Fast Retailing in partnership with UN Women will champion women’s rights and empowerment in the apparel industry. This is the first formal alliance between UN Women and a clothing company based in Asia. Under the new partnership, Fast Retailing and UN Women will together promote safe and secure work environments, and advance empowerment for all women and girls. The scope of the partnership is to jointly implement a program for female workers in garment factories in Asia, Fast Retailing’s main production hub. The partnership also comprises a management training program to further diversity at the company. The project will target partner factories in Bangladesh, China and Vietnam, to identify specific local gender-based challenges that female factory workers face. A support program will be developed to provide specialised training for female workers selected from 200 partner factories in the three countries.

Women comprise the majority of workers in the garment sector, but too often they are segregated into lower paying jobs that offer little chance for advancement. Men occupy the majority of leadership roles, such as line supervisors and managerial positions. Moreover, female workers are often hampered by gender occupational segregation, pay wage gaps, and gender-based recruitment bias, making it more difficult for them to develop sustainable and fulfilling careers.