Fyffes has chosen to focus its European donations allocation on charities that support women facing gender-based violence, including domestic violence, ahead of this year’s International Women’s Day. The company has donated just under €30,000 to charities that support female victims of violence, including Women’s Aid Ireland, Women’s Aid England and Scotland, bff: Frauen gegen Gewalt ‘Women Against Violence’ in Germany, and Blijf Groep ‘Stay Group’ in The Netherlands. Gender is one of Fyffes four priority focus areas for its donation allocations, along with nutrition, climate change resilience, and education.
At the same time, to continue to support its own people and those within its supply chain, Fyffes has published its Global Anti-Violence and Harassment Policy recognising the ILO Convention No. 190, which was adopted by the International Labour Organisation in June 2019 and outlines the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment.
In Latin America, where most of Fyffes produce is grown, improving gender equality is a major priority, both in the region and in agriculture as a sector. This was confirmed when Fyffes undertook its first Human Rights Impact Assessment in late 2019 and 2020. As a result, Fyffes goal is to support and promote the inclusion of women into the workforce as equal partners with men and create a more inclusive workplace.
The company first launched its gender equality training programme, based on Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)’s HERProject™, in Honduras and Costa Rica in 2019. In addition, Fyffes partners with several expert NGOs in Latin America, as well as customers, to empower women and reach its two gender-related targets:
– to provide Gender Equality Programme training to 100% of people at our own sites in Latin America by 2025 and 50% of our suppliers sites by 2030; and – to eradicate the gender pay gap in our own operations by 2030.
Due to the constraints to classroom-based training during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fyffes worked with BSR on a digital-based solution (HERessentials™), adapting it to the Latin American region and which is already being used in Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Honduras, with the aim of achieving the company’s first target.
According to United Nations Women, the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in what they term ‘the Shadow Pandemic’, as levels of domestic violence and all types of violence against women and girls has intensified due to factors resulting from the pandemic. Speaking about the commitment to the European charities, Stella Davis, who leads Fyffes Gender Equality Programme, said “I am very pleased that our European businesses have chosen to concentrate their focus on this very important issue facing women across the world today. The money will be used very well, including funding hotlines in multiple languages to assist migrant women who are particularly vulnerable and providing immediate funds for women and their families who often have no possessions when they walk away from an abusive relationship.”
For more information, consult Fyffes sustainability pages.
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About Fyffes
For over 130 years, Fyffes has brought a choice of tropical produce to countless millions around the world. We achieve the highest quality by nurturing relationships with our growers, supporting our employees, and diligently serving each link in the chain: production, procurement, shipping, ripening, distribution, and marketing. This approach has earned Fyffes leadership across multiple markets; today we are the largest importer of Fairtrade certified bananas in the world. We are also one of the largest banana and pineapple importers in Europe and the biggest melon importer in North America. We became part of the Sumitomo Corporation in 2017, advancing our industry leadership in many exciting ways.
For more information, please visit www.fyffes.com.
