The International Accord Secretariat alongside the Pakistan Accord team organised a series of five brand-supplier meetings in Lahore and Karachi between 5 – 7 March 2024.

The purpose of these meetings was to to provide information about the Accord and its key programs for suppliers, and enhance engagement between brands that have signed the Pakistan Accord and their Pakistani suppliers. A supplier/factory becomes part of the Accord program in Pakistan once a brand sourcing from them signs the Pakistan Accord and lists it as a supplier.

The Accord team comprising presentations by Clara Kamphorst (Stakeholder Engagement Manager), Koen Oosterom (Head of Signatory Engagement), Veronique Camerer (Deputy Director, International Accord), Kirstine Drew (Chief Complaints Officer, Pakistan Accord), and Zulfiqar Shah (Country Manager, Pakistan Accord) shared insights on:

• The health and safety topics covered under the Pakistan Accord.
• The impact of the program for suppliers and the support available for them.
• The features, programs, and reasons to participate in the Pakistan Accord.

The sessions were attended by over 100 Pakistani suppliers and Pakistan Accord signatory brands including Adidas, Primark, GAP Inc. and the Boohoo Group.

Speaking about their participation at the event, Sam Leach from the Boohoo Group said:

The Boohoo Group sees the Accord framework as a great opportunity for our factories, not only to improve their building, electrical, fire, and boiler safety standards but also to enhance worker safety standards as a whole. We have seen the great work done in Bangladesh over the last 10+ years and we look forward to continuing to collaborate with The Accord and other international retailers to improve factory standards. As a part of these collaborative efforts, the Boohoo Group and The International Accord organised two brand-supplier meetings in Pakistan for Boohoo Group suppliers and factories in Karachi and Lahore. These meetings were well received by the suppliers with follow-up expressions of gratitude. We are encouraged to see that all our suppliers recognise the importance of the Pakistan Accord and are fully on board with the program.

We thank all attendees for their participation in these meetings and look forward to our continued engagement.