05.11.11
Ahlstrom Oyj announced it is donating EUR 90,000 to the Eva Ahlström Foundation. The Foundation supports with the donation a UNICEF Finland project in India. The donation is made under the authorization granted by the Annual General Meeting, held on March 30, 2011 giving right for the Board of Directors to make donations at their discretion.
With the help of this donation, the Eva Ahlström Foundation will make a total of EUR 200,000 donation for supporting UNICEF Finland's WASH-project (water, sanitation and hygiene) in India. The project aims at improving water, sanitation and hygiene conditions of 37,500 children in 15,000 families in 150 pre-selected schools. The project takes place in 2011-2014 in the Madhya Pradesh state which is one the poorest areas in India. The most common death cause of small children is still diarrhea caused by unclean water.
The objective of the Eva Ahlström Foundation is to support underprivileged women and children in Finland and internationally through co-operation with established non-governmental organizations. The Foundation receives donations both from private people and communities.
Through this donation, Ahlstrom wants to help support education and humanitarian causes. In 2010, Ahlstrom donated EUR 500,000 to the Aalto University in Finland. Social responsibility has been an integral part of Ahlstrom's operations throughout its 160-year-long history.
Ahlstrom opened a plant in India in 2010, and has also a sales office there.