“Having worked with sustainability for a long time, I’ve followed the amazing journey of the H&M Foundation over the years. I’ve been really impressed with their bold ambitions and innovative approach to tackle the challenges in the textile industry, so I always knew that I wanted to be part of that journey someday.

Looking at the challenges within the textile industry today, it is clear that radical transformation is needed, and here I believe that philanthropy can play a very unique role by finding, funding and facilitating innovations and initiatives in ways that other actors may not be able to. With that in mind, I very much look forward to being part of the H&M Foundations continued journey to contribute to a more inclusive and planet positive textile industry.”

Where do you want to take H&M Foundation going forward?

“To begin with, I look forward to building on the fantastic work H&M Foundation has already done over the years – from identifying and scaling innovations, finding new ways to address systems change to drive social inclusion, and using our unique role as a non-profit to catalyse change.

Going forward, I see that we will focus even more on creating holistic impact where we combine both the people and the planet perspectives to address the industry’s most urgent challenges. Our current program Saamuhika Shakti in India is a great example of this and I look forward to continue to build on its successes and learnings. I also hope to explore new and even more innovative ways in how we can use our role as a funder to rapidly scale innovations and solutions. Here I see a great potential in partnering up with other actors that can complement our role and together create synergies to maximize impact.”

What will you and the foundation focus on this year?

“The H&M Foundation has always had high ambitions and this year is no different with many exciting things in our pipeline. For example, we are hosting our 7th Global Change Award, the industry’s largest early-stage innovation challenge. After the pandemic we are much looking forward to a big event where we can celebrate this year’s winners and give them the best possible start of their continued journey to take their ideas to scale.

We will also start evaluating our collective impact programs in Bangladesh and India to see what progress that has been made so far, and how we together with our local partners will build on that to develop the programs further. Although I know that systems change takes time, I am positive that both our programs have already managed to move the needle and contributed to better lives for many people.

An important pillar of our work is to use our platform to share learnings and insights that can create hope and inspire action in the industry. This year we will therefore host a series of events with different experts and other stakeholders to share knowledge, ideas and solutions that can contribute to an inclusive and planet positive textile industry.

So all in all, another very exciting year for the H&M Foundation and I look forward to continuously share updates of our work going forward.”

In 2015, the 193 countries of the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Development Agenda. 17 Sustainable Development Goals were agreed upon, with all countries and stakeholders resolving to act in collaborative partnership to end poverty and protect the planet, leaving no one behind. The agreement took years to reach, and it is the first ever of this magnitude.

The H&M Foundation’s work is closely connected to several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and we are committed to this united call for a world that is prosperous, fair, and environmentally sustainable.

Decade of Action to deliver the Global Goals

The Goals are not progressing at the scale or speed required. Therefore, in 2020 the UN called for the Decade of Action to accelerate sustainable solutions to the world’s biggest challenges – ranging from poverty and gender to climate change, inequality and closing the finance gap.

In September 2019, the UN Secretary-General called on all sectors of society to mobilize for a decade of action on three levels:

• Global action to secure greater leadership, more resources and smarter solutions for the SDGs.
• Local action embedding the needed transitions in the policies, budgets, institutions and regulatory frameworks of governments, cities and local authorities.
• People action, including by youth, civil society, the media, the private sector, unions, academia and other stakeholders, to generate an unstoppable movement pushing for the required transformations.

According to the UN, the Decade of Action will:

• Mobilize everyone, everywhere
• Demand urgency and ambition
• Supercharge ideas to solutions

Covid-19 adding more urgency

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a lot of positive development on hold and it’s risking the progress towards the SDGs. The UN highlights the need to protect recent gains and that there will be a transformative recovery from the pandemic, one that addresses the crisis, reduces risks from future potential crises and relaunches the implementation efforts to deliver the 2030 Agenda and SDGs during the Decade of Action.

Learn more at the United Nation’s website for the Sustainable Development Goals.

“When we needed to cancel the award ceremony of our innovation challenge Global Change Award, we were left with hotel rooms for the winners and guests. Giving these rooms to those who stand at the front line, fighting to help ill people – often with the worry of falling ill themselves –  felt like the natural thing to do”, says Clara Alderin, project manager of Global Change Award at the H&M Foundation. “From the response we have received, it is clear that the need for hotel rooms is huge and we are now appealing to more companies, organizations and hotels to give their booked hotel rooms to healthcare personnel to ease their situation.”

“I am proud that H&M Foundation is a partner of GodHjälp and I am convinced that this can contribute with an important social function by protecting vulnerable people, reducing the burden on the health care system and in the end save lives.”

— Karl-Johan Persson, board member of the H&M Foundation

The project is led by GoodCause Foundation in close partnership with Norrsken Foundation and their initiative “Action against corona”. Other partners, contributing with communication, technical solutions and legal expertise are Netlight, Scrive, Microsoft, Vinge, Axfood and Coop.

This is bloody serious, because a girl that gets access to school has better opportunities to be in charge of her own life. She will most likely get married at an older age and will have fewer and healthier children. For every year in school after 9th grade, her future income increases with at least 10%.

Why the taboos?
Period-shame is rooted in gender inequality. Cultural and religious traditions around periods are often derived from biased, patriarchal norms about a girl’s status and place in society. These negative attitudes around periods affect girls’ opportunities in life on multiple levels. Actually, women and girls all over the world are not allowed to leave the house, cook, take a bath, go near boys, drink milk, make sushi, use the front door or even look in the mirror during one week each month…  And these are just examples.

What can we do about it?
Together with Plan International and WaterAid we battle to break the taboos, educate girls and boys around periods, provide proper and gender sensitive toilets and secure sustainable access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation. We are training district health workers, teachers and volunteers to educate young people about periods and talk about them in a shame-free way, we distribute menstrual hygiene materials in schools and we teach girls how to manage their periods – all to keep girls in school.

”This is about enabling girls and women to reach their full potential. The inclusion of girls, tackling taboos around menstruation and securing access to hygiene and sanitation facilities are paving the way for gender equality and equal access to quality education.”

Charlotte Brunnström, Program Manager, H&M Foundation

During the day, the She Innovates Program was also launched. Created by UN Women and the Global Innovation Coalition it helps female innovators and entrepreneurs to defy gender barriers and turn their women-centered solutions into reality. Diana Amini, Global Manager at the H&M Foundation, was on stage, interviewing Abby Wambach, one of the world’s most prominent soccer players but also deeply engaged in issues regarding women’s rights and equal opportunities.

“If women keep playing by the old rules, we’ll never change the game.”

Abby Wambach

The pursuit of creating a better tomorrow will be altogether impossible if we exclude half of the world’s population. One of H&M Foundation’s focus areas is equality and we continue our hard work to empower women, providing skills training and highlighting role models, inspiring the next generation of girls. Together with our global partner CARE we strive to turn women into entrepreneurs — improving the lives of themselves and the communities around them. Since the start of our partnership we’ve reached 140,000 women.

Learn more how we work with equality.

Almost 6 million children in China live with a disability and many face barriers to access quality education. The project with Save the Children aims to give children with disabilities access to quality education by making schools more inclusive and addressing widespread negative attitudes, reaching 4,000 children along with teachers and parents.

In a collaboration with the professional photographer Liu Yuyang the children had the opportunity to express themselves through photography and they were provided with a camera to take photos of their friends, families, homes etc. The photos as well as candid photos of the children participating in this were used at an exhibition in the Dazu Mall & More in Beijing. This has been an important part of changing the attitude towards children with disabilities and in the work of creating a society without discrimination. Inclusive education encourages all children to grow together, play together and go to school together!

However, moms and dads don’t interact with their babies in the same way – neither when it comes to how they talk to them or how often they do it.

“In our research, we’ve seen marked differences in the early development of babies who have experienced responsive baby talk with their caregivers, to those who haven’t.”

Dr. Marina Kalashnikova, The Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language

“Baby talk may sound silly to us, but not to your child. It actually helps develop their brain. But as it turns out, dads don’t speak baby talk as much as moms do – and that needs to change. Now, we challenge dads to become fluent baby talkers through Baby Talk for Dads. It´s a fun and easy tool to highlight a very important issue”, says Diana Amini, Global Manager, H&M Foundation.

“Baby talk may sound silly to us, but not to your child. It actually helps develop their brain.”

Diana Amini, Global Manager, H&M Foundation

The Baby Talk For Dads course consisted of three playful voice exercises caregivers could do with or without their child. Each exercise was developed using the expertise of researcher Dr. Marina Kalashnikova from The Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, and focuses on topics such as tone of voice and how to have a two-way interaction with your baby.

“When we talk to our babies from the earliest moment of life – particularly in melodic, high-pitched, and exaggerated tones – we have a profound impact on their cognitive development. In our research we’ve seen marked differences in the early development of babies who have experienced responsive baby talk with their caregivers and other family members around them, to those that haven’t”, says Dr. Kalashnikova.

With the 31 images in this exhibition, Malin took us on a journey through the canals and inlets of the Indus River Delta, as they flow from one of Pakistan’s largest and most beautiful lakes, the Keenjhar – the source of drinking water for Karachi’s 16.6 million inhabitants – through to the schools and communities in the region.

GLOBAL PROGRAM FOR CLEAN WATER

Today, 650 million people globally live without safe water, and 2.3 billion don’t have adequate sanitation. But when water, sanitation and hygiene education is improved in schools, better health brings improved attendance and it creates a better learning environment that enhances performance. Gender equality is improved, since girls do not need to drop out of school or attend sporadically when they have their periods and there are no toilets available.

“Safe, clean water and adequate sanitation are basic human rights. Through engaging imagery we can show the more serious underlying issues that children face when they do not have these available at school.”

— Diana Amini, Global Manager H&M Foundation

The WaterAid and the H&M Foundation partnership Global Program for Water aimed to provide sanitation, water and hygiene promotion in schools, with a view to improving health and education and transforming children’s futures. The first phase, taking place 2014-2017, gave 250,000 children globally access to clean water and sanitation in schools. One of the areas supported by the Global Program was Thatta.