Unicef cites SM’s welfare program for kids

MANILA, Philippines - The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has cited SM Supermalls and SM Prime Holdings for their efforts in promoting the welfare of children.

In a simple ceremony recently, UNICEF representatives conferred on SM executives the award as corporate champions for children.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. president Hans Sy, SM Supermalls president Annie Garcia and Royston Cabuñag, program director of SM Cares Program for the Youth and Children’s Welfare, received the award for their leadership in SM’s work with the UN organization.

“We are here to recognize SM Supermalls’ continued commitment in supporting our aim to uphold child rights,” said Yasumasa Kimura, UNICEF regional chief for private fundraising and partnerships, as he presented the awards.

According to the citation, SM has been a consistent and reliable partner in UNICEF’s work to “raise funds and deliver critical, innovative, and effective programs for children in the Philippines and worldwide.”

Kimura highlighted SM’s role in promoting advocacies that align with UNICEF’s goals, such as breastfeeding, child protection and Internet safety, access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities and good hygiene.

Michelle Parazo-Borromeo, head of UNICEF private sector partnership in the Philippines, described the six-year partnership with SM as “a good fit.” Borromeo recalled how, in 2008, UNICEF was looking for a private sector partner to help push for the achievement of one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the UN – reducing infant mortality. Part of that MDG, she explained, was the provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene in order for children to survive and then thrive.

Since then, SM Supermalls has played an active role in providing breastfeeding amenities to nursing mothers in all its malls, giving children access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities by donating a portion of the proceeds from the sales of SM Supermalls’ bottled water and by providing UNICEF with booth spaces located inside its malls for free. These booths allowed UNICEF fundraisers to invite the public to support the organization’s programs as donors. However, even without the pledges for donations, Kimura reiterated that the spaces served as a platform to explain issues concerning children in the Philippines and around the world.