Auchan, SOS Villages d'Enfants Monde Launch Fundraising Campaign for Ethiopian Children

Auchan Retail Luxembourg and SOS Villages d'Enfants Monde are teaming up once again for their back-to-school fundraising campaign, this time in support of children in Ethiopia.

This joint solidarity action, organised with the support of NHOOD Luxembourg, has been ongoing since 2008.

This year's campaign will target the "very vulnerable" children of Ethiopia, running from Thursday 12 to Saturday 28 September in the three Auchan hypermarkets (Kirchberg, Opkorn Differdange and Cloche d'Or) and their respective galleries.

In 2024, the aim of this fund- and awareness-raising campaign is to support 150 households, including children under five suffering from acute malnutrition, in the Oromia region, particularly the Borena area in southern Ethiopia. As Auchan and SOS Villages d'Enfants Monde noted, this region is heavily affected by population displacement in a context of major crises, drought, climate crisis, food crisis, intercommunity tensions, etc.

The project, which is part of a holistic programme, provides for the cultivation of nutrient-rich vegetables (moringa, mung beans, carrots), beekeeping and a donation of goats. The aim is to improve the diet of these households while providing them with potential new sources of income.

To support this campaign at the checkout, customers can either add the amount of their choice to their receipt, donate via the Auchan card or purchase one of the solidarity products displayed in the hypermarket school supply aisles.

In addition, SOS donation boxes will be installed in participating shops in the shopping centres in Luxembourg-Kirchberg and Opkorn Differdange. Here, customers can also learn about SOS projects during the Solidarity Saturdays during which activities for children will be organised. These are scheduled for 14 September in Kirchberg, 21 September at Cloche d'Or and 28 September in Opkorn Differdange.

On 26 August 2024, Sophie Glesener, Director of SOS Villages d'Enfants Monde, kicked off this year's campaign with Jean-Luc Carré, Director of the Auchan Cloche d'Or hypermarket. "Faced with the problem of world hunger, being able to contribute through our solidarity campaign to making food accessible and better for vulnerable communities in Ethiopia and to diversifying their activities and sources of income is essential for us," said the partners.

They recalled that the 2023 campaign raised €16,000 for 300 vulnerable families in Benin, aimed at improving lives by helping adults develop income-generating activities to cover children's basic needs, particularly food.