The Estée Lauder Companies does business with the three fragrance houses named in the documentary; however, we do not directly source fragrance ingredients, including Egyptian jasmine. We are engaging actively with our suppliers to investigate this very serious matter, and working on a path forward that improves living conditions in the sourcing communities in Egypt. We are committed to improving transparency and traceability in the supply chain, and to taking action on the ground through a robust engagement strategy that is community-centric...

The Estée Lauder Companies is a founding member of Harvesting the Future, which operates in multiple countries and is a coalition comprised of suppliers, industry peers, local community members, and nonprofits, with one of its goals being to develop short and long-term action plans to facilitate change in Egyptian jasmine sourcing and traceability. The three fragrance houses named in the recent BBC documentary are also founding members of the coalition. The Fair Labor Association, the International Labour Organization office in Egypt, several governmental agencies in Egypt and local civil social organizations as well as international brands, fragrance houses and producers are working together as part of this coalition on initiatives to help protect the livelihoods of children and families, and address and demand transparency in the working conditions in the jasmine sector in Egypt.

Furthermore, we plan to be on the ground in Egypt to engage directly with the communities as outlined in our public statement. Additionally, through the Harvesting the Future coalition, there will be additional and more frequent and ongoing third-party assessments and monitoring conducted in this specific supply chain. Through the coalition, some of the specific planned next steps and timelines include:

• Taking an area-based approach to improve economic resilience (e.g. village savings and loan program) across 7 villages (June – December)
• Facilitate access to social protection programs run by local governments (June – December)
• Summer school activities in 7 villages (August – September)
• Gender sensitive entrepreneurship program and training in 7 villages (August – September)

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