Kimberly-Clark
Partner since 2001
Kimberly-Clark and UNICEF have partnered for more than 20 years, working together to build a more equitable world for every child. Funds raised through a combination of product sales, grants, and employee campaigns help UNICEF maintain and scale critical community programmes in more than 18 countries across the world. The partnership provides supplies, healthcare, sanitation, nutrition and emergency response support to put the next generation on track for a better future.
In 2018, Kimberly-Clark received the Children First Award at the UNICEF Dallas Gala for its impactful partnership and commitment to improving the lives of children globally.
Improving childhoods through Huggies® No Baby Unhugged initiative
In 2019, Kimberly-Clark and UNICEF launched a partnership in Latin America through Huggies’® global No Baby Unhugged initiative. Since 2019, this partnership has helped UNICEF reach 1,491,487 children and 1,172,356 parents in Latin America and the Caribbean with early childhood development services. With Kimberly-Clark’s support, UNICEF is working to:
- ensure babies receive quality services, including neonatal care;
- create baby-friendly environments at hospitals and clinics;
- train frontline workers to provide essential services to young children and their families; and
- support families with childcare and provide a safe environment for childhood development.
Kimberly-Clark’s support in Latin America and the Caribbean will continue through 2022 to help UNICEF expand early childhood development initiatives in 15 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Kimberly-Clark is also partnering with UNICEF in Vietnam to support initiatives that improve neonatal health outcomes in the rural mountainous and central highland provinces of north and central Vietnam. Over the course of the three-year partnership, Kimberly-Clark and UNICEF aim to save and improve the lives of nearly two million babies.
In China, Kimberly-Clark is supporting UNICEF through its Huggies® brand to promote the country’s ‘Newborn Health and Early Childhood Development’ programme. The programme aims to improve the health and lives of children aged 0-3 years and their caregivers in underdeveloped areas of central and western China. It is expected to directly reach more than 7.3 million children, including newborns, and indirectly benefit more than 14 million children.
Enhancing the quality of life for girls
In Indonesia, Kimberly-Clark brand Softex is supporting UNICEF to help adolescents improve key hygiene awareness behaviours, including safe menstrual health and hygiene (MHH), while giving girls from vulnerable communities the protection they need to keep going to school and having a healthier and more hygienic life. The partnership focuses on gender-responsive and disability-inclusive water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programme implementation.
Protecting children during emergencies
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kimberly-Clark donated $2.5 million to UNICEF to support the global COVID-19 response. The funds supported prevention programmes, provided hygiene and medical kits to schools and health facilities, as well as increased child access to education, health and social services during the pandemic. Kimberly-Clark also contributed with more than $2.2 million to UNICEF’s response in India during the country’s peak outbreak in April 2020.
“For more than two decades, we have partnered with UNICEF to positively impact vulnerable children and families around the globe,” said Jenny Lewis, Vice President, Kimberly-Clark Foundation. “With our shared goal of improving the well-being of those in need, we are continuing to support UNICEF’s critical efforts in India to help save lives during the recent deadly and devastating wave of COVID-19 infections.”
After Hurricane Maria in 2017, Kimberly-Clark donated more than 500,000 diapers and baby wipes and more than 100,000 feminine care products to UNICEF’s relief efforts in Puerto Rico. That same year, Kimberly-Clark helped provide safe drinking water and health services to communities devastated by flooding in Peru and mudslides in Colombia.
Increasing access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation
Kimberly-Clark’s Toilets Change Lives programme unites Kimberly-Clark’s global and essential brands with opportunities to build nonprofit partnerships, consumer education and on-the-ground sanitation. Through Toilets Change Lives, Kimberly-Clark’s Andrex® brand helped fund UNICEF Community Led Total Sanitation programmes, providing proper hygiene and sanitation education and services to rural communities — including to 464,000 people in Angola, 75,000 people in Bangladesh and in South Africa.
Between 2016 and 2018, Kimberly-Clark’s Neve® brand supported UNICEF Brazil which helped bring water, sanitation and hygiene programmes to 1,255,401 people in the Amazon region. In honor of Global Handwashing Day in 2013, Kimberly-Clark donated $50,000 to support the installation of deep-well water pumps, providing communities with access to clean, safe water.
About Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark and its trusted brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Fueled by ingenuity, creativity, and an understanding of people's most essential needs, we create products that help individuals experience more of what's important to them. Our portfolio of brands, including Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex, Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites, Intimus, Neve, Plenitud, Sweety, Softex, Viva and WypAll, hold the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in 80 countries. We use sustainable practices that support a healthy planet, build stronger communities, and ensure our business thrives for decades to come. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company's 150-year history of innovation, visit kimberly-clark.com.
*UNICEF does not endorse any company, brand, product or service.