Unilever

About the partnership

Since: November 2017

Location: Worldwide

In May 2020, Unilever committed to a major in-kind donation to UNHCR in response to the coronavirus emergency.

The donation provides refugees and other people forced to flee in over 50 UNHCR operations with access to basic handwashing and hygiene products, such as bars of soap, hand sanitizer and disinfectant, to help urgently improve hygiene practices and fight against the spread of coronavirus. The in-kind donation is one of the largest UNHCR has ever received from the private sector.

Also, in May 2020, UNHCR’s national partner, UK for UNHCR joined the Hygiene Behaviour Change Coalition, created and led by Unilever and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). With the support of Unilever and FCDO, UNHCR will limit and help reduce exposure of an estimated 12 million refugees and host community members to COVID-19 through increased hygiene promotion in the following high-risk operations: Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Bangladesh and Cameroon.

In 2019, Unilever brand, Lifebuoy, partnered with UNHCR to help refugee children grow up to be healthy adults by promoting the use of soap and handwashing through the ‘Mum’s Magic Hands’ programme. The programme has reached 10,000 Syrian refugees living in Lebanon.

In 2017, UNHCR, Unilever Levant and Carrefour ran the ‘Smile with Us’ campaign to drive consumer engagement and raise funds for 400 refugee families facing a harsh winter.

Impact at a glance

• Donation of hand sanitizer, detergent and more than 30 million bars of soap to help protect refugees and others forced to flee from the spread of coronavirus
• Partnered with Unilever brand, Lifebuoy, to promote the use of soap and hygienic handwashing behaviours among 10,000 refugee families in Lebanon
• Together with FCDO, Unilever launched the Hygiene Behaviour Change Coalition, an initiative to help the humanitarian community, including vulnerable refugees, change behaviours around handwashing and general sanitation and hygiene.

Sustainable Development Goals in focus

• SDG3 Good Health and Well-being
• SDG17 Partnerships for the Goals

Human interest story

• UNHCR receives huge donation to fight coronavirus