Unilever announces new global handwashing project

Unilever and the Earth Institute have announced a new initiative to bring the health benefits of handwashing with soap to rural villages in poor countries.

The organisations will join forces with Millennium Villages, a project that works with nearly 500,000 people in small settlements across ten sub-Saharan African nations, with the latest announcement coinciding with Global Handwashing Day.

Over the past two years, Unilever has changed the handwashing behaviour of 50 million people in Africa and south Asia via partnerships with Population Services International and Unicef, leveraging its leading soap brand Lifebuoy.

This comes as part of a wider corporate effort to help more than one billion people take action to improve their health and wellbeing as part of its Sustainable Living Plan.

Paul Polman, chief executive officer of Unilever, said: "Innovative partnerships between governments, civil society and business have a critical role to play in promoting better hygiene practices and in tackling the world's deadliest diseases."

Last month, the organisation formed a partnership with Save the Children that will aid youngsters and their mothers in China, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Kenya.