To promote personal hygiene in celebration of this year’s global handwashing day, a notable consumer goods company, Procter & Gamble (P&G), has once again stepped up as a force for good and partnered with the Federal Ministry of Environment and Federal Ministry of Education.
In line with the partnerships, P&G donated Safeguard contactless handwashing stations with 5,000 Safeguard soaps to secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The commemoration event took place at the Federal Government Boys College, Apo, Abuja, one of the beneficiary schools of the handwashing stations.
The partnership feeds into the 2021 Global Handwashing Day theme of ‘Our Future is at Hand – Lets’ Move Forward Together’ and P&G’s commitment to making everyday life better and safe for consumers. P&G through the Ministry of Environment will install Safeguard® contactless handwashing stations in unity schools in Abuja.
Commenting on the importance of global handwashing day during her keynote address, the Minister of State Environment, Sharon Ikeazor said global handwashing day is an awareness of the importance of handwashing with soap, which is an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives.
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“This day is expected to catalyze local, national and global actions and build the culture of handwashing with soap,” Ikeazor said.
She further said this year’s theme is very apt and accurate in a time when the world is fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and thanked P&G for the donations. “The donation of these handwashing stations will go a long way towards preventing diseases and promoting handwashing amongst students who are vulnerable, so I want to appreciate our partner, P&G, for this commendable gesture.”
The P&G Senior Manager, Global Government Relations & Public Policy, Ridwan Sorunke, reiterated P&G’s commitment to promoting handwashing as an effective way to reduce the spread of diseases. He explained further that as a part of this year’s Global Handwashing Day campaign, P&G is on a mission to increase awareness on the importance of handwashing with soaps such as Safeguard and drive habit change, especially among children.
“In our bid to commemorate the 2021 Global Handwashing Day, we have partnered with the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Education to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of handwashing with soap among secondary school students through the donation of handwashing stations and 5,000 Safeguard soaps. We have stationed low-cost mobile handwashing stations at the schools so children can wash their hands at key moments,” he said.
In addition, the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono expressed gratitude to P&G for the donation of handwashing stations to schools and encouraged the students to make handwashing a habit.
“I enjoin the students to always remember that handwashing with soap is very important. We should therefore be advocates for making it a habit as we celebrate the 2021 Global Handwashing Day. Let us all choose handwashing not only on Global Handwashing Day but every day,” he said.
