Campaign successfully influenced over 700,000 consumers in 2012

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - February 25, 2013 - Unilever, one of the world's leading FMCG companies and owner of global brands such as Lifebuoy and Signal, has announced the results of its regional health and hygiene initiative which was conducted across schools and labour camps in the gulf region. In 2012 alone, the campaign has reached and engaged with 760,786 consumers including 500,627 students across 527 schools between the ages of 5 and 12. The reach that Unilever has achieved within the schools segment makes the health and hygiene campaign the largest of its type.



The health and hygiene program started in early 2010 in line with Unilever's philosophy of doing well by doing good. In the same year, the company launched Unilever Sustainable Living Plan that aims at enhancing the health and wellbeing of one billion people around the world by 2020.

"For over 110 years, Unilever has been committed to improving the health, hygiene and wellness standards of its consumers. Children are early adopters of habits and also act as agents of change within their community. Our program therefore targets children with the aim of fostering positive habits and making it a part of their daily routine.  We aim at reaching, engaging and inspiring two million students in the Gulf by 2020" said Arijit Ghose, Managing Director, Unilever Gulf.

Since the kick off of the initiative in 2010, Unilever, through its flagship skin cleansing and oral care brands; Signal and Lifebuoy, has educated 800,627 students on correct oral and health hygiene habits. This puts Unilever ahead of plan of reaching its 2020 goal.

The importance of this initiative lies in the fact that research has shown that more than 50 percent of world's population don't brush their teeth and 5.2% of school children in the Gulf region between the ages of 5 and 11 have missed eleven or more days of school due to hygiene related illnesses. The simple act of washing hands with soap at key points of the day, like after going to the bathroom and before eating food can reduce the incidence of diarrhea rates among children by almost 50 percent and respiratory infections by nearly 25 percent.

Unilever's brands, Lifebuoy and Signal, have adopted an edutainment approach to assist in delivering a strong and clear message to all young students. The activities promote the significance of washing hands, oral hygiene and conserving water. They include a scrap book creation competition, colouring handbooks, engaging performances by Signal & Lifebuoy mascots, in addition to conducting a glow germ test that helps to visibly demonstrate the importance of using soap to kill harmful germs.

This campaign was kicked off in the region in 2010, where 100,000 children were reached in UAE, Oman and Kuwait. Additionally in 2011, Unilever has managed to reach 200,000 in the Gulf region.

ABOUT UNILEVER
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries. Our products are present in 7 out of 10 homes globally and are used by over 2 billion people on a daily basis. We work with 171,000 colleagues around the world, and we are on track to generate annual sales of €50 billion in 2012. Over half of our company's footprint is in the faster growing developing and emerging markets (56% in 2011). Working to create a better future every day, we help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. Our portfolio includes some of the world's best known brands such as Knorr, Persil / Omo, Dove, Sunsilk, Hellmann's, Lipton, Rexona / Sure, Wall's, Lux, Rama, Ponds and Axe.

Our ambition is to double the size of our business, whilst reducing our overall environmental footprint (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal) and increasing our positive social impact. We are committed to helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020, and decoupling our growth from our environmental impact. Supporting our three big goals are more than 50 time-based targets. See more on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan at www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/.

Unilever has been recognised in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes for 14 consecutive years. We are included in the FTSE4Good Index Series and attained a top environmental score of 5, leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index. In 2011 Unilever led the Climate Counts Company Scorecard and for the second year topped the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the GlobeScan / SustainAbility latest annual survey (2012). The company is an employer of choice in many of the countries in which it operates and is seen as a symbol for innovation and leadership development.

For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com.

For further information & media queries, please contact:
Shatha Al Khatib
Unilever North Africa Middle East
E: shatha.alkhatib@unilever.com
T: +971562168776

Zeina Al Haddad
Quill Communications
E: zhaddad@quillmena.com
T: +971556875110

© Press Release 2013