KUALA LUMPUR, 23 July 2018 – Sime Darby Property Berhad is partnering UNICEF to build Malaysia’s first Inclusive Playground at the award winning City of Elmina township.

Scheduled for completion in the first half on 2019, the inclusive playground will be an integral part of the township’s 300-acre central park. The project will set the standard for building inclusive playgrounds and public spaces for the industry.
“Sime Darby Property is proud to partner a leading global organisation like UNICEF. We believe in developing vibrant communities through great products such as our multigenerational homes and this new initiative will take our commitment a step further. All children have a right to play and be included, said Amrin Awaluddin, Sime Darby Property Group Managing Director.

“We truly admire and support UNICEF’s commitment in making positive changes for children with disabilities in Malaysia, to ensure they are free from discrimination to support their growth and development,” he said.

Sime Darby Property and UNICEF signed an MOU today to kickstart the partnership. As part of the MOU, a Best Business Practice Circular and Guidance Toolkit will be produced from this project. Property developers who want to emulate this best practice example can benefit from utilising the open source toolkit to build inclusive spaces, and playgrounds. The Inclusive Playground in City of Elmina will demonstrate the application of Universal Design Principles and the Malaysian Standard in the creation of public spaces.

“Inclusive Playgrounds not only enable children with and without disabilities to play together as equals, they also create opportunities for intergenerational interaction within families and social cohesion of the wider community,” said Marianne Clark-Hattingh, UNICEF Representative in Malaysia. “The Inclusive Playground in the City of Elmina led by Sime Darby Property will be held up as a beacon of good business practice which is socially responsible and inclusive for all.”

This MOU illustrates how UNICEF partners with the private sector, and of Sime Darby Property’s resolve to champion the children’s rights and inclusion. The private sector has a responsibility to ensure that its business operations promote and protect the rights of children. Children are affected by how businesses treat their parents, operates its facilities, develops and markets its products, provides its services, and exerts its influence on economic and social development. UNICEF works with the private sector to embed child rights principles across their operations and activities.

The right to play is enshrined in article 31 of the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child. When children play, they learn and develop physically, emotionally, cognitively, enabling them to improve their ability to navigate the world. Building an inclusive playground and public spaces that is accessible to all creates an environment that is rich in diversity for a more cohesive society.

The City of Elmina continues to be at the forefront of Sime Darby Property’s townships after being crowned winner of the 2017 Star Property Award for the Five-Elements Township category and the Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia excellence award for outstanding landscape design in a township. The township is planned and developed in line with specifications set out by Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey, an internationally recognised standard that measures liveability.

The City of Elmina is also strategically located along the Guthrie Corridor Expressway and highly accessible via major highways and main routes such as the NKVE, LATAR, NSE and the upcoming DASH highway. The township is also planned with public transport connectivity, with a proposed line extension from My Rapid Transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh depot and a proposed LRT extension from the Subang Jaya City Centre.

About Sime Darby Property Berhad

Sime Darby Property is Malaysia’s largest property developer in terms of land bank with 20,743 acres of remaining developable land as at 31 December 2017. On the back of a successful 45-year track record of developing sustainable communities, Sime Darby Property has to date built 23 active townships/developments with a global reach that encompasses assets and operations across the Asia Pacific region and the United Kingdom. In the UK, as part of a Malaysian consortium, Sime Darby Property is the developer of the iconic Battersea Power Station project in central London.

Sime Darby Property is a multiple award-winning property group with numerous local and international accolades. It is the first Malaysian property developer to be awarded the International FIABCI Prix d’Excellence Awards twice for its Subang Jaya and UEP Subang Jaya townships. The company bagged its 8th consecutive Gold at the Putra Brand Awards 2017 and its 6th consecutive Top 10 Developers Awards at the BCI Asia 2015. Sime Darby Property has also been recognised as among the top developers in Malaysia in the annual The Edge Top Property Developers Awards, a recognition which the company consistently receives since 2009.

For more information, log on to www.simedarbyproperty.com

About UNICEF

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children visit www.unicef.org. Follow UNICEF on Twitter and Facebook

MEDIA CONTACT:
Ahmad Shahriman Johari
Head, Corporate Communications
Sime Darby Property Berhad
E-mail: shahriman.johari@simedarby.com
Mobile: 019 – 333 8320

Rachel Choong
UNICEF Malaysia
E-mail: rchoong@unicef.org
Mobile: 012 – 416 2872