What can we do to help refugees?
Those who have already fled conflicts and wars and lost their homes are also facing a global pandemic.
We are helping through the power of clothing.
This year, Fast Retailing, parent company of UNIQLO, is providing 3 million AIRism masks to people around the world who have been forcibly displaced.
In 2021, we celebrate 10 years of our global partnership with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
Over the past decade, we have expanded our areas of contribution from donating clothes,
to refugee employment at UNIQLO stores, and raising awareness of the issues of global forced displacement.
We will continue to harness the power of clothing to help those in need.
As of 2019, 79.5 million people have been forced to leave their homes due to conflict and persecution. Many of them live in environments with inadequate services. With the spread of COVID-19, they face many other challenges, including their health, education, and livelihoods, in refugee camps and densely populated urban spaces. Under our global partnership, Fast Retailing and UNHCR are distributing AIRism masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Masks will be distributed to refugees, displaced people, and their communities. Fast Retailing and UNHCR will continue to protect and provide support to people forced to flee their homes, to achieve our goal of a more sustainable world where "no one is left behind".
Since spring 2020, many schools around the world - including those in refugees camps - have been closed. Some children have been out of school for almost a year. Many have started working to support their families during COVID-19. Our contribution is intended to support refugees and displaced children who have been severely affected by the pandemic, through the repair and construction of schools and sanitation facilities, internet connection for online education, and financial support to attend school.
Fast Retailing, UNIQLO’s parent company, has been working with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, since 2006, to provide clothing to refugees and displaced people around the world. In 2011, Fast Retailing became the first Asian company to have a global partnership with UNHCR. The partnership celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2021. Clothing collected from customers through the RE.UNIQLO recycling program has been donated to UNHCR. In addition, UNIQLO has been helping those who have been forcibly displaced through emergency support, livelihood programs, refugee employment at UNIQLO stores, school outreach, and communication campaigns.
Opportunities to work and earn a living are critical for refugees to rebuild their lives with dignity. In 2018, UNHCR launched MADE51 - a brand featuring craft items created by refugees - to enable them to use the traditional skills of their homelands to become economically independent in their new settlements. Working with local social enterprises, refugees are developing their expertise in design, logistics, and marketing to create products that can be sold in the global market. Since 2020, we have supported MADE51's refugee self-reliance program, helping to raise brand awareness and support for refugees as they earn a living for themselves and their families.
