Fast moving consumer goods maker Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has launched a rural initiative called 'Prabhat' for community development in villages around its manufacturing units in the country. The initiative is a part of its parent company Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan, which entered its third year.  

Sanjiv Mehta, MD & CEO, HUL said, “Our Sustainable Living Plan is what makes our business model different from others because sustainability is integral to how we do business and how we build growth. The success of brands like Lifebuoy clearly demonstrates that there is no contradiction between sustainability and profitable growth. We are happy with the progress we have made on our Plan in India in 2013. We have further built on our plan with the launch of ‘Prabhat’, which is a part of our long term effort to engage with and contribute to the development of local communities around our manufacturing sites." 

Prabhat focuses on health and hygiene, livelihoods and water conservation initiatives and is aligned to the Anglo-Dutch firm's Sustainable Living Plan, priorities.

Unilever in a statement today said that the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan has progressed well and it plans to expand it further to bring about broader change on a global scale.

Unilever's  CEO, Paul Polman said, “In the three years since we launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan we have learned that sustainability drives business growth and a much deeper connection with our employees and consumers. In 2013, we’ve seen good progress, particularly on targets within our direct control. This is helping us to save money, reduce risk and drive innovation, and brands that have done the most to embrace sustainable living, like Dove, Lifebuoy, Pureit and Domestos, are enjoying some of our fastest growth.”

The company will continue to focus its scale, influence, expertise, and resources on making a fundamental change to entire systems, not just incremental improvements. This will involve stepping up plans to tackle several major global sustainability challenges such as deforestation, food problems in Asia and Sub Saharan Africa and health and hygiene issues

Unilever also confirmed that the Sustainable Living Plan has been expanded with a more substantive Enhancing Livelihoods programme focusing fairness in the workplace, opportunities for women and developing inclusive business.

Announcing the expanded plan, Polman, said, “We are making good progress in reshaping our business for sustainable, equitable growth. But we need to do more. We have always recognised the bigger role that businesses need to play, and now is the moment for Unilever to step up and expand efforts in key areas, driving transformational change where we know we can make the biggest impact. In this way we will leverage our scale and work collaboratively in partnership with others to reach a tipping point in areas that will make a significant difference.”

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