Business
The Children’s Place and Plan International USA Partner to Provide Childcare for Apparel Factory Workers in Ethiopia
SECAUCUS, N.J. and WARWICK, R.I., Aug. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Children’s Place, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCE), the largest pure-play children’s specialty
About this update from Children's Place, Inc. (the)
[{"type":"text","content":"SECAUCUS, N.J. and WARWICK, R.I., Aug. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Children’s Place, Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCE), the largest pure-play children’s specialty apparel retailer in North America, and Plan International USA, a children’s rights and girls’ equality organization, announce a new partnership to establish an early childhood development (ECD) center at the Hawassa Industrial Park in Ethiopia, the largest industrial park in Africa. This partnership is designed to advance gender equity in the apparel industry and to provide safe, dependable child care. With women making up the vast majority of Hawassa Industrial Park’s workforce, there is a pressing need for quality child care services. Lack of child care options makes it difficult, sometimes impossible, for women to fully participate in the workforce. The Children’s Place and Plan International USA believe that in order to help achieve gender diversity and equity in the workplace, improved access to child care is essential. As a large importer of apparel from Ethiopia, The Children’s Place works with many suppliers and vendors based in Hawassa, and its funding of the Early Childhood Development center is an investment in helping to promote worker well-being in the region. Plan International has operated in Ethiopia since 1995 and brings years of experience in education, having established 51 ECD centers in the country. This project builds on Plan’s strategic efforts around worker wellness and gender equity at the Hawassa Industrial Park since 2019. The funding provided by The Children’s Place will be used to provide the Hawassa Industrial Park workforce with much needed child care services. The project will kick off in August 2021, with the goal of reaching over 1,000 children and adults when the center is operating at full capacity. At its core, the center is designed to provide a safe space for children, ages 0-6, of employees at the Hawassa Industrial Park to learn and grow in an inclusive and holistic way. In addition to providing an essential service, the center will create job and skill development opportunities. The center will recruit staff from surrounding communities who will participate in a training program led by Plan International Ethiopia and receive certification in ECD. The center will also work to ensure workers’ needs are prioritized — for example, by offeri...