Unilever’s Lifebuoy has launched a creative competition that will see two Chief Education Officers aged between 6-12 years appointed to raise awareness on the importance of handwashing among school children.

Leveraging the power of peer-to-peer learning, the ‘CEOs’ will be selected from public and private schools in Ghana to help create impact by teaching other children about handwashing and personal hygiene in a series of fun and exciting activities.

The campaign dubbed ‘Lifebuoy H for handwashing CEOs’ is part of Lifebuoy’s activities to mark Global Handwashing Day which occurs every year on the 15th of October.

 Global handwashing day is an international handwashing campaign dedicated to motivating and mobilizing people worldwide to improve their handwashing habits as a strategy for disease prevention.

In 2020, Lifebuoy launched the H for Handwashing campaign to transform the letter H into a symbol for handwashing and to integrate hygiene awareness into the school curriculum. In 2021, Lifebuoy launched its first-ever children’s book- an “H for Handwashing” alphabet book – in which children can explore the Alphabet with Azzy the horse. The book is intended to support school curricula all over the world, whenever and wherever children are taught the ABCs.

This year, Lifebuoy is going a step further by passing on the baton to the next generation who will teach their peers about handwashing, as studies have shown that children are more likely to change their behaviour when influenced by their peers. 

Lifebuoy is encouraging Children from public and private schools in Ghana between the ages of 6-12years to take up this unique and exciting challenge.

Parents, Guardians and Teachers are also urged to encourage their children and pupils to participate in the competition by following these guidelines:

• Share a 30- 45 seconds video of your child reciting their campaign manifesto by explaining what hygiene means to them and how they will promote better hygiene in their schools.
• All entries must include the #GHD2022 #LifebuoyCEOgh #LifebuoyGHD22 #HforHandwashing hashtag and be submitted on Facebook and Instagram only via the brand’s pages @LifebuoyGhana.
• Entries are open until the 10^th of October, 2022.

The two selected CEOs will get the chance to become part of Lifebuoy’s award-winning ‘H for Handwashing’ movement and receive a certificate from the Unilever Ghana Leadership Team for their participation and commitment to the cause.  As part of celebrations to mark Global Handwashing Day, they will also visit the Unilever headquarters and factories to teach employees the importance of handwashing

The ‘CEOs’ will commit a minimum of ten hours a year to help spread the message of handwashing with soap to other children, at home and in schools. To enable them perform their roles, they will be trained in the use of Lifebuoy’s decade-old and well-proven behaviour change material which will equip them to take the message forward.