“In the past two decades, the total number of natural disasters has quadrupled. Globally, in an average year, natural disasters affect the lives of 250 million people and kill 66,000 people. In 2010, for example, 20 million people were affected by the devastating earthquake in Haiti and the vast flooding in Pakistan alone – half of whom were children....
“In the past two decades, the total number of natural disasters has quadrupled. Globally, in an average year, natural disasters affect the lives of 250 million people and kill 66,000 people. In 2010, for example, 20 million people were affected by the devastating earthquake in Haiti and the vast flooding in Pakistan alone – half of whom were children.
Save the Children was founded more than 90 years ago to help children and their families in Germany after World War I – our first emergency response. Eglantyne Jebb, our founder, said in 1928: ‘The world’s children stand in urgent need of better protection, because it is they who today pay the heaviest price for our short-sighted economic policies, our political blunders, our wars.’ It is our mission to deliver immediate and lasting improvements to children’s lives in more than 120 countries worldwide.
The adidas Group has been supporting Save the Children in emergencies since 2008, when the cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar and led to our – until then – largest emergency operation. With the agriculture and fishing industries along with homes and schools destroyed, 2.4 million people were affected in the delta region. Through being prepared and the coordinated action with our partners, we were able to reach a quarter of all affected children.
The adidas Group and Save the Children have worked in partnership ever since. After donating for our relief work in India and Pakistan, the company asked international staff for donations to help children affected by the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011. The adidas Group then matched all employee donations. With this funding, Save the Children provided direct support to children and their families, as well as working with community groups closest to affected communities.
Long-term and trusted partners like the adidas Group help us to act quicker and thus save even more children’s lives when disasters happen. Save the Children says a huge ‘Thank you’. You really help us in making a difference!”