Huhtamaki to support Plan’s Girl Award to empower girls and promote equality

HUHTAMÄKI OYJ PRESS RELEASE 27.6.2024 AT 10:30 EEST

Huhtamaki, a leading global provider of sustainable packaging solutions, will be a proud partner of Plan International’s first-ever Girl Award in Finland which will be awarded on the International Day of the Girl in October 2024.The concept has already been successful in other Nordic countries, where the award has received widespread public attention.  

Plan’s Girl Award highlights people and organizations in Finland that promote girls’ and young women’s rights and equality. Nominations opened on April 15 and will close at the end of August. The Girl Award will recognize efforts to combat violence or discrimination against girls, promote diversity in education and the workplace, and amplify the voices of individuals and groups in society. The work can focus solely on Finland or have an international impact. 

“We believe empowering women and promoting gender equality is essential. By sponsoring Plan’s Girl Award 2024, we contribute to Plan's mission of creating equal opportunities for girls in Finland as well as globally. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is reflected in the strong representation of women across Huhtamaki. We are dedicated to cultivating an environment where everyone feels valued and respected, and we recognize that our work for gender equality is ongoing,” says Salla Ahonen, EVP Sustainability and Communications at Huhtamaki. 

Respect for human rights, non-discrimination, and gender equality are the core values of Plan International, which the award candidates are expected to reflect. 

“Equality is not yet achieved in any country in the world, and girls in all their diversity still face human rights violations. With the Plan’s Girl Award, we want to accelerate Finland’s progress towards equality and highlight that the challenges faced by girls are global – they just manifest differently in different societies. Huhtamaki’s sponsorship of the Girls’ Award allows Plan to bring important equality issues to the forefront,” says Ossi Heinänen, Secretary General of Plan International Finland. 

Announcing the recognition of equality advocates 

The winner of Plan’s Girl Award is chosen by a jury whose members promote human rights and gender equality in various fields of society. In 2024, the jury is chaired by Member of Parliament Fatim Diarra (Green), who is also a member of Plan's board. 

The jury includes Fadumo Ali, CEO of Hoiwa; Päivi Anttikoski, Media Director of SOK; Entrepreneur Sointu Borg; Member of Parliament Pihla Keto-Huovinen (National Coalition Party); Social Media influencer Joonas Pesonen; Professor Helena Ranta; Activist Katariina Räikkönen; Journalist-author Rauli Virtanen, and Merja Ylä-Anttila, CEO of Yle. 

Plan International will shortlist the top five finalists, from which the jury will select the winner. The recipient will be announced during the ceremony on October 10. 

Read more about the Plan’s Girl Award and make your nomination (in Finnish). 

For further information, please contact:  

Maria Tomminen, Senior Manager, Media Relations, tel. [phone]

HUHTAMÄKI OYJ   

Global Communications   

About Huhtamaki   

Huhtamaki is a leading global provider of sustainable packaging solutions for consumers around the world. Our innovative products protect on-the-go and on-the-shelf food and beverages, and personal care products, ensuring hygiene and safety, driving accessibility and affordability, and helping prevent food waste. We embed sustainability in everything we do. We are committed to achieving carbon neutral production and designing all our products to be recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2030. Our blueloopTM sustainable packaging solutions are world-leading and designed for circularity.   

We are a participant in the UN Global Compact, Huhtamaki is rated ‘A’ on the MSCI ESG Ratings assessment and EcoVadis has awarded Huhtamaki with the Gold medal for performance in sustainability. To play our part in managing climate change, we have set science-based targets that have been approved and validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative.   

With 100 years of history and a strong Nordic heritage we operate in 37 countries and 103 operating locations around the world. Our values Care Dare Deliver guide our decisions and help our team of around 18 000 employees make a difference where it matters. Our 2023 net sales totalled EUR 4.2 billion. Huhtamaki Group is headquartered in Espoo, Finland and our parent company, Huhtamäki Oyj, is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. Find out more about how we are protecting food, people and the planet at www.huhtamaki.com.