ING and UNICEF announced today the renewal of a
decade-long partnership that to date has provided access to better
quality education for more than 1 million of the world's
hardest-to-reach children.
During the past 10 years, ING has inspired its
employees and customers worldwide to raise funds for UNICEF,
helping to improve children's access to education in remote
communities in Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Nepal and Zambia.
"ING shares UNICEF's deep commitment to improving
the lives and well-being of children and young people around the
world," said Koos Timmermans, Vice-Chairman ING Bank. "We are
united by a conviction that education is a fundamental building
block for the development of children and their societies. We are
proud that with the support from our customers and employees, the
ING-UNICEF partnership has positively affected the lives of 1
million disadvantaged children."
The partnership has trained 17,000 teachers and
has been instrumental in the development of new ways to reach
marginalised children. In 2006, ING was one of the first investors
to support Alternative Basic Education Centres, providing much
needed educational opportunities for pastoralist children in
Ethiopia. The strategy has now been fully integrated into the
country's education system. In Nepal, ING was also the first
investor to support the Adolescent Development and Participation
programme in 2013, helping to equip young people with social and
financial skills.
The second phase of the partnership will shift its
focus to adolescents. While the world has made remarkable progress
for millions of children over the past decades - reducing child
mortality, increasing the number of children enrolled in primary
school, and expanding access to health care services - far too many
of the 1.2 billion adolescents worldwide have been left behind.
"UNICEF is grateful to ING - and especially to its
employees and customers - for their commitment to improving
children's lives and futures," said UNICEF Executive Director
Anthony Lake. "We are excited that our renewed partnership with ING
will focus on reaching adolescents and helping them develop the
knowledge and skills they need to build brighter futures for
themselves, their families, and the societies in which they
live."
For the next three years, the renewed partnership
aims to reach 335,000 adolescents in six countries - Indonesia,
Kosovo, Montenegro, Nepal, the Philippines and Zambia -enabling
them to develop into socially and financially empowered adults and
full members of society.
NOTE FOR EDITORS
Results of the UNICEF-ING
partnership
In India, 37,622 girls, for whom school was either
too far away or a road too dangerous to travel, have received free
transport so that they can attend school. The partnership has
supported 720 education centres for former Indian child labourers,
and 3,000 primary schools have received training materials and
teacher trainings.
By constructing new school buildings in remote,
rural areas in Zambia almost 10,000 children, who had previously
never had the opportunity to attend school, have been enrolled.
In Ethiopia, 458 Alternative Basic Education
Centres for pastoralist children have beenbuilt, benefiting over
50,000 children. Andover 3,400 facilitators (teachers from the
community) have been trained to apply a 'childfriendly' teaching
method.
Behind these figures are the individual stories of
teachers and children like Mohamed, a young Ethiopian man who
herded goats until he was 11 years old and was given the
opportunity to be one of the first children to enrol in an
ING-supported Alternative Basic Education Centre. "The school
building was made of sticks and we shared one book between five
students and were sitting on rocks," said Mohamed, who is now 19
years old, remembering his first experiences at school."So much has
changed since then! Right now, the children in my community have
their classes in a real school building; they have tables and
chairs and every child has a textbook. Most importantly, parents
really understand now why children should go to school."
For further information on ING, please visit
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Press enquiries ING |
|
Press enquiries UNICEF |
Carolien van der Giessen |
|
Laura Westendorp |
+31 20 576 6386 |
|
+31 70 333 9332 |
Carolien.van.der Giessen@ing.com |
|
lwestendorp@unicef.nl |
ING
PROFILE
ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base,
offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank
and holding a significant stake in the listed insurer NN Group NV.
The purpose of ING Bank is empowering people to stay a step ahead
in life and in business. ING Bank's 53,000 employees offer retail
and commercial banking services to customers in over 40
countries.
ING Group shares are listed (in the form of depositary receipts) on
the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, ING.AS), Brussels and on the
New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).
Sustainability forms an integral part of ING's corporate strategy,
which is evidenced by ING Group shares being included in the
FTSE4Good index and in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Europe
and World) where ING is the industry leader in the diversified
financials group.
UNICEF PROFILE
UNICEF promotes the rights and well-being of every child, in
everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190
countries and territories to translate that commitment into
practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most
vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children,
everywhere. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit:
www.unicef.org
pdf version of press
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Source: ING Group via Globenewswire
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