STOCKHOLM – Swedish apparel retailer Lindex is to launch a three year project with WaterAid in a bid to increase access to clean drinking water and sanitation as well as improve water hygiene in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The project is focused on an area where many textile workers who produce clothes for Lindex live and aims to empower women and girls. It is part of Lindex’ dedicated sustainability work with women and water. Dhaka itself has notable water stress issues, with a declining water table an indirect result of the city’s water-intensive textile wet processing sector.
Lindex has been a partner to WaterAid since 2014 and is deepening its collaboration with the new project. In the project area, Mirpur, few people have access to clean water and decent toilets, leading to both health issues and security risks where women and girls are particularly affected. Through the collaboration between Lindex and WaterAid, the residents and school students in the area will get access to clean water and sanitation. The project also includes education in the schools regarding sanitation and menstrual hygiene, with local partners.
Women and girls will be especially involved in the project by being part of newly launched entrepreneurial groups and groups that will spread knowledge about hygiene.
Said Anna-Karin Dahlberg, corporate sustainability manager at Lindex: “At Lindex we have worked actively for many years at our suppliers with water as well as health and sanitation for women. We are very proud of our deepened collaboration with WaterAid and we will now be able to have a positive impact on life outside the factories as well.
The collaboration between Lindex and WaterAid is a three-year project scheduled to start April 1 2018. The project is financed with surplus from Lindex sales of shopping bags, in line with the initiative One Bag Habit. One Bag Habit aims to reduce the consumption of shopping bags and increase the awareness of plastic bags’ negative environmental impact. The surplus of the sales of bags is donated to causes that drive sustainable development.
