Jakarta, March 26, 2020 – Unilever Indonesia, the consumer goods manufacturer, today announced a wide-ranging set of measures to take part in the national efforts to tackle the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The company’s actions are designed to help protect the lives and livelihoods of all its stakeholders: consumers, customers and their communities, as well as its own workforce.
Hemant Bakshi, President Director of PT Unilever Indonesia, Tbk. stated, “We are deeply saddened by the terrible impact that COVID-19 is causing on lives everywhere. We believe that all parties have a role to help halt the spread of this terrible disease. Since this outbreak began, Unilever Indonesia – which manufactures a long list of brands that are very close to the lives of Indonesian families – has been providing support through our products especially hand sanitizers, soap and home hygiene brands. As well as disseminating comprehensive education about the importance of personal and home hygiene. We are today committing to funding and distributing products with a total of IDR 50 billion through various partnerships, including with health institutions, government and other organizations.”
Some of the company’s support includes: distribution of cleaning products to 100,000 mosques through the “Gerakan Masjid Bersih” in collaboration with the Indonesian Mosque Council (DMI), Pertamina, and Indah Logistik; provision of liquid hand washing products to eight government referred hospitals through the Association of Indonesian Hospitals (PERSI); support the “Gerakan Sekolah Bersih” and “Gerakan Bersih Lingkungan” by disinfecting schools and a number of public spaces in collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Health and Himpunan Ahli Kesehatan Lingkungan Indonesia (HAKLI); and continuously educating the public about the importance of both personal and home hygiene through public service announcements and digital campaigns.
Meanwhile, to protect the employees and their families against COVID-19, Unilever has put in place stricter preventive measures throughout its global operations. One of them is by implementing the work-from-home policy for our office-based employees. As for our employees in the factories, who continue to maintain production of the hygiene and other products, and those who work in the field, who ensure our consumers can continue to have access to these products, the Company has applied advanced safety standards in their respective workplaces.
Wellbeing of our workforce is an utmost priority; we will protect them from sudden drops in pay as result of market disruption or being unable to perform their role for up to three months. We will go beyond our direct employees and also cover contractors and others who we manage or who work on our premises on a full time or part-time basis. For the avoidance of doubt, this includes women and men who work to keep our facilities secure, our premises clean, run our cafeterias, help in merchandising and selling our products. They are a part of Unilever Indoesia family.
“We hope that our support will contribute to protecting people’s lives and livelihoods, and by protecting our workers’ health and safety, we are giving everyone some peace of mind during these difficult times. It is indeed necessary to take collective action to overcome this challenge. As a responsible, purpose-led business, we are ready, more than ever, to play our part and overcome this together. #SemangatULI #Unilever4Indonesia,” Hemant concluded.