With a €44,000 donation presented yesterday, ING has brought the amount that it has donated to UNICEF over the last four years up to €150,000 for projects supporting children and youth in Zambia.
For 10 years, ING Luxembourg and UNICEF have worked together to support children and young people in underprivileged regions and every time a customer swipes their ING Visa card, the bank donates 1¢ to UNICEF Luxembourg, raising €44,000 last year.
On Wednesday this week, the CEO of ING Luxembourg, Colette Dierick, gave UNICEF-Luxembourg presented a cheque for that amount to support the joint ING-UNICEF 'Power for Youth' programme to help young people from six countries, including Zambia. This follows on from 'Chances for Children' which helped children in Zambia access quality primary education in 2013 and 2014.
In 2016, ING's action focused on solidifying partnerships and supporting U-Report, a free SMS communications platform, allowing young Zambians to give their opinions on sensitive subjects such as AIDS prevention and to influence decisions taken by local authorities. The objective is to constantly improve the quality of this platform.
Furthermore, UNICEF have put a lot of effort into ensuring that the 'Power for Youth' initiative has been incorporated in the new 2016-2020 cooperation programme between UNICEF and the Zambian government. They hope to thereby ensure that ING-UNICEF activities, which help teenage boys and girls face the challenges of life thanks to innovative training models, are supported nationally at all levels.
The funds generated by ING in 2016 have enabled the two partners to help many young Zambians acquire the education and social skills required to manage everyday problems responsibly and independently, while receiving support from their parents and their community as well as local politicians and social services.
“We are proud and happy to have helped Zambian children and teenagers these last four years! Since 2013, ING has given UNICEF Luxembourg a total of €150,000 which has contributed to the development and education of young people from one of the most underprivileged regions in the world,” said Ms Dierick.
Receiving the cheque, Maryse Arendt, President of UNICEF-Luxembourg, said the support is crucial to the future of projects in the region. “Through the partnership, ING Luxembourg has been supporting our activities in Zambia for a number of years. This has enabled us to have a fundamental long-term impact on the lives of thousands of children and their future roles as responsible adults in their communities. Adolescence plays an important role in this as this is the period of their lives where they will learn to develop their potential to break the cycle of poverty, discrimination and violence. ING Luxembourg's support is therefore crucial for their future,” she said.
