Press release - 7 March 2017

Danone commits to launch first global 1,000-day Parental Policy For Danone's pioneering work around female empowerment, the UN Women's HeForShe initiative recognizes Emmanuel Faber, CEO of Danone, as "Inaugural Thematic Champion"

Danone commits to launch its first Global Parental Policy, an initiative which aims to offer a consistent standard of support to all parents-to-be employed across the world.

Danone believes in supporting their upcoming and new parents and babies by giving them the best start during the first 1,000 days. Therefore, this Policy will, for the first time, offer a common level of support from the start of a pregnancy to the baby's second year of life.

In particular, the company's extended parental leave provisions for women, men and adoptive parents set it apart from current industry standards.

Danone's Parental Policy is based on three key elements:

  • Pre-Natal Support: Focused on improving and protecting the health of mothers and their babies, Danone will offer all expectant mothers adapted working conditions, allocated time-off for pre-natal medical appointment and nutritional advice.
  • Extended Parental Leave: Irrespective of gender, all Danone parents will be offered full-paid time off to bond as a family and adjust to new responsibilities. This includes: 18 weeks of primary caregiver leave for a birth parent; 14 weeks for an adoptive parent and 10 working days for the secondary caregiver.
  • Post-Natal Supports:
    • Danone will support breastfeeding practices by providing lactation rooms for mothers at offices which employ more than 50 women.

    • Besides, to ensure the health and happiness of all parents and their children, Danone will offer job protection policies, back-to-work programmes and flexible working conditions in all markets around the world.

Danone's Parental Policy will be gradually rolled out and aims to be fully operational by the end of 2020. This will include customised policies, which will be developed and implemented by local teams through social dialogue.

"Starting a family brings many joys and challenges to those wanting to build successful careers. However, one should not need to come at the expense of the other, Lorna Davis, Chief Manifesto Catalyst at Danone, said.

"Our Parental Policy aims to give everyone the opportunity to achieve their personal, family and professional ambitions, irrespective of gender. This is one way Danone promotes equality worldwide."

Danone champions gender diversity and women empowerment through a number of global projects, including driving senior leadership parity, supporting women in developing economies and, as announced today, a new Parental Policy.

UN Women's HeForShe "Inaugural Thematic Champion"

In acknowledgement of the impact this Policy will have on both men and women empowerment, Danone has been recognised by the UN Women's HeForShe initiative.

Emmanuel Faber, CEO of Danone, said:"As a global company involving so many diverse communities across the planet, we commit to provide equal opportunities to every woman and man, wherever they live and work in the world. This is a matter of social justice, which is a condition for sustained market economy development. We are very proud to join the UN Women's HeForShe initiative as inaugural HeForShe Thematic Champion".

Alongside four others, Danone becomes a UN Women's HeForShe Inaugural Thematic Champion - an honour awarded to those whose work is seen by the UN to be promoting gender equality around the world.

"We are delighted that on this International Women's Day we are able to further broaden the ground-breaking leadership partnership supporting a more equal world. We warmly welcome Danone and four other dedicated leaders to the UN Women family as HeForShe inaugural Thematic Champions. With its 1,000 days parental policy, providing 18 weeks of gender-neutral paid parental leave in more than 130 countries, Danone has carefully crafted commitments that will allow its staff to build societies of greater flexibility and equality",saidPhumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women.

ENDS

About Danone (www.danone.com)

Dedicated to bringing health through food to as many people as possible, Danone is a leading global food company built on four business lines: Fresh Dairy Products, Early Life Nutrition, Waters and Medical Nutrition. Through its mission and dual commitment to business success and social progress, the company aims to build a healthier future, thanks to better health, better lives and a better world, for all its stakeholders-its 100,000 employees, consumers, customers, suppliers, shareholders and all the communities with which it engages.

Present in over 130 markets, Danone generated sales of approximately €22 billion in 2016. Danone's brand portfolio includes both international brands (Activia, Actimel, Danette, Danonino, Danio, evian, Volvic, Nutrilon/Aptamil, Nutricia) and local brands (Oikos, Prostokvashino, Aqua, Bonafont, Mizone, Blédina, Cow & Gate).

Listed on Euronext Paris and on the OTCQX market via an ADR (American Depositary Receipt) program, Danone is a component stock of leading social responsibility indexes including the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, Vigeo, the Ethibel Sustainability Index, MSCI Global Sustainability, MSCI Global SRI Indexes and the FTSE4Good Index.

Groupe Danone SA published this content on 07 March 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 07 March 2017 18:02:06 UTC.

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