Lifebuoy Takes Initiative to Change Handwashing Behavior amongst Children

Lifebuoy, the world’s number one hygiene soap brand, is launching a new movement on the occasion of Global Handwashing Day (GHD) 2020 which aims to develop the importance of handwashing as behaviour from an early age.

In Bangladesh, Lifebuoy has been driving handwashing education & awareness campaigns for more than a decade, teaching more than 1.1 million children the proper way of handwashing. This year, Lifebuoy is leading the movement to incorporate “H for Handwashing” and “হ তে হাত ধোয়া” in primary education. 

Inspired by how children learn their A, B, C, Lifebuoy has reimagined how the letter H is taught by advocating that H stands for Handwashing and হ তে হাত ধোয়া.

In this endeavour, a petition site was launched on 6th October, with a call to action from Lifebuoy Brand Ambassador Shakib al Hasan, to garner support for the “H for Handwashing” movement. Consumers are being encouraged to show their support for the cause through signing a petition in hforhandwashing.com. Alongside, a creative jingle video has been released to encourages and engages kids to wash their hands in a playful & fun way.

Lifebuoy will mobilize this initiative called ‘H for Handwashing’ through multi-year campaign where the key focus of this will be to integrate good hygiene practices into early childhood learning through a series of educational activities and partnerships with NGOs, and private and public institutions in Bangladesh to help drive handwashing behaviour change among children and adolescents.

To bring this movement to life, Lifebuoy, in collaboration with the Global Handwashing Partnership, has launched the ‘H for Handwashing’ resource page to enable NGOs , governments, schools, teachers, pupils and the public to actively participate.

Samir Singh, Global Executive Vice-President, Skin Cleansing and Oral Care at Unilever said: “Today more than ever, we need to ensure that handwashing with soap remains prioritised and practiced by everyone, everywhere. At Lifebuoy, we have championed handwashing for over a decade, running the world’s largest behaviour change programme that has reached over 1 billion people globally ”.

Afzal Khan, Marketing Director for Beauty and Personal Care, Unilever Bangladesh Limited said: “For more than a century, Lifebuoy has been on a mission to change handwashing behaviours. This Global Handwashing Day is paramount given the pandemic, and we’re reaffirming our commitment to this mission by working with education experts to create an unforgettable hand hygiene reminder to ensure that handwashing with soap becomes a lesson nobody forgets. Children have been learning the letters of the alphabet for hundreds of years through simple associations with everyday references 

such as “A for Apple”, “B for Ball”, “C for Cat”. Starting this October, we are advocating greater emphasis on hand hygiene education through a movement to fundamentally change the way the alphabet is taught – no longer will the letter H stand for Horse, Hat or even Home. H must stand for Handwashing. In the context of Bangladesh, Lifebuoy will also advocate for ‘n †Z nvZ ধোয়া’ in textbooks”. 

Lifebuoy, will therefore be leaning on its expertise on handwashing behaviour change among children, through its flagship programmes  that have been implemented throughout Bangladesh.