Tetra Pak receives award for work supporting United Nations sustainable development goals

The award, which recognizes the significant role business can play in implementing UN targets for reducing poverty, was presented on behalf of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum and the International Chamber of Commerce.

Presenting the award in New York at a special ceremony during a session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees Mary Robinson said Tetra Pak and nine other award recipients are being recognized for their "pursuit of innovative and productive approaches to sustainable development, targeted at achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals."

"Receiving such a prestigious award is an honour for Tetra Pak and a validation of our more than 50-year experience of combining good business practices with development projects," said Tetra Pak CEO Dennis Jönsson.

At the heart of Tetra Pak's innovative and productive approach to sustainable development lies the belief that development programs should be built around economically viable investments. To that end, in 2000 the company established the Tetra Pak Food for Development Office (FfDO), which initiates and supports school feeding and agricultural development programmes through public-private partnerships. FfDO also provides local entrepreneurs with the company's technology and market know-how to help them develop local food production.

"Our school feeding and agricultural development programmes go beyond ordinary business, but they are not charity. They represent a long term development effort The Nasarawa State School Feeding Programme in Nigeria was launched by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in September 2005 that improves the nutritional status of children and contributes to the development of the agricultural sector in developing countries, while at the same time creating and developing new markets for Tetra Pak," said FfDO Global Director Ulla Holm.

Tetra Pak has been involved in school feeding programmes for children around the world for more than 40 years. Today, more than 40 million school children, 15 million of them living in developing countries, are served milk and other nutritious drinks in Tetra
Pak packages.

For the sixth year Tetra Pak Saudi Arabia has been working together and closely with the School Health Department at the Ministry of Education, in its School Milk Programme.
"Out of its willingness to increase pupils' awareness of the importance of regular milk drinking, and working in cooperation with Tetra Pak, the Directorate General for School Health (Boys) launched the "School Milk" program in 2002." Dr. Saleh Al-Ansari, Director General of School Health for boys at the Ministry of Education highlighted. "In the experimental stage, the target was the First Grade pupils in 3 percent of the Kingdom's primary schools. The program was then implemented gradually, reaching its fifth stage, which targeted 100 percent of the primary schools in 2005," he added.

"Only by engaging in true public-private partnerships and by employing the private sector as an engine for economic development can the UN's Millennium Development Goals be realized," said CEO Jönsson.