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Give school children the dignity of access to a clean toilet with Baby Soft and UNICEF

by Agencies
04 Oct 2017 at 16:44hrs | Views
While many of us don't think twice about our bathroom habits, the fact of the matter remains that millions of South Africans are not afforded the dignity of access to a clean toilet. This is particularly true of many disadvantaged schools and when one considers the matter of hygiene, it is clear that this state of affairs requires our urgent attention.

For this reason and in partnership with UNICEF's Toilet Board Coalition and Spar, Kimberly-Clark is seeking to raise funds to build toilets for school children across the country through its Baby Soft Toilets Change Lives Programme. What is more, the company is calling on all consumers to assist in this mission by simply purchasing a specially marked pack of Baby Soft White Toilet Tissue 9's from any Spar store nationwide, from the beginning of September to the end of October 2017.

A Crisis of Dignity

"Globally, some 2.4 billion people live without the basic human right of a clean toilet. While this is a hyenic crisis of epic proportions, this is also a crisis of dignity for the men, women and children who often have to relieve themselves out in the open. These shocking statistics along with our founding role in the Toilet Board Coalition inspired us to establish the Toilets Change Lives Programme, which seeks to ensure everyone has a safe, clean and dignified toilet experience," says Kimberly-Clark Marketing Director, John Clark.

The Right to Clean Water and Sanitation

"Access to clean water and sanitation is a fundamental human right. It is, therefore, unthinkable that diarrhoeal diseases related to unhygienic sanitation continue to be the leading cause of childhood deaths in the world. The Toilet Board Coalition is a group of leading companies, government agencies, sanitation experts and non-profit organisations, which aims to develop commercially sustainable and scalable solutions to eliminate the current sanitation crisis. Consumer interventions such as Kimberly-Clark's Toilets Change Lives Programme, help us to achieve this crucial objective," explains UNICEF's Representative in South Africa, Herve Ludovic de Lys.

Empowering Boys and Girls

The Spar Group commented that providing schools with fully functional, separate toilets for boys and girls, the stores not only contribute to these children's dignity and sense of wellbeing, but also empower them to act as agents of change within their own communities. Sanitary toilet habits are brought into families and health-promoting activities are adopted as a result of school children being given access to clean sanitation. For this reason, Spar didn't hesitate to participate in the Toilets Change Lives Programme and look forward to engaging with their shoppers as they seek to raise money for this incredibly worthy cause.

How to Help

To make a difference you simply need to visit your nearest Spar store and purchase a specially-marked pack of Baby Soft Toilet Tissue White 9's. For each pack sold, Baby Soft will donate R4 to UNICEF. The proceeds raised will be used by UNICEF to provide safe and hygienic sanitation, as well as safe drinking water for our country's children in need.

Source - Agencies