Benetton commences ‘Women Empowerment Project’ in Bangladesh, Pakistan

Benetton, the Italian fashion brand, has unveiled a project with a two-year calendar of concrete initiatives called – ‘Sustainable Livelihood Project’ under its Women Empowerment Programme (WEP). The project aims to empower women in the readymade garment sector in Bangladesh and also home-based women workers in Pakistan, to reduce their vulnerability at both, home and workplace.

Presented in October 2015, WEP is the focus of Benetton Group’s current sustainability strategy. Based on the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN for 2020, its objectives – attaining gender equality and women empowerment – will be achieved through five key efforts – sustainable livelihood, non-discrimination and equal opportunities, access to health, quality education and the end of every form of violence against women around the world.

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In Bangladesh, the project will support close to 5,000 women currently employed in the garment industry and will organize training courses that will help them strengthen their professional skills. In the process, the company will help the garment workers sign up for basic financial products at banks, such as loans, insurances and savings accounts and speak to their employers with regard to increasing their safety at the workplace.

Subsequently, in Pakistan, the initiative will support around 1,500 women workers while prioritizing unemployed women, those working at home, or in the fields and those belonging to ethnic and religious minorities. Benetton will help each of them obtain an ID, which is a necessity to vote, open a bank account and get access to training courses. The brand will also help them obtain formal employment and will work together with the local textile factories to make workplaces more welcoming to women.

The Benetton Women Empowerment Programme is rooted in the brand’s long history of social commitment and moves on to recognize that gender equality and the empowerment of women are not only human rights, but necessary steps toward building a peaceful, prosperous and more sustainable world for all.