Unilever offers hygienic support for S.African schools

09 / 08 / 2020

By Marwa Nassar - -

Unilever is offering hygienic support for South African schools which are gearing up to reopen. All school grade children will continue to have lessons from Unilever’s National Schools Hygiene and Sanitation program until the end of the year; Lifebuoy – a Unilever brand – will donate an additional 1 million bars of soap to ensure daily handwashing is a priority and Domestos – another Unilever brand – will continue to work with schools maintenance teams to keep school toilets and facilities safe and clean.

“Covid-19 saw our brands and schools program team act quickly and an impactful way,” Queen Mgobhozi, Unilever Purpose Strategy and Partnerships Lead, said, adding “we will continue collaborating and working as a team to drive purpose-led business growth while changing lives.”

When the World Health Organization announced that handwashing with soap and water was a key measure in reducing the risk of coronavirus infection, Unilever was asked by the South African government to extend the program’s delivery from first grade students to all school grades. “It became imperative to instill this knowledge and make hygiene and health accessible to everyone,” Unilever Assistant Purpose Strategy and Partnerships Manager Masechaba Sekhitla said. That meant Covid-19 education is not just for students but for school staff too.

Meanwhile, Domestos worked alongside school cleaners providing training programs to keep services well maintained and operational.

In response to Covid-19, a team took the program digital. “We worked with the Domestos brand team and the education department to disseminate a virtual training video and training manual. When delivered in-school, it reaches 500 schools each year; digitally, we will be able to reach 15,000 schools nationally,” said Masechaba.

The team then called on the help of Lifebuoy to shape the program’s key Covid-19 handwashing messaging. “We used to teach the importance of five regular handwashing occasions which were: before breakfast; before lunch; before dinner; after using the loo; and keeping your whole body clean by bathing every day,” said Masechaba.

“In response to Covid-19, we increased handwashing occasions from five to ten, including: after coughing and sneezing; when caring for the sick; when hands are visibly dirty; after handling animals or animal waste; and after touching many surfaces other people had touched.

With processes and messaging in place the job was now to reach a new bigger audience – targeting all school grades meant going from 1 million students to 12 million students, all at a time when the program’s usual mode of in-class delivery was impossible because schools were closed.

“Our partnership with the Department of Basic Education enabled us to access TV, websites, digital and social media to put out hygiene education focused content, but we also had a strong digital e-learning tool to help us gain reach,” said Queen Mgobhozi.