|
Fast Retailing Donates to Help Ebola-Affected Children
TOKYO, Nov 25, 2014 - (ACN Newswire) - Fast Retailing, responding to UNICEF's urgent worldwide plea, is donating JPY 10 million to support children in West Africa affected by the Ebola virus.
Fast Retailing has established a worldwide partnership with UNICEF. And UNICEF estimates that more than 2.5 million under the age of five live in Ebola-affected areas of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, where the disease is most serious. Of these, at least 3,700 children have lost one or both of their parents to Ebola (as of November 9). This JPY 10 million donation is to help prevent the further spread of the disease, treat infected children, and provide protection and mental health care for orphans.
Fast Retailing Co., Ltd Group Senior Vice President, Yukihiro Nitta said, "Globalization means we are all fundamentally connected. As a responsible global player, we are providing emergency aid from our Clothes for Smiles program, established to deliver hopes and dreams to the children who shape our future. It is our sincere hope that this helps children in Ebola-affected areas of West Africa."
Japan Committee for UNICEF Executive Director Ken Hayami said, "UNICEF has provided around 3,000 tonnes of material aid since the initial outbreak of Ebola, including medicines, tents, safe water, and sanitary goods, and continues in its concerted effort to help. However, the disease has been virulent, and there is a severe shortage of material and personnel.
"The support from Fast Retailing and the Clothes for Smiles project is extremely valuable, and helps UNICEF tremendously in its desperate fight against Ebola. I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation.
"Infectious disease easily crosses borders. Ebola is a threat to us all. I would like to ask everyone for support to stop its spread as soon as possible."
The donation is an aspect of Fast Retailing's Clothes for Smiles project, which it launched with professional tennis player and UNIQLO Global Brand Ambassador Novak Djokovic in 2012. The initiative aims to deliver hopes and dreams to children around the world. As part of the project, Fast Retailing established a JPY 1.0 billion fund using a portion of sales from HEATTECH and Ultra Light Down from the 2012 Fall, Winter season. Of this, JPY 500 million is allocated for UNICEF projects to improve the educational environment for children, and the JPY 10 million donation for emergency aid to respond to the Ebola outbreak comes from this amount. The donation is through the Japan Committee for UNICEF, which coordinates UNICEF projects and supports the Clothes for Smiles program.
About UNIQLO and Fast Retailing
UNIQLO is a brand of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., a leading global Japanese retail holding company that designs, manufactures and sells clothing under seven main brands: Comptoir des Cotonniers, GU, Helmut Lang, J Brand, Princesse tam.tam, Theory, and UNIQLO. With global sales of approximately 1.38 trillion yen for the 2014 fiscal year ending August 31, 2014 (US $13.3 billion, calculated in yen using the end of August 2014 rate of $1 = 103.74 yen), Fast Retailing is one of the world's largest apparel retail companies, and UNIQLO is Japan's leading specialty retailer.
UNIQLO continues to open large-scale stores in some of the world's most important cities and locations, as part of its ongoing efforts to solidify its status as a truly global brand. Today the company has a total of more than 1,500 stores in 16 markets worldwide including Japan, Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, U.K. and the U.S. In addition, Grameen UNIQLO, a social business established in Bangladesh in September 2010, currently operates several Grameen UNIQLO stores in Dhaka. UNIQLO manages an integrated business model under which it designs, manufactures, markets and sells high-quality, casual apparel. The company believes that truly great clothes should be supremely comfortable, feature universal designs, are of high quality and offer a superb fit to everyone who wears them.
With a corporate statement committed to changing clothes, changing conventional wisdom and change the world, Fast Retailing is dedicated to creating great clothing with new and unique value to enrich the lives of people everywhere. For more information about UNIQLO and Fast Retailing, please visit www.uniqlo.com and www.fastretailing.com.
Source: Fast Retailing Co., Ltd.
Sectors: Fashion & Apparel, Retail & eCommerce, CSR
Copyright ©2025 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network. |