Skip to content

Unilever Indonesia Reaches Medan and Banda Aceh to Welcome A Cleaner and Healthier Ramadan

Published:

Average read time: 5 minutes

Through its brands, Unilever Indonesia provides education on personal health, environmental hygiene support, and distributes grocery packages to prepare for Ramadan

Distribute of 1100 family logistics packages with Royco, Bango and Baznas

Medan and Banda Aceh, 6 March 2024 – Welcoming the holy month of Ramadan, Unilever Indonesia, through its brands Pepsodent, Bango, Royco, Wipol, Vixal, Sunlight, Rinso, and Molto, is carrying out a number of initiatives to raise awareness about the importance of maintaining environmental hygiene and personal health for the community in Medan and Banda Aceh. Various educational activities have been carried out in several cities since the beginning of the year to help local communities be better prepared for the month of Ramadan.

Ramadan is the most anticipated moment for Muslims around the globe including people in the North Sumatera Province and Banda Aceh, two predominantly Muslim population provinces. North Sumatera is recorded as the province with the largest Muslim population on the island of Sumatra, reaching 10.18 million people.[a]

While Banda Aceh has the largest percentage of Muslim population in Indonesia at 98.57%.[b] Therefore, it is important to equip people in these provinces with an understanding of personal health and hygiene of the environment, so they can perform worship more comfortably in the month of Ramadan.

Director and Corporate Secretary of Unilever Indonesia, Nurdiana Darus, said, “Maintaining personal health and hygiene of the environment is not only important for the comfort of personal worship, but also for the wider community, especially in areas with a significant Muslim population such as in Aceh and Medan.”

“Understanding this, Unilever Indonesia, through its trusted brands that are close to the community, strives to help people worship more comfortably, through various initiatives related to personal health for students and female students, as well as environmental hygiene of the Masjid, the place of worship. In carrying out these initiatives, Unilever Indonesia collaborates with trusted parties that have been Unilever Indonesia's partners for a long time, to multiply the benefits of these programs.”

In carrying out the initiatives in the two major cities, Unilever Indonesia collaborates with leading institutions, including the Faculty of Dentistry (FKG) RSGM Universitas Sumatera Utara, Faculty of Dentistry Universitas Syiah Kuala (USK), Dewan Masjid Indonesia (DMI), and Badan Amil Zakat Nasional (BAZNAS).

In health sector, Unilever Indonesia through its brand Pepsodent organizes the "Senyum Sehat Indonesia Menyambut Ramadhan 1445 H" program, by giving free dental and oral health education and care for 2,000 students and female students from the Darul Arafah Islamic Boarding School and Ma'had Abu Ubaidah Bin Al Jarrah in Medan, as well as a number of Islamic boarding schools in Banda Aceh.

Based on the 2018 Riskesdas Data, in North Sumatra Province there is at least 39.15% proportion of dental problems (damaged, perforated, sore) and only 1.23% of people over 3 years old have visited dental health workers in the past year. Meanwhile, in the Province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD), around 94.9% of residents have never visited dental health workers in the past year, resulting in many cases of cavities.

Deputy Rector I USU, DR. Edy Ikhsan, SH.,MA. expressed his appreciation for this program. "We are very proud and appreciate the initiatives by FKG, RSGM USU, in collaboration with Unilever Indonesia and a number of other parties. This is one of the concrete forms of the dharma pillars of higher education, namely community service. Teeth and mouth are parts of the human body that need continuous care, especially now that Ramadan 1445 H is approaching, we are trying to prepare the best health.”

Not only preparing the community for dental and oral health, Unilever Indonesia through its Bango and Royco brands also collaborates with the Badan Amil Zakat Nasional (BAZNAS) to distribute 1,100 grocery packages to the poor in Medan, in order to strengthen food access for economically vulnerable groups.

Meanwhile, in Banda Aceh, Unilever Indonesia through its 5 brands namely Wipol, Vixal, Sunlight, Rinso, and Molto strengthened its partnership with the Dewan Masjid Indonesia (DMI) in organizing the "Gerakan Masjid Bersih 2024" program which took place at the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque, Banda Aceh. This activity involved 200 volunteers who cleaned the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque to make it cleaner and more hygienic ahead of the month of Ramadan. To bring wider benefits to the community, Unilever also distributed 4,000 cleaning packages that will be distributed to other mosques in Banda Aceh area.

Chairman of the DMI Aceh Province Tgk. H. Fakhruddin Lahmuddin, S. Ag., M. Pd., also conveyed, "On behalf of the Regional and District Boards of DMI, we express our highest appreciation and gratitude for the cooperation between the DMI Central Board and Unilever Indonesia to collaborate for the good of the community, one of which is in the “Gerakan Masjid Bersih” program. Hopefully, this program will continuously contribute to raising awareness among the community, mosque/musalla caretakers, and administrators, to continue paying attention to the cleanliness and beauty of our mosques, and inspire wider communities to keep their environment clean, beautiful, and comfortable. Amen."

Implemented since 2017, the 'Gerakan Masjid Bersih' is a sustainable social initiative jointly held by DMI and Unilever Indonesia to encourage clean and comfortable mosques for Muslims throughout Indonesia, especially during the month of Ramadan. To date, this program has been supported by more than 150,000 volunteers and has benefited 220,000 mosques across the country.

"Moreover, Unilever Indonesia's commitment to providing benefits to the community, especially male and female Islamic students (santri) in the Medan and Banda Aceh areas, will continue to be strengthened. One of them is through the development program for female Islamic students, which is expected to provide benefits for themselves and their environment," added Nurdiana.

Previously, Unilever Indonesia has reaffirmed its seriousness in supporting the welfare of the Muslim community through long-term collaborative commitments and the distribution of humanitarian aid through partnerships with trusted social institutions, including NU Care-LAZISNU (a philanthropic institution under the auspices of Nahdlatul Ulama), Lazismu (a social institution under the auspices of Muhammadiyah), and BAZNAS (National Amil Zakat Agency). A total of Rp 6 billion in aid has been distributed to help victims in conflict areas.

Not only focusing on personal health, in anticipation for the holy month, most Muslims undertake various other preparations, ranging from cleaning homes and environments to stocking food and beverages.[c]

Back to top