RISE celebrates cross-industry collaboration to support equality with #WhenWomenRISE Campaign on International Women’s Day

• RISE is calling on the garment, footwear and home textiles sectors to keep working together to scale up responsible wage digitalization and its benefits.
• Wage digitalization combined with worker financial training is impactful for factories and workers.

(New York & Seoul, South Korea – March 6th 2025) – This International Women’s Day, RISE is calling on brands, buyers and suppliers in the global garment, footwear and home textiles industries to collaborate with financial service providers to create more resilient futures for the sector and its workers.

Most workers in garment supply chains are women. They are more likely to struggle with limited access to digital banking services and to lack experience in managing their finances, making it challenging for them to maintain financial stability.

“Addressing these issues requires a collaborative, 360° approach, which RISE offers by bringing together global buyers, suppliers, financial service providers and local training organizations. When these different stakeholders jointly invest in digital wages, the benefits are many: efficiency gains at the factory level, greater transparency across the supply chain and opportunities for market expansion for financial service providers. For workers, especially women, digital wages are a step towards long term financial health and resilience,” says Christine Svarer, RISE Executive Director.

From 6 March, the #WhenWomenRISE campaign will outline how collaboration leads not only to individual success but also to more sustainable business and societal change.

“After attending financial training, I have the confidence to manage my finances, and share my knowledge with my colleagues,” says Ry Vat, garment factory worker and RISE Financial Health Peer Educator.

Developed with support from the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, the campaign was shot in Cambodia at a partner factory which has been implementing RISE Financial Health programs since 2021. It features factory workers and managers as they explain the impact of combining wage digitalization with financial training.