H&M Conscious Foundation and WaterAid team up at Global Citizen Festival

The H&M Conscious Foundation, an independent nonprofit global foundation initiated by H&M to drive long-lasting positive change for people and communities, has partnered with WaterAid to bring safe water and toilets to a quarter million students in some of the world's poorest countries by 2017.



Fashion model and H&M Conscious Foundation ambassador Alek Wek was joined on stage at the Global Citizen Festival by H&M Conscious Foundation global manager Helena Thybell to present the foundation's flagship program with WaterAid.



"When kids have the benefit of safe water and toilets at school, they are healthier, happier and better educated," commented WaterAid America CEO Sarina Prabasi. "We are incredibly proud to team up with the H&M Conscious Foundation to make a life-long difference for 250,000 of the world's poorest students."



In addition to providing critical water, sanitation and hygiene services to schools in need, the three-year program will bring together decision-makers at national and international levels to ensure that water, toilets and hygienic practices such as hand-washing are integrated into long-term education policies.



In 2013, the H&M Conscious Foundation asked customers and employees to identify three focus areas for their work. Access to clean water, education and women's empowerment were the top three choices.



"Clean water is so basic yet so important to life. That is why I am so passionate about what the H&M Conscious Foundation's program on clean water aims to achieve," said Wek. "I personally know the importance of clean water growing up in South Sudan. We were fortunate enough to have a small pump within walking distance, but when war broke out in the Sudan my mother would boil water for me and my siblings so we would not get sick from the contaminated water."



The Global Citizen Festival was attended by more than a dozen world leaders, a star-studded lineup of musicians and celebrity hosts, including Hugh Jackman and Jessica Alba, and 60,000 global citizens on the Great Lawn of New York Central Park. The free-ticketed concert called for an end to extreme poverty, including accelerated progress on behalf of millions of people who live without safe water and toilets.



"We were delighted that both WaterAid and H&M Conscious Foundation were able to join us at this year's Global Citizen Festival to challenge the 'poo taboo,'" added Global Poverty Project CEO and festival founder Hugh Evans. "The incredible work of these two organizations will improve sanitation for 250,000 students in some of the poorest countries."