Unilever, Earth Institute lead hand-washing drive in Africa and Asia

LONDON/ROTTERDAM – What a difference washing one’s hands with soap and water can do to avoid life-threatening diseases. Unfortunately many people are still unaware of the proper way to wash and the consequences of poor hygiene. To change this, Unilever and the Earth Institute have agreed to bring hand washing with soap to the Millennium Villages, a project that works with nearly 500,000 people in rural villages, across 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The Memorandum of Agreement was signed by Prof Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Paul Polman, Unilever CEO in New York on the 15th of October, coinciding with the fifth anniversary of Global Handwashing Day.
Unilever’s goal is to deliver on one of its commitments under its Sustainable Living Plan – to help more than one billion people take action to improve their health and well-being. Over the past two years, Unilever has successfully improved the handwashing behaviour of 50 million people in Africa and South Asia, through its leading soap brand Lifebuoy and partnerships with Population Services International (PSI) and UNICEF established through the Unilever Foundation.
Paul Polman said:  “The big issues the world is facing require new approaches, new business models and new partnerships. Responsible businesses must take a more active leadership role. The MOU with the Earth Institute partnering Lifebuoy with the Millennium Villages Project is one such example where working together will enhance our expertise of addressing hygiene in deep rural Africa and enable us to develop more effective solutions to reduce child mortality.”
He added, “It is unacceptable that two million children die every year from infectious diseases when we have easy and cheap lifesaving solutions, such as hand washing with soap, readily available. Innovative partnerships between governments, civil society and business have a critical role to play in promoting better hygiene practices and in tackling the world’s deadliest diseases.”
On www.facebook.com/lifebuoy, people can make a pledge, in which Lifebuoy and its partners will help more children receive hygiene education through their dedicated handwashing behaviour change programmes.
“Diarrhoea and pneumonia are the two leading causes of under-5 deaths, accounting for around 30% of children's deaths globally – more than two million lives lost each year. More than 80% of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia,” said Jeffrey Sachs. “Addressing these challenges through improved hygiene is a vital and effective step towards saving lives and achieving the global Millennium Development Goal to reduce the child mortality rate by two-thirds by 2015.”
Consistent evidence shows that handwashing with soap at critical times - before eating or preparing food and after using the toilet - can reduce diarrhoeal risk by 45%[i] and acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia, by 23 per cent.[ii] Studies also reveal that primary school absenteeism due to diarrhoea and respiratory infections dropped between 20% and 50% as a result of better handwashing practices[iii].
“We are looking forward to working with Unilever to ensure that straightforward solutions like handwashing reach the people that need them the most,” said Mr Sachs who leads the Millennium Villages Project. The poor need solutions that are affordable, products that are highly effective, and information that is practical and accessible. The benefits can be enormous.”
The partnership will be focusing on villages in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda, and aims to: decrease incidence in diarrhoeal diseases, promote gender equality, increase school attendance and enhance productivity and well-being for all community members. ItLebron Soldiers XI 11