Unilever Bangladesh and Plan International Bangladesh have launched ‘Dove Self-Esteem Project’ Plan International Bangladesh, Children Affairs Journalists’ Network (CAJN) and Unilever Bangladesh organized a roundtable discussion to International Girl Child Day 2021 in Dhaka, Bangladesh where dignitaries from different sectors shared their views on the importance of a positive social environment for adolescent development, a press release said.
Globally, over half of the girls do not have high body esteem. When girls don’t feel good about the way they look, they opt out of important, and life-building activities that may never reach their full potential. Seven in 10 girls will not pursue their decision and 8 in 10 girls avoid seeing family and friends. This is not only detrimental to girls, but society also misses out on the next generation of future female leaders.
To address these challenges, Unilever’s purpose-led brand Dove celebrates “Dove Day” on the same day of “International Day of the Girl Child” to increase mass awareness on the importance of creating self-esteem and positive body confidence among adolescents so that the next generation grows up enjoying a positive relationship with the way they look and help them reach their full potential.
The roundtable discussion—The role of a positive environment in creating self-esteem— was attended by Meher Afroz Chumki, MP and Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Women and Children Affairs as the Chief Guest, Ram Chandra Das, Director General, Department of Women Affairs as the Special Guest, Saiful Islam, Editor, Daily Jugantor and Former President, National Press Club as the Guest of Honor, Zaved Akhtar, CEO and Managing Director of Unilever Bangladesh Limited, Orla Murphy, Country Director, Plan International Bangladesh and Mahfuja Yesmin, President, Child Affairs Journalists’ Network. The session was attended by 3 adolescents who highlighted different challenges that young girls and boys are facing within our society and how media, civil society, development partners, brands and government can work together to develop a positive social environment to develop their self-esteem and body confidence.
During the programme, Unilever Bangladesh and Plan International Bangladesh launched the “Dove Self-Esteem Project (DSEP)”, as iconic global initiative run by the Brand Dove and already reached more than 35 million young people across 142. DSEP aims to ensure the next generation specially girls children grow up enjoying a positive relationship with the way they look and help them reach their full potential. DSEP tools and resources are developed in partnership with self-esteem experts from around the world and are proven to make a positive impact on body- confidence.
Through the partnership, by April 2022 more than 15000 school children especially girls will be reached to improve their self-esteem. The students will be from selective schools in Rangpur where PLAN INTERNATIONAL Bangladesh is currently implementing Gender Equity Movement in School (GEMS) manual. The implementing partners of the DSEP project are Eco-Social Development Organisation and Tech For Bangladesh.
Meher Afroz Chumki, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, said, “Adolescents go through psychological changes as they progress through the stages of adolescence. It is important to raise awareness among everyone at this time in order to ensure that they do not make any mistakes. Our youngsters are unable to progress because of child marriage. As a result, media plays a critical role in bringing men implicated in child marriage to justice.”
Ram Chandra Das, Director General, Department of Women Affairs, said, “Child marriage has become a serious impediment to females’ advancement. To avoid child marriage, we have child marriage prevention committees in our villages. However, due to lack of proper child marriage monitoring during the pandemic, the rate of child marriage has risen dramatically. It is critical for the government, as well as the media, NGOs, and other associated groups, to strive toward the establishment of girls’ rights in the society and the elimination of gender discrimination.”
Saiful Islam, Editor, The Daily Jugantor, said, “Bangladesh has invested a substantial amount of time towards women’s empowerment in the last 20 years, compared to 30 years after independence. However, lot of things have changed over time; in the past, we used to practice lot of benevolence in our villages, but now, owing to our over-reliance on technology, we are a bit lonely and alienated. Children and adolescents must focus on this issue to develop self-confidence.”
Orla Murphy, Country Director, Plan International Bangladesh, said, “NGOs play an essential role in bringing people from all walks of life together. We are receiving unprecedented response from the youth in this country as we conduct our daily activities. They inspire us and assist us in a variety of ways in resolving local issues. Women’s growth is hampered by violence against them. It leads to long-term impacts on social and familialism. In order to resolve this problem, we must remain alert.”
Zaved Akhtar, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Unilever Bangladesh Limited said,” Globally, over half of the girls do not have high body esteem. When girls don’t feel good about the way they look, they opt out of important, and life-building activities that may never reach their full potential. Seven in 10 girls will not stick to their decision and 8 in 10 girls avoid seeing family and friends. This is not only detrimental to girls, but society also misses out on the next generation of future female leaders. Bangladesh is endowed with young demography as children aged 0-17 years constitute 36 per cent of the total population in Bangladesh. This large number of children will join the workforce in the coming decades and play a vital role in the country’s achievement of its national goals, such as Vision 2041. Our purpose-led brand Dove is on a mission to empower over 250 million young people around the world by 2030 with our Dove Self-Esteem Project (DSEP) interventions. However, Unilever can’t do it alone and need to work with the government, civil society, development partners and media. Today I am happy to announce the partnership with Plan International Bangladesh and Teach for Bangladesh on our journey to reach 5 million adolescents by 2030 with self-esteem education. In the process of doing so, DOVE is also aligning with partners to empower girls and women globally to reach SDG goals: Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education and Gender Equality”
