AkzoNobel to empower SOS Children's Villages with skills training in Vietnam

The collaboration between AkzoNobel and SOS Children’s Villages has benefited more than 20,000 young people over the past years

This is implemented under the company’s global AkzoNobel Cares initiative which has supported SOS Children’s Villages since 2017.

The training will take place from the end of December 2021 until the end of January 2022 and will include a series of lessons and workshops for about 200 young people aged 18-20, focusing on soft and vocational skills which are critical to empower them to become their best selves and prepare for a brighter future.

The highlight of the training programme is that most tutors will be experienced volunteers from AkzoNobel who will be sharing practical lessons based on their many years of experience.

“With AkzoNobel Cares, we focus on inspiring, uplifting, and renovating communities through our Let’s Colour initiative, as well as educating, mentoring, and training future generations,” said Stephanie Kraneveld, global marketing manager of Communications and Activation of AkzoNobel. “The partnership with SOS Children’s Villages is an example of a shared effort through which we use education and training to drive a positive impact on the issue of youth unemployment and build better futures for young people in need.”

“We have been empowering people for many years through our People. Planet. Paint. approach to doing business sustainably,” said My Lan Nguyen, general director of AkzoNobel Decorative Paints Vietnam. “The first repainting project in Vietnam last year brought out the transforming power of paint. Beyond mere aesthetics, it has inspired students to keep striving for brilliance in their learning journey. We hope that the training courses this year will help to strengthen their employability and opening a path to a brighter future.”

The collaboration between AkzoNobel and SOS Children’s Villages has already benefited more than 28,000 young people over the past years where more than 7,000 youth have already been trained under the assistance of 1,000 AkzoNobel volunteers. An additional 21,000 children and young people have benefitted from the company’s donations to local education programmes and SOS support programmes in 23 countries.

In 2020, AkzoNobel provided paints and coatings products from its Dulux range to renovate the SOS Go Vap Kindergarten. AkzoNobel employees and other volunteers applied a waterproof base coat and repainted the interior and exterior of the school. Other SOS villages in Danang, Gia Lai, Hue, and Haiphong are also scheduled for renovation as part of the efforts to bring about a conducive environment and brighten up the local living space for the youth.