Success of H&M Holiday Campaign enables women in Ethiopia to start businesses

[ 2015.2. 9 ]

International humanitarian organization CARE has received a donation of 2.2 million euro today, as a result of the H&M Holiday Campaign. "We are very grateful for this generous donation," comments Dr. Robert Glasser, Secretary General of CARE International. "This donation will allow us to empower women entrepreneurs and workers from low-income urban communities in Ethiopia and help us raise global awareness of the enormous benefits associated with empowering women and girls in the fight against poverty and social injustice."

H&M Holiday Campaign
CARE was selected as the beneficiary of H&M's 2014 Holiday Campaign. For every set of holiday gift labels sold in stores worldwide, the H&M Conscious Foundation made a donation to CARE. With the help from H&M customers the total donation came to an impressive amount of 2.2 million euro.

"We are grateful for the engagement from H&M customers in this important cause," says Helena Thybell, H&M Conscious Foundation Global Manager. "Strengthening Women is one of the Foundation's three focus areas, chosen by H&M customers through an online voting in 2013, why we're happy to once again engage them in this issue. We see our donation as an investment for the future. By supporting women to help themselves out of poverty we see that we can achieve a long lasting change for entire communities."

Ethiopia project
The donation will enable CARE's innovative work on women economic empowerment in Ethiopia where one-third of the population lives in poverty. In the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, almost 40 percent of households are headed by women, and more than 70 percent of these households are considered poor. With the donation of the H&M Conscious Foundation, CARE invests in women from low-income poor communities to develop business opportunities that generate income, create a more equal balance of power in the home and enhance self-esteem. This includes women-owned enterprises that deliver support services such as child care and catering. These services will enable other women to start their own enterprises, while still assuming family responsibilities, thus creating a positive and growing cycle of change where women help empower other women. This way we create a strong snowball effect. The project will start in February 2015 and will run for three years until January 2018.

Entrepreneurship key to empower women
"We are really excited about this innovative project in which women entrepreneurs will help other women," Dr. Glasser explains. "Entrepreneurship is a vital ingredient to fight poverty, and supporting women entrepreneurs is particularly effective because women play a disproportionately important role in lifting their families and their wider communities out of poverty. We care deeply about this project because it will bring about profound changes in the lives of so many poor and marginalized women."

ABOUT H&M CONSCIOUS FOUNDATION
The H&M Conscious Foundation is an independent non-profit global foundation, initiated by H&M. The mission of the Foundation is to drive long lasting positive change and improve living conditions by investing in people, communities and innovative ideas. Through partnerships with experienced organizations around the globe, the Foundation drives change within three focus areas chosen by H&M employees and customers: Education, Clean Water and Strengthening Women. To further improve living conditions the Foundation also supports innovative ideas that contribute to safeguarding the earth's natural resources. In case of natural disasters in countries where H&M operates, the H&M Conscious Foundation can provide emergency relief. Today, the Foundation is funded by the Stefan Persson family, founders and main owners of H&M. For further information, visit hm.com/consciousfoundation