Last year, Beiersdorf Southern Africa pledged to create an immediate €50m international aid programme. This commitment is in line with Beiersdorf’s corporate purpose “Care Beyond Skin”, which expresses its passion to reach beyond its core business of taking care of people’s skin and making a sustainable contribution to people, society and the environment.
The humanitarian programme is aimed at providing immediate aid in the fight against Covid-19, and will be providing long-term support by focusing their contribution on vulnerable groups within the societies in highly affected regions around the globe that are facing tremendous socio-economic challenges that are beyond the immediate health crisis.
Beiersdorf S is located in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal and is one of more than 170 international affiliates of the skin care company, Beiersdorf AG. Beiersdorf manufactures well-known brands including NIVEA, NIVEA MEN, Labello, Elastoplast and Eucerin.
The “Care Beyond Skin” Covid-relief donation to Thanda will be allocated into immediate feeding relief for children, care of the vulnerable and elderly, education for children, as well as agricultural projects targeted at long-term food and water sustainability. This will extend to ensure that 12,000 children will receive a fortified breakfast daily until the end of February 2021.
The financial relief will be channeled through Thanda, a non-profit organisation supporting critical local needs of the rural Mtwalume community in KwaZulu-Natal. For the past five year’s Beiersdorf has been working with the NPO in this community.
Thanda creates innovative solutions for sustainable development with special focus on early childhood development, creative learning curriculums and organic farming. With employment rates in the Mtwalume communities averaging only 12%*, farming offers a way to sustainably improve rural livelihoods by empowering community members to develop self-reliance.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in serious hardships for families and children in rural communities such as Mtwalume. Rising unemployment in cities has increased household sizes in these areas, as some unemployed have returned to their families in rural communities. The implications of Covid-19 include a loss of income and inability to access the feeding schemes offered at schools in the past, “said Hamish Douglas, Managing Director, Beiersdorf Southern Africa.
The objective of the funding allocated to the agricultural farming programme is to increase the capacity of Mtwalume farmers’ organic vegetable production by an estimated 185% in a six-month period. This will bring food relief to 2,000 household members in the rural communities whilst ensuring that fresh organic vegetables are harvested and sold locally. In turn, this will increase food availability and offer a long-term food sustainability solution for the future.
