence of H&M on four continents makes us sensitive to cultural differences,” said Eriksen. “For us it means respect for human rights and the responsibility for the effects of our business on the local community.”

“H&M takes responsibility for the way our products are produced, said Ingrid Schullström, manager environment and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). “The alliance with UNICEF is an important complement for H&M’s efforts in the area of social responsibility. Moreover, it is also in line with our participation in the UN Global Compact.”

The Global Compact is a United Nations-driven initiative that seeks to advance responsible corporate citizenship through the power of collective action, so that business can be part of the solution to the challenges of globalisation.

The alliance with H&M marks the UNICEF Swedish Committee for UNICEF first global initiative.

“We are indeed very happy for this partnership since corporate support is increasingly important for our work,” said Véronique Lönnerblad, Executive Director of the Swedish Committee for UNICEF. “UNICEF is completely dependent on voluntary contributions and assistance from both the public and the private sector is required to achieve development for the most
vulnerable children of the world.”

For further information:

Kate Donovan, UNICEF Media, New York +1 212 326 7452
e-mail: kdonovan@unicef.org

Damien Personnaz, UNICEF Media, Geneva, +41 22 909 5716

Per Westberg, UNICEF Sweden, Head of Fundraising, +46 708 23 16 06

Annacarin Björne, H&M Press Officer tel: +46 8 796 57 57 or
+46 70 796 55 50
e-mail: annacarin.bjorne@hm.com

For further information: www.unicef.org

For pictures please contact: aberlin@unicef.se