Dove and UNICEF aim to reach 16.4 million young people in India with self-esteem education materials

Dove and UNICEF announced the renewal of their partnership today, aiming to provide educational resources on self-esteem and body confidence to 16.4 million young people in India over the next two

years.

Through the partnership, which began in 2019, adapted modules on self-esteem and body confidence from the Dove Self-Esteem Project were included in UNICEF programmes that empower young people with essential life skills. In the first phase of the partnership, over seven million students benefited from the ‘Who Am I’ self-esteem lesson kits, exceeding the partnership’s goal of supporting 6.25 million students with valuable life skills materials by the end of 2023.

In the next phase, UNICEF will work with state governments to advance the life skills programme in eight states across India, aiming to address the self-esteem concerns of young people aged 11-14 and 15+ years. The learning content includes comic books that tackle issues such as gender stereotypes, appearance ideals in the media and harmful body talk, that help students become body confidence champions.

UNICEF will make the content available through in-person trainings, Government’s e-learning platform Diksha, other state learning management systems and the Passport to Earning digital platform. To expand the programme's reach, UNICEF will encourage parents, siblings, and teachers to support boys and girls as self-esteem champions.

“When young people do not feel confident, their ability to be changemakers and build a stronger future diminishes. With the renewal of our partnership with Dove, even more young people will be supported to feel confident in their ability to stand up for their rights and fulfil their promising potential,” said UNICEF Director of Private Fundraising and Partnerships, Carla Haddad Mardini.

Positive self-esteem contributes to the learning of life skills and enhances their ability to gain and retain employment. This vital work will not only contribute towards their body-confidence, but will also contribute to their retention, transition, and completion of the education cycle, enabling young people to gain the needed skills to succeed in school, work, and life.

“Since 2004, Dove has supported 114 million young people to build their body confidence and self-esteem. With so many young people feeling pressure to look a certain way, we hope that our partnership with UNICEF can support many more young people to advocate for themselves and challenge beauty standards,” said Marcela Melero, Chief Growth Officer, Dove Personal Care North America & Dove Masterbrand.

In addition to the programmes in India, during the first phase of the partnership UNICEF and Dove, reached over 130,000 adolescents in Brazil with body confidence and self-esteem materials, both through in-person sessions and online through UNICEF’s Topity chatbot. In Indonesia, over 180,000 teachers attended online training sessions to learn how to deliver self-esteem and body confidence lessons.