De-jargoning: Social Responsibility
The true meaning and significance of a word can often be obsurced by difficult and challenge terminology. In our new weekly feature, ‘De-jargoning’, we explore popular buzzwords and expressions related to the world of fashion in order to find out more about them. This week, we are looking at the phrase ‘social responsibility’.
Socially responsibility is the idea that people and organisations have a duty to behave ethically and with sensitivity toward social, cultural, economic and environmental issues. In other words, companies should not be solely focused on maximizing their profits but embrace its social responsibilities to society. Striving for social responsibility helps individuals, organisations and governments have a positive impact on development, business and society with a positive contribution to bottom-line results.
Many companies, particularly green and sustainable companies have made social responsibility an integral part of their business models. Here at Fashion ComPassion, we strive to work with socially responsible fashion brands from the developing world. We take great care in choosing the suppliers we work with, understanding the story behind each brand and cultivating a lasting relationship with them. We work with our brands to ensure their artisans are continually skilled and trained, thereby securing a sustainable source of income for them. By buying Fashion ComPassion products, our customers are contribute directly to the artisans’ socio-economic mobility and making a big difference to the future of their communities.
Our partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme
In March of this year, Fashion ComPassion built on the social responsibility aspect of our business by partnering with the UN World Food Programme (WFP). WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation addressing hunger. Its overall objective is to help improve the lives of the world’s poorest people – people who are unable to produce enough food or do not have the resources to obtain the food they need to lead active and healthy lives.
Fashion ComPassion has agreed to donate a percentage from the profits from each product sold purchased in 2013 to the WFP, helping to fund a new project which aims to enhance employment prospects for poor women and adolescent girls in the FATA region of northwestern Pakistan, on the border with Afghanistan.
Find out more about Fashion ComPassion’s philosophy on socially responsibility objectives here.
Find out more about our partnership with the UN World Food Programme here.
