Corporate Social Responsibility Report

“This effort recognizes the untapped power of women around the world, and CARE is honoured to partner with Walmart on this groundbreaking initiative. Together, we can sustainably and dramatically improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of women – factory workers and farmers among them. Together, we will see these women change the lives of their families and communities for the better. We congratulate Walmart for taking this bold step forward.”
Helene Gayle, president and CEO, CARE

Empowering the women who work in our supply chain factories is an important priority for Walmart. Too often, female workers never realize opportunity beyond the factory floor, due to illiteracy, poverty and societal expectations. Through our Women in Factories program, we are working with leading NGOs in India, Bangladesh, Central America and China to address these issues and enhance the lives of women and their families.

Through this five-year program, we will provide critical life skills training, including communication, nutrition, hygiene, gender sensitivity and health to more than 60,000 women working in factories around the world. An additional 8,000 women also will have access to carefully tailored leadership and career development training. The Women in Factories program will create a stronger pipeline of talent for factories around the world and empower women to advocate for themselves in their homes, workplaces and communities.

Working with third parties will be vital to the long-term success of this program. We are partnering with CARE International and other NGOs to design and implement the program locally. For example, CARE will manage the program in Bangladesh, while Swasti, an India-based NGO, will do so in India. Additionally, the program will be evaluated by a team at Northwestern University, in partnership with DAI and Mission Measurement, to validate that we are meeting our goals and effectively improving the lives of women in our supply chain.

“Walmart’s openness to co-create the program for women in factories, with active participation of partners, has been impressive. It has led to a women-centric and result-oriented empowerment initiative, which will contribute significantly in changing lives of women who work in factories. We deeply appreciate the willingness to listen – to women, to partners, to solutions from the ground, in the constant endeavor to make the program better. This respect to women and partners is rare and I believe a strong ingredient of success and impact.”
Shiv Kumar, CEO, Swasti