H&M Foundation donates £1m to Practical Action to improve sanitation in Indian slums

The non-profit H&M Foundation has donated £1m to improve sanitation for slum communities in Eastern India.

The project in Odisha state will be carried out by international development charity Practical Action and provide toilets and handwashing facilities along with a sewage treatment plant for over 40,000 people living in poverty.

Currently, people are forced to relieve themselves in the open. Women are forced to go at dawn to avoid being spied on and to retain as much of their dignity as possible. Both women and children talk of incidents where they have been attacked.

Lack of toilets and access to clean water points also causes water-borne diseases such as typhoid, dysentery and diarrhoea.

The funding will enable Practical Action to work with communities to build a sewage treatment plant and toilets. They will also work with local authorities to establish a system to enable a sustainable way of processing and transporting human waste.

In addition, the project will install at least five rain water harvesting structures which will provide 1.3 million litres of clean water for schools in the area each year. A number of clean drinking water points will also be constructed and the project will work to educate people on the importance of hand washing and hygiene to their long-term health.

Maria Bystedt, H&M Foundation said: “The H&M Foundation is proud to commit to this pioneering project transforming the management of human waste in the town of Choudwar and at the same time focusing on community buy-in and behavioural change. Our goal is to contribute to a sustainable system that can be replicated and scaled to other towns in India and elsewhere.”

Paul Smith Lomas, CEO, Practical Action said: “This partnership with the H&M Foundation will change the lives of thousands of people currently living in poverty in Odisha.

True to our mission, the project will use innovative technology to provide very simple solutions to the problems these communities face and we’ll work closely with them to design the most effective solution possible. We applaud the H&M Foundation for investing in such an important project and look forward to the project’s progression.”

Practical Action uses technology to challenge poverty in developing countries.

Our strength is our approach. We find out what people are doing and help them to do it better. Through technology we enable poor communities to build on their skills and knowledge to produce sustainable and practical solutions. Thus transforming their lives forever and protecting the world around them.

By doing this each year we help around a million people break out of the cycle of poverty ….for good.

For more information please contact Abbie Wells, Practical Action, abbie.wells@practicalaction.org.uk, +44 (0)1926 634510 or Malin Bjorne , H&M Foundation, malin.bjorne@hmfoundation.com , +46 (0) 70 796 39 75.

The H&M Foundation is a non-profit global foundation, privately funded by the Stefan Persson family, founders and main owners of H&M. Its mission is to drive long lasting positive change and improve living conditions by investing in people, communities and innovative ideas. Through partnerships with organizations around the globe, the H&M Foundation drives change within four focus areas; Education, Water, Equality and Planet. In addition to this, the Foundation can also provide emergency relief. Since 2013, the Stefan Persson family has donated 1.3 billion Swedish krona ($177 million/€144 million) to the Foundation. For further information, visit hmfoundation.com.