H&M Partnership with UNICEF

UNICEF announced today a new partnership with Swedish fashion retailer H&M. The high street conglomerate have donated USD1.5m towards girls' education programmes worldwide and HIV/Aids prevention programmes in Cambodia.

The donation, which will be given over a three-year period will support UNICEF's initiative for accelerating girls' education in order to help girls obtain the same access to basic education as boys. Currently there are 121 million children out of school, and most of them are girls.

For H&M, the alliance with UNICEF highlights the company's supportive and responsible global role."The new partnership communicates the importance of social responsibility for H&M, its employees and customers," 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 environment."