Last Updated: 2026.06.19
Fast Retailing Group Expands Scope of Refugee Support - Displacement Film Fund Named New Recipient of PEACE FOR ALL Donations One Billion Yen for Urgent Request from UNHCR for the Sudan and Myanmar Crises World Refugee Day on June 20
FAST RETAILING CO., LTD.
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The Fast Retailing Group, ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20, held a media briefing on June 18 at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills to share the status and latest initiatives of its global refugee support activities, presented in cooperation with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. UNIQLO also exhibited a display with all PEACE FOR ALL T-shirts to date, including five new designs released on June 19.
■UNHCR and Fast Retailing Group Refugee Support Activities Media Briefing
Fast Retailing and UNHCR began their collaboration in 2006, and formed a global partnership in 2011. At the media briefing event, the company shared updates on the following refugee-support initiatives:
- Emergency Assistance: Fast Retailing Chairman, President and CEO Tadashi Yanai personally donated one billion yen at the request of UNHCR. Funds are being used for food, housing, medical care, and sanitation.
- Clothing Donations: A total of 63.71 million items have been donated in 81 countries and regions (including donations to other organizations). In March 2026, Fast Retailing donated 1.37 million items to Mauritania.
- Self-Reliance Support: The livelihood support for Rohingya refugee women in Bangladesh has supported a total of 1,052 refugee women from 2022 to 2025, producing over 10 million sanitary napkins and items of underwear.
- Refugee Employment: Refugees in Japan are employed at UNIQLO and GU stores, and the Innovation Factory.
- Displacement Film Fund: Fast Retailing donated 100,000 euro in 2025 and 2026, for a total of 200,000 euro. Films made by directors who received support in 2025 will premiere in Japan at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2026.
Koji Yanai, Group Senior Executive Officer at Fast Retailing, commented: "Fast Retailing is UNHCR's only global partner in Asia and has been working with the organization to support refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide for over 20 years since 2006. In addition to prolonged refugee issues, the emergence of new refugee emergencies, and worsening climate change, cuts in funding for UN agencies mean that refugees are facing even harsher conditions.
Against this backdrop, we are pleased that the Displacement Film Fund, supported by UNHCR and UNIQLO, is now a part of PEACE FOR ALL.
Fast Retailing will continue to promptly provide financial support and large-scale clothing donations in response to requests from UNHCR, while creating touchpoints with customers and society through our apparel business and films. Through these efforts, we aim to sustain our support activities toward resolving refugee issues and further expand our contributions."
Chikano Shiroma, Deputy Secretary General of the Fast Retailing Foundation, said: "Since its establishment in 2018, the Fast Retailing Foundation has made refugee support one of its priority causes. We have been working to provide refugee children with opportunities for basic education, and create an environment that gives them a chance to attend university. By developing multifaceted learning support classes within Japan, the number of students receiving support has increased tenfold over the past decade, with many going on to prep schools and universities. As a new initiative, in 2026 we began offering higher education preparation programs and nutritional support at Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. The Fast Retailing Foundation aims to be a beacon for refugees forced into lives with uncertain futures, promoting activities that allow children to feel that they have a future, and working together with more companies and individuals to solve the challenges facing refugee
Fumiko Kashiwa, UNHCR Japan Representative, said: "The number of people forcibly displaced by conflict and persecution stood at 117.8 million at the end of 2025. As many are compelled to live in prolonged displacement, there is a growing need for sustainable support, delivered in collaboration with a wide range of partners including governments, the private sector and civil society, to ensure that refugees can live with dignity and hold hope for the future.
This year marks a significant milestone - the 20th anniversary of the partnership between Fast Retailing and UNHCR. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone at Fast Retailing and its customers, for their warm and continued support in standing alongside refugees over the years. Building on the progress of the past 20 years, we will continue working with all of you to support refugees in forging their own futures.
Actress Yumi Kawai visits refugee camps with UNIQLO
Participation in the "UNIQLO FLOWER × World Refugee Day" Charity Campaign
Actress Yumi Kawai joined a Fast Retailing visit to the UNHCR refugee camp in Bangladesh in January 2026, touring the sewing centers supporting self-reliance for Rohingya refugee women. Based on that experience, she decided to participate in the UNIQLO FLOWER × World Refugee Day charity campaign. From Friday June 19 to Tuesday June 30, 2026, for each purchase of the World Refugee Day Gift Pack Bouquet (990 yen), which Ms. Kawai help to design, from UNIQLO FLOWER* at stores in Japan, Fast Retailing will donate 300 yen through UNHCR to the sewing centers supporting self-reliance for Rohingya refugees.
* 26 stores as of June 18, 2026
Exhibition: Complete collection of PEACE FOR ALL collaboration T-shirts
Since 2022, UNIQLO has been conducting the PEACE FOR ALL charity T-shirt project, where prominent public figures who support UNIQLO's desire for world peace volunteer to design T-shirts. The shirts are sold at UNIQLO stores around the world, and all of the proceeds are donated to international organizations that support people affected by poverty, discrimination, violence, conflict, and war. The exhibit at the presentation venue showcased all the collaboration T-shirts from previous collections to date, as well as the five new designs released on June 19. A total of 61 T-shirt designs from 54 collaborators were on display.
Five New Designs Released from June 19
- Dick Bruna (Picture book author)
- Sofia Coppola (Director and screenwriter)
- Displacement Film Fund
- PEANUTS
- Ke Huy Quan (Actor)
