Finnair and Unicef launch Christmas Campaign

The Change for Good campaign carried out in cooperation between Finnair and Unicef is celebrating its tenth anniversary. The first Change for Good campaign on Finnair flights was launched in autumn 1994. This year the campaign begins on November 29 and ends on January 2, 2005. The collection is in support of girls' education in Nepal.

Contributions can be made to the collection on nearly all international Finnair flights, with the exception of a few short routes. On leisure flights, the collection is operated on return legs of flights departing originally from Helsinki.

To date, Finnair's Change for Good campaigns have collected about 700,000 euros. In 1994 and 1996 the funds were used for the children of war-torn Ruanda. In 1998 the target was the drug-related problems of the youth of Kaliningrad, while the youngsters of Kosovo benefited in 1999 and support was given to the children of Ethiopia in 2000. Since 2002 the aim has been to support the education of the young girls of developing countries, such as Nepal.

"Finnair has chosen to support the girls' education, through which it will be possible to build a lasting foundation for new generations," says Finnair's CEO and President Keijo Suila. "In return for reading skills, a child gets the keys to a new future."

Finnair is a long term supporter of Unicef's work, and cooperation has taken many forms. For example, last autumn Finnair Plus customers were given the opportunity to donate their points to the collection, with Finnair Plus passing on to Unicef the corresponding financial sum. The aim was to collect a total of 8 million points, a target that was reached, allowing Finnair to contribute the sum of 12,000 euros to the campaign for educating the girls of the world. This support provided the equivalent of a year's education for a thousand Nepalese girls.

In addition to these activities, Finnair is also a partner with Nokia and Finnish retailer Kesko in the Unicef Global Movement Finland group, as a member of which Keijo Suila has urged all Finnair staff, Finnair Plus and other customers, partner companies and their staff to contribute to the ongoing literacy support campaign. The aim is to collect a total of 2.35 million euros by the end of 2006 for the Nepalese activities of Unicef's campaign in support of the education for girls of the world.

A year's education for one Nepalese girl costs just 12 euros. Accordingly, Finnair is challenging each of its cooperation companies to contribute 1,200 euros, which is all it takes to provide education for 100 girls for a whole year.

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