We can make a difference for girls
With ‘International Day of the Girl’ taking place this week, we’ve taken the opportunity to provide more insight into our partnership with Plan International.
Beiersdorf is very pleased to announce the first successful results of our partnership with global non-governmental organization Plan International. Our shared mission: to empower girls in Africa and Latin America.
The statistics tell a troubling story and present a call for action: the world is home to more than 1.1 billion girls under the age of 18, but nearly one in four girls between 15 and 19-years-old is neither employed nor in education or training (compared to one in ten boys of the same age). In 2021, around 435 million women and girls have been living on less than $1.90 a day* — and 47 million were pushed into poverty.
The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the situation — especially food insecurity and the risk of malnutrition, but sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) has also increased in many countries around the world.** We are therefore very happy that the projects taking place as part of our collaboration with non-governmental organization (NGO) Plan International are now producing their first positive results.
Our collaboration with the Plan International is fully on track. The organization has beenactive in more than 50 developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America since 1937, and for more than 15 years, the NGO has been working in the area of girls’ support. Beiersdorf supports six projects, focusing on restoring access to quality education (e.g., through remote learning opportunities), providing information on domestic violence and offering adolescent women help and access to protection services. The projects have been running since October 2020 in Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil (Latin-America) and since February 2021 in Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria (Africa). The projects are part of the €50m global Covid-19 Aid Program launched by Beiersdorf at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
First successes can be reported
“We are committed to investing in a sustainable and diverse world by empowering girls. It is our contribution to foster a cohesive society, where girls play an important role. Thanks to our trusted long-term partnership with — among others — Plan International, we can make a difference,” emphasizes Christiane Hölscher, Global CSR Manager at Beiersdorf.
The vision of an inclusive society plays an important role in our Sustainability Agenda CARE BEYOND SKIN. By 2023, Beiersdorf aims to reach more than 300,000 people directly and indirectly through ‘Empowering Girls’ projects in Africa and Latin America.
In the first quarter of 2021, the six Plan International projects were characterized by administrative and planning tasks, such as staff recruitment. In addition, state-level advocacy, engagement meetings with project stakeholders and start-up workshops were held. The most important targets are: the strengthening of knowledge and resources for adolescent girls to learn about and protect themselves from SGBV; supporting families and communities to challenge harmful gender norms; and working with governments and humanitarian leaders to ensure adolescent girls can access education and protection services.
Here’s what we have achieved so far:
- The projects in Quito and Guayaquil reached 20,558 people. Plan Ecuador developed field activities, such as formation sessions for the first training sessions on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and gender-based violence (GBV), as well starting youth clubs and providing the first cash transfers for families most at risk.
- In Columbia, a total of 18,351 people were reached. Practical support was provided with the distribution of 1,965 hygiene kits for selfcare and coronavirus protection, as well as 1,359 menstrual hygiene kits for girls and young women. In a workshop, participants learned how to use the products and discuss existing taboos. Hundreds of sessions were also conducted with parents and caregivers to educate them onSGBV prevention, the mitigation of xenophobia and COVID-19 prevention, as well as sexual reproductive health and teenage pregnancy.
- 1,335 school kits were distributed to adolescent girls and boys in the districts of Kennedy, Bosa and Engativa in Columbia, as part of a ‘Back to school’ campaign. These school kits include educational packs for girls, which provide information about COVID-19 prevention and quarantine, activities on mathematics, communication and social-emotional support.
“Together, we have already been able to reach numerous girls and women with these ongoing projects and inform them about issues that are important to them and their rights. In the long term, this not only strengthens them and their chance of a self-determined future, but also their families and the entire communities,” says Kathrin Hartkopf, spokesperson for the management of Plan International Germany.
Find out more about our ‘Empowering Girls’ mission
Find out more about Beiersdorf
Find out more about Plan International
