UNIQLO's parent company donates $10 mln, 200,000 clothes items to refugees from Ukraine

Japanese Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., the parent company of UNIQLO, in response to the humanitarian emergency in Ukraine, announced the allocation of $10 million (about 1.15 billion yen) to the United Nations Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) to support people forced to leave their homes due to Russian military aggression.

It will also donate 100,000 items of clothing and other items to UNIQLO, as well as 100,000 winter clothes collected from UNIQLO stores in Japan through the company's clothing recycling program, the company said in a statement.

In accordance with the needs of the UNHCR, these items will be donated to refugees in Poland and other countries.

Fast Retailing recalled that, according to UN estimates, the total number of internally displaced persons in Ukraine may exceed 7 million, and the number of refugees leaving Ukraine – 4 million.

As the situation escalated, on March 1, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called on governments, corporations and individuals around the world to support the growing needs of refugees. The UNHCR urgently needs $270 million for an initial three-month period and $240 million for its regional response over six months.

Fast Retailing began working with the UNHCR in 2006 to help refugees around the world with clothing. In 2011, to provide comprehensive support to people on the run, Fast Retailing became the first company in Asia to enter into a global partnership with the UNHCR.