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H&M has collaborated with the international charity WaterAid since 2002. WaterAid enables the world’s poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and improved hygiene. These basic human rights underpin health, education and livelihoods and form the first, essential step in overcoming poverty.

Every summer H&M sells an exclusive bikini – and, more recently, a whole swimwear collection – from which 25 percent of the proceeds are donated to WaterAid. The money raised through the collections is linked to WaterAid’s water and sanitation projects in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, where some of H&M’s clothing is produced.

In this way, H&M’s support can have a direct impact on improving the lives of many of the women and children in the communities where we work. So far, H&M’s support has helped more than 150,000 poor people gain access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene knowledge.