Leading Consumer Goods Company in Nigeria, Procter & Gamble, has partnered the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD) to celebrate the 2020 International Day of the Girl Child.
With this initiative, P&G has provided 4,000 Always® sanitary pads and 20,000 Pampers® diapers to promote health and hygiene management amongst young mothers and adolescent girls in the rural areas of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Cross River state. The announcement was made ahead of the international day of the girl child celebration and the distribution of products by the National Centre for Women Development to 500 mothers in Mabushi village, FCT recently.
Through the years, P&G as a force for good has continued to deliver numerous programs in Nigeria aimed at sensitizing citizens on effective health and hygiene practices. In line with the company’s commitment to touching the lives of people and communities where it operates, this initiative will impact several young mothers and adolescent girls to ensure adequate infant and menstrual hygiene respectively.
Speaking about the partnership, the P&G Africa Senior Director for Global Government Relations & Public Policy, Mrs. Temitope Iluyemi said, “At P&G, we steadily uphold our promise to make everyday life better for our consumers. Our brands continue to improve the lives of people in the communities where we live and work. More than ever, we feel privileged to collaborate with the National Centre for Women Development in commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child which advocates the importance, power, and potential of girls across the world”.
“We are committed to creating a world where women and girls have equal opportunities and an equal voice. As such, not only do we dedicate efforts to the empowerment and fulfilment of their aspirations, we are also driving this year’s global theme; ‘My Voice, Our Equal Future’. In honor of this day, we have given thousands of sanitary pads and diapers to bring attention, action, and enthusiasm to helping girls and every girl child reach their full potential through adequate hygiene management.” Mrs. Iluyemi added.
In her remarks, Director-General of National Centre for Women Development, Ms. Mary Ekpere-Eta added, “The fact that the pace of girls in Nigeria is not in line with the realities they face, has further reinforced existing gaps and strengthened gender inequalities. In partnership with Procter and Gamble for the distribution of sanitary materials to 1,000 girls, the 2020 theme, “My voice our equal future”, is targeted at girls organizing themselves and demanding their rights such as to live free from violence, attend and complete school, to choose whom and when to marry, and to earn equal pay for equal work.”
As schools are reopening, the full impact of COVID-19 on the girl child will be realised. Hence, I call for investment in education for girls and ensuring they remain in school, as this is the best option to enable the girls reach their dreams and better their livelihood”, she added.
P&G has continued to drive menstrual hygiene awareness and have invested in menstrual health education through its Always® Keeping Girls In School Program (AKGIS) program and Always® School Program – which jointly impact over one million girls annually. The AKGIS program has reached vulnerable girls with essential menstrual health management training and donation of a year supply of sanitary pads, so that they can commit to their education and their future while the Always® School program has provided almost a Million school-age girls with Always® sanitary towels, puberty and hygiene education and over 150 educational grants to pursue their dreams.
The company also recently commenced phase II of its Pampers® Rigakafi program aimed at promoting child health in Nigeria through immunization. During the first phase of this program, the company donated over 2 million diapers to Federal Government and state Governments. Since the takeoff of this program, P&G has impacted over 100,000 infants and increased immunization rates in the participating communities.
For over 25 years in Nigeria, Procter & Gamble, producer of notable brands like Always®, Ariel®, Pampers®, Gillette®, Oral B® and Safeguard®, has been an active investor in Nigeria, creating over 4,000 jobs through its manufacturing operations in Ibadan and Lagos including its world class distributor center in Agbara.
