Press releases
Inditex and ‘Médicos Sin Fronteras’ have signed an agreement to put in place humanitarian projects
Inditex and ‘Médicos Sin Fronteras’ (MSF), Spanish section of Médecins Sans Frontières, today subscribed a framework agreement for collaboration in the matter of social action and relief commitments whereby both organizations lay the foundations to promote development of health-related projects. The first joint initiative to be put in place will be a program of medical care in Somalia (Africa) to be managed by MSF Spain and towards which Inditex has agreed to contribute €1.5 million.
In accordance with this agreement, MSF will become a consultant of Inditex’s Social Board, the body which sets out the action lines of the company in the matter of corporate social responsibility.
The aim of the project is to improve primary health care in Somalia. The main focus will be on child and maternity care in the towns of Jowhar and Mahaday, located 60 kilometres in the north of the capital, Mogadishu. The two towns have a joint population of 175,000. Somalia has experienced extreme deterioration with a high rate of violence and migration as a result of a lack of stable government. This has caused periodic malnutrition crises and one of the lowest rates of health in the world.
The Project will aim to improve four main areas of health care:
- Maternity and child health care.
- Vaccination programmes.
- Steps to reduce malnutrition in children.
- Basic health training and education.
This initiative comes together with the implementation of steps to fight and treat TB and forgotten illnesses, such as kala azar. Fronting this project will be a team comprised of 109 professionals, out of which 100 are Somalis.
This agreement is part of Inditex’s Corporate Social Responsibility strategy which encompasses several social programmes implemented with the assistance of independent entities with experience in the area where they are put in place. In addition to these social investment and community development programmes, Inditex’s social responsibility policy aims to improve the implementation of labour and social rights and the standard of living in the communities where its production activity takes place.
Médecins Sans Frontières is an international relief organization present in over 70 countries worldwide with some 500 projects in place. Its purpose is to provide medical aid wherever needed and to raise awareness of the plight of the people they help.