Unilever Sri Lanka celebrates International Women’s Day with ‘Saubhagya Diriya’

Unilever Sri Lanka’s ‘Saubhagya’ initiative continues to provide economic independence to women in the rural sector by launching ‘Diriya 2011’ at Galadari Hotel on 10 March.

During this event, Unilever Sri Lanka will set its annual targets for 2011 for its top 100 entrepreneurs as well as rewarding over 50 ‘Saubhagya’ entrepreneurs who achieved last year’s target set for ‘Diriya 2010’.

Women from rural communities are rewarded by Unilever Sri Lanka which aims at empowering rural women who need that extra amount of financial and moral support to uplift their living conditions. Last year’s high performers will receive rewards amounting to a total of over Rs. 2 million from the company.

Unilever Sri Lanka will simultaneously commemorate International Women’s Day by bringing in award winning actress Anoja Weerasinghe who will address Saubhagya women entrepreneurs on overcoming obstacles and winning the world as women.

The Saubhagya team will also celebrate the seventh anniversary of Saubhayga on this day, amidst the support and blessings of Unilever employees, Samurdhi officers, and Saubhagya entrepreneurs alike.

Initiated in 2004 in collaboration with the Samurdhi Authority, the Saubhagya initiative trains rural women to become entrepreneurs by creating micro-enterprises which provide them with a sustainable source of income by recommending and selling Unilever products to village households. It enables ‘Saubhagya’ entrepreneurs to act as direct-to-home brand ambassadors for Unilever products.  Unilever Sri Lanka’s Saubhagya initiative functions in 170 Samurdhi societies and has been instrumental in enhancing the living standard of over 3,000 women and their families.

The programme has been responsible in changing the life of a large number of women who have become ‘Saubhagya’ entrepreneurs. It has resulted in enhancing health and nutrition values, focussing attention on the education of their children and providing an overall improvement in their living conditions.

It has largely been responsible for giving a boost to their self esteem, empowering them and giving them a greater say in decision making within their homes and their communities.

Family members of Saubhagya entrepreneurs also have the opportunity to compete for employment in the Unilever Sri Lanka’s distribution chain.