Through partnerships with organisations around the globe, the H&M Foundation aims to act as a catalyst for change and accelerate the progress needed to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Our Annual Report – A Catalyst for Change 2019, covers the work of H&M Foundation from January 1 to December 31, 2019. It describes how we have invested in people, communities and innovative ideas while also pushing our focus areas to the global agenda.
A few highlights from 2019:
- 1.7 million people in 40 countries were reached by H&M Foundation initiatives in 2019, supporting worldwide access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene, bringing quality education and care to children globally and empowering marginalized people in the pursuit of equal societies.
- 5.893 innovators from 175 countries entered Global Change Award, the H&M Foundation’s annual innovation challenge, to help reinvent the fashion industry and protect the planet.
- A milestone was reached within our project Recycling Revolution which is run together with our partner The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel, when a supplier agreed to build a full-scale recycling facility together with a strategic industrial partner.
- On International Women’s Day the H&M Foundation was part of a global movement for gender equality together with UN Foundation and UN Women at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
- At the Somerset House in London our partner WaterAid displayed an exhibition with the acclaimed Ethiopian artist and photographer Aida Muluneh, highlighting the lack of access to clean water.
- During the United Nations General Assembly week in New York in September the H&M Foundation was present together with UNICEF, drawing attention to the importance of inclusion for all children in education, with a focus on, often marginalized, children with disabilities.
- In addition to catalyzing positive change within our focus areas, the H&M Foundation made emergency relief donations of $300.000 to flood victims in Bangladesh as well as to Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Turkey.