Viet Nam: world’s first Unilever-sponsored Toilet Academy opens in 2012

Unilever is partnering with the World Toilet Organization (WTO) to set up Domestos Toilet Academies around the world, starting with a pilot Academy in Viet Nam opening in 2012.

The Domestos Toilet Academy will run month-long training courses for local people interested in setting up their own businesses to source, sell and maintain toilets, and educate local communities on the importance of sanitation.

In Viet Nam, only half the population has ‘some sort’ of sanitation facility, and 82% do not have access to facilities that meet the hygiene standards of the country’s Ministry of Health. “Only 12% of schools actually have hygienic toilet access, with rural areas suffering the most”, said WTO founder Jack Sim.

Unilever will also be partnering with UNICEF to help promote health through improved hygiene and access to toilets, stated Keith Weed, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Unilever.

Domestos is the Unilever brand name for its bleach products (also sold as Domex, Glorix, Klinex).

Source: Unilever, 14 Nov 2011

Kenya, Nairobi: Unilever enrols 100,000 schoolchildren in handwashing drive

Unilever through its Lifebuoy soap brand has reached 100,000 students in over 80 schools across Nairobi County its hand washing campaign. The “School of Five” campaign aims to get over one million people across Kenya to pledge to the habit of washing their hands with soap on five occasion throughout the day with the help of trained school children and teachers. The campaign is being jointly implemented by Lifebuoy Kenya and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP).

Lifebuoy School of Five poster

Unilever contracted popular Kenyan singer Esther Wahome, in a two-year “multi-million shilling” deal, to act us brand ambassador  for the Lifebuoy School of Five campaign. In line with the campaign. Mrs Wahome has released a handwashing jingle dubbed Osha Mikono (Wash your hands) to accompany the campaign.

A 2010 clean hands study conducted to check the hand washing habits of Kenyans found that only 15 per cent are aware of the proper hand washing techniques.

Visit the Lifebuoy Facebook page

Source: Stanley Njenga, Nairobi Star / allAfrica.com, 09 Jul 2011 ; Hot Secrets, 25 Apr 2011

Asia: Unilever to take Project Shakti global

Unilever has begun replicating Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL) rural micro-enterprise [in India], led by women-entrepreneurs, Project Shakti in several international markets.

The project was started in 2001 to empower underprivileged rural women by providing income-generating opportunities [by selling soap, shampoo and other pesronal care products], health and hygiene education. Rural women are appointed as Vanis (communicators) and trained to communicate in social forums like schools and village get-togethers. There are over 45,000 Shakti entrepreneurs covering over 135,000 villages across 15 Indian states.

The project has emerged as a successful low-cost business model and enhanced HUL’s direct rural reach in the so-called media-dark regions. Armed with micro-credit, rural women become direct-to-home distributors of Unilever brands in rural markets. Overall, around 50% of Hindustan Lever’s revenues came from the rural markets in India.

The effort is expected to help Unilever tap fresh growth avenues in emerging markets [which now contribute around 44% to global revenues] up in the face of recessionary trends in the US and Europe [and] the saturation of urban markets.

The project is being customised and adapted in other Unilever markets such as Sri Lanka, Viet Nam and Bangladesh. It is being considered for other Latin American and African markets. In Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, it is being promoted as Joyeeta and Saubaghya, respectively. There is a similar initiative in Viet Nam as well.

Related news: Lifebuoy sells handwashing along with 2.6 billion bars of soap across Africa and Asia, Source Bulletin, May 2007

Source: Kala Vijayraghavan, The Economic Times, 19 Jan 2009