Borealis announces its support of Kindernothilfe, a development cooperation and child rights organization which is working to improve the lives of some of India’s poorest people, waste pickers.
The city of Mumbai, India, produces up to 10,000 tons of garbage every day, which is mainly dumped on one of three landfill sites. Govandi is the oldest dump in Mumbai and the fifth largest in the world. It attracts thousands of unemployed people, who earn a living by picking through the waste and selling what they find. An estimated 1,300 children live around and work at the dump site. They work under the toughest conditions, and their lives are characterized by poverty, illness, malnutrition, and a lack of clean water and medical care. The children have no time for school, and the area suffers from many social problems, including violence, drugs, unemployment, sexual abuse, discrimination against women, child marriages, and child trafficking.
Borealis, through its Social Fund, supports Kindernothilfe and its long-standing local partner, Karunya Trust, in a project that aims to empower these children and their parents so they can lead a healthy life in dignity. This is achieved through a holistic program tackling all aspects that usually keep them in the vicious circle of poverty, violence, and exploitation.
Through the project, Kindernothilfe and Karunya Trust provide basic health services and daily meals, improving people’s health and their life chances. Having enough healthy food gives children the energy they need to follow their lessons in school, so they can obtain an education and professional qualifications. In turn, this will give them the chance to find a better job, such as an apprenticeship, which leads to a self-determined and more dignified life. Another major aspect of the program is the empowerment of girls and women by creating awareness about child rights and gender equality as well as assisting victims of violence and domestic abuse. Equally important is the education of households on how they can reduce the amount of waste being dumped on the landfill by pre-sorting and recycling it instead.
The project plays an important part in community life, working alongside social workers and the community authorities, as well as collaborating with government agencies, universities, colleges, schools, and volunteers. The project’s child protection committee, children’s parliament and mother’s group are all significant community pillars.
“Borealis believes that good education is key to finding a decent job that enables a self-determined and dignified life,” says Thomas Gangl, CEO Borealis. “For this reason, Education & Social Integration is one of three focus areas for the Borealis Social Fund. We are delighted to support Kindernothilfe and Karunya Trust with this important work, which changes the lives of some of India’s most disadvantaged children and their families.”
“Kindernothilfe is strongly committed to facilitating child rights and fighting exploitative child labor worldwide. We are grateful to have gained Borealis as a dedicated partner to improve the living situation of marginalized children in Mumbai during the next years,“ says Gottfried Mernyi, CEO Kindernothilfe Austria.
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This media release is also available in German language.
Media contacts:
Borealis
Borealis Group Media Desk
Virginia Wieser, Lena Lehner, Karin Schober
Tel: +43 1 22 400 899 (Vienna, Austria)
E-mail: media@borealisgroup.com
Kindernothilfe Austria
Gottfried Mernyi
CEO, Kindernothilfe Austria
Tel: +43 1 513 93 30 (Vienna, Austria)
E-mail: presse@kindernothilfe.at
About Borealis
Borealis is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and sustainable polyolefin solutions and a European front-runner in polyolefins recycling. In Europe, we are a market leader in base chemicals and fertilizers. We leverage our polymer expertise and decades of experience to offer value adding, innovative and circular material solutions for key industries such as consumer products, energy, healthcare, infrastructure and mobility. In re-inventing essentials for sustainable living, we build on our commitment to safety, our people, innovation and technology, and performance excellence. We are accelerating the transformation to a circular economy of polyolefins and expanding our geographical footprint to better serve our customers around the globe.
With head offices in Vienna, Austria, we employ 7,600 employees and operate in over 120 countries. In 2022, we generated a net profit of EUR 2.1 billion. OMV, the Austria-based international oil and gas company, owns 75% of our shares, while the remaining 25% is owned by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, or ADNOC, based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We supply services and products to customers around the globe through Borealis and two important joint ventures: Borouge (with ADNOC, headquartered in the UAE); and Baystar™ (with TotalEnergies, based in the US).
www.borealisgroup.com | www.borealiseverminds.com
About the Borealis Social Fund
Established in 2008, the Borealis Social Fund, underpins Borealis’ role as a socially responsible company. Each year, a portion of the Group’s net profit is dedicated to the Fund, based on clearly defined allocation rules. To maximize the impact of its engagement and to align Borealis’ social engagement activities with the Company’s Purpose and its Strategy 2030, with its strong focus on sustainability, the Group has defined three areas of social engagement that directly contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs): Education & Social Integration, Water & Energy, and Waste & Resource Efficiency.
Borealis believes that young people’s ideas, creativity, and skills will determine the future of the economy and social stability. Therefore, the Borealis Social Fund nurtures young people’s interest in chemistry and science, supports the educational system to meet future challenges, and integrates marginalized, poor, and underprivileged people.
Another focus area of the Fund is to provide access to safe drinking water, and reliable, affordable renewable energy in developing and emerging countries, under the umbrella of Water for the World, a program established by Borealis and Borouge.
Furthermore, Borealis is committed to preventing plastic waste in the environment by helping to establish efficient and low-cost circular waste management systems in emerging and developing countries. Launched in 2017 by Borealis and Systemiq, Project STOP works hand in hand with city governments to create effective waste management systems in Indonesia.
www.borealisgroup.com/company/sustainability/social-engagement
About Kindernothilfe
Kindernothilfe Austria, founded in 1996, is as a non-profit organization engaged in development aid and aims to enable as many children as possible to have a better life. Kindernothilfe Austria facilitates projects in 33 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. With our partners on site, we focus our work on children rights, social justice and on SDGs, especially on sufficient nutrition, clean drinking water, health care and access to education for children and their families.
For more detailed information about our projects, visit www.kindernothilfe.at
About Karunya Trust
Karunya Trust, a Non-governmental organization (regtd. Bombay public trust 1950) has been involved in child-focused social interventions since 1998 with a Mission to restore the dignity and potential of marginalized individuals and communities by facilitating access to holistic education, health, livelihood, and stable shelter irrespective of caste, creed, and religion.
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