Listen

ING and UNICEF partnership raise EUR 3.1 million in 2013

05 June 2014 ... min read

In 2013, our employees, customers and businesses raised a staggering EUR 3.1 million for UNICEF.

Unicef

After eight successful years of our ING-UNICEF partnership we can add another one to the tally! In 2013, our employees, customers and businesses raised a staggering EUR 3.1 million for UNICEF. This amount brings the total donations since 2005 to EUR 26.7 million.

Since the start of our partnership more than 885,000 children have been provided with access to school, better-quality education, and safer and healthier living conditions.

All the funds go towards giving children in Zambia, Ethiopia and Nepal a chance for a better future by investing in their education. In 2013, more than EUR 700,000 of the total of 3.1 million was used to support the UNICEF disaster relief efforts in the Philippines in the aftermath of typhoon Haiyan.

Unicef

What is ING’s aim?

Our aim is to have reached at least one million children through the partnership with UNICEF by 2015, by providing access to education and improving the quality of this education, and by providing a safer and healthier living environment.

Below is a short description of all the UNICEF projects we are supporting and what we achieved in 2013.
Overview of where the money went

Ethiopia – Alternative education for nomad children

In Ethiopia, children don’t go to school as a matter of course. Three million Ethiopian children have had no schooling, including many nomad children. Together with ING, UNICEF is setting up effective alternative schools that provide education adapted to the nomad lifestyle. In the Afar region, for instance, 10% more children are now attending school.

Thanks to support from ING in 2013, UNICEF was able to:

  • Set up and equip 32 alternative schools so that 4,800 children can go to school.
  • Provide school supplies including exercise books, textbooks, supplementary reading materials and stationery to 43,500 children.

Zambia - A future for the children of Luapula

Children in Luapula, Zambia’s poorest province, face many challenges. For this reason, ING supports education programmes in the region. Thanks to ING, UNICEF can build schools, train teachers and help children go to school from a young age. In this way, ING and UNICEF are investing in a long-lasting education system to improve the future of tens of thousands of children.

Thanks to support from ING in 2013, UNICEF was able to:

  • Add another 15 preschools to the programme, now totalling 61 schools.
  • Improve the learning environment for 4,123 children by providing them with proper materials, playgrounds and latrines that meet health and safety standards.

Nepal - Opportunities for 80,000 children

Young people in Nepal want to break out of poverty, but too many lack the knowledge and skills to do it on their own. That is why ING and UNICEF have joined forces to help equip teenagers with the attributes they need so badly: knowledge, social skills and financial literacy. We move young people into the community and make sure they get a fair chance to build a promising future.

Thanks to support from ING in 2013, UNICEF was able to:

  • Make sure 200 adolescents participated in the Global Money Week.
  • Train 25 staff to train others on how to impart financial literacy skills among children and young people.

Philippines – Disaster relief

In the months after the total devastation caused by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines on 8 November 2013, UNICEF provided humanitarian assistance, to which ING contributed financially. Putting children at the centre of their relief effort, UNICEF provided access to water and sanitation as well as education by re-opening schools and providing learning and school materials. They also supported vaccination campaigns, screened and treated malnutrition, and strengthened the child protection system.

UNICEF is not only providing humanitarian aid but is also helping to ‘build back better’ so that communities are better able to cope with similar disaster-induced emergencies in the future. To this end, UNICEF involves the communities in the reconstruction of their villages and homes. It is also training first responders and promoting life skills and behaviours that make a difference during and in the aftermath of disaster. To support the recovery of the affected provinces, UNICEF is cooperating with the government on the reconstruction of these areas.

Related links

  • ING Sustainability Report 2013
  • Unicef
Back to top