World Children’s Day: An update on our global partnership with UNICEF

November 20th was World Children’s Day – a day that promotes and celebrates children’s rights. The opportunity to go to school is a basic human right, but millions of children all over the world still face barriers to accessing education.

We're delighted to have extended our global partnership with UNICEF, committing a further $6 million to promote education for children. The funds will help UNICEF provide over 800,000 children in India and Sri Lanka with access to meaningful education in a safe, clean and inclusive environment. In the long term, these funds will enable UNICEF to build and scale these programs, with the potential to impact more than 4 million children in Sri Lanka through a nationwide rollout of the successful models.

The commitment builds on the initial success of our partnership with UNICEF, formed through a shared vision of supporting children through education, and will bring our total donation to UNICEF to over $12 million by the end of 2023.

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Primark has already donated over $6 million to UNICEF since we first announced our partnership in 2018. This includes $4.5 million to UNICEF’s education programs to enable 100,000 children with disabilities or from marginalized communities to attend and stay in school in Cambodia. Funding provided school sanitation facilities through UNICEF’s WASH program, as well as training for teachers to ensure children have a better and healthier environment in which they can learn and grow with the right hygiene practices.

A further $1.5 million was donated to UNICEF’s emergency response operations worldwide, offering humanitarian support on the ground to communities devastated by natural disasters, including the 2018 tsunami in Indonesia and the 2019 cyclone in Mozambique, as well as supporting UNICEF’s initial response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier this year, Primark was an early responder to UNICEF’s emergency appeal for Ukraine, donating over £250,000 to support UNICEF in scaling up lifesaving efforts in the region.

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With an additional $6 million in funding now committed, Primark support of UNICEF will help provide learning opportunities for over 800,000 children who are out of school or at risk in the Uttar Pradesh province of India, with a focus on those with disabilities or from marginalized communities.

In Sri Lanka, 19,500 children will be supported in order to learn in a safe, healthy and conducive environment. To date, UNICEF has improved access to a quality and inclusive educational system for approximately 6,000 children in 50 schools, helping them stay in school.

UNICEF’s Global Private Fundraising and Partnerships Director, Carla Haddad Mardini, said “Every child has a right to education. The support from Primark has been instrumental in ensuring that children with disabilities and those from marginalized groups have access to quality education delivered in safe and inclusive spaces. Thank you, Primark, for the consistent support in ensuring that no child is left behind.”

Primark’s Chief Executive Officer, Paul Marchant said, “We are proud to be a long-term partner of UNICEF since 2018. As a Main Street retailer, local communities are the lifeblood of our business, and we are committed to making a difference in the communities where we operate and those where we source our products. Better educated communities have the skills, knowledge and tools they need to tackle inequalities, and our work with UNICEF ensures that vulnerable children have access to education. I’ve seen firsthand the positive impact of these efforts in strengthening communities in Cambodia, and I’m delighted that our renewed commitment will now provide much needed funds to improve the lives of children in India and Sri Lanka.”

 

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