P&G donated back-to-school COVID-19 hygiene kits to the U.S. Agency for International Development

Procter & Gamble (P&G) Philippines continues to sustain hygiene promotion and access as public schools resume face-to-face classes this August. P&G recently donated back-to-school COVID-19 hygiene kits to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for distribution to over 389, 921 students nationwide.

 

The donation marks another milestone in P&G and USAID’s efforts to support underserved communities and protect them from the ongoing risk of COVID-19. Included in the packages are P&G manufactured medical-grade face masks, and hygiene kits containing Safeguard body wash, soap, and hand sanitizers.

“We are one with the country in promoting safe and healthy communities and we support educational institutions as they resume face-to-face classes this year,” says Anna Legarda, Communications Director of P&G Philippines. “P&G’s partnership with USAID enables us to bring our brands’ superior health and hygiene benefits to more communities and be a force for good in the country,” she adds.

 

Reports from early this year stated that the pandemic magnified long-standing health system ills, raising the importance of safeguarding the public through proper hygiene and infection prevention and control to mitigate the risk of disease transmission. 

“Supporting the safe re-opening of schools remains to be a crucial undertaking in promoting quality education and bouncing back from the country's learning crisis. We thank P&G for its unwavering support in confronting and coping with national pandemic disruptions and in the pursuit of better health and education for all, especially the most vulnerable," says Dr. Laurentiu Stan, Chief of Party of USAID's ReachHealth Project.

The initiative is in collaboration with USAID’s ReachHealth project, a five-year activity that aims to improve access to critical health services for Filipino families through technical assistance in family planning and COVID-19 response. Implemented by Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International, USAID ReachHealth has worked with government agencies such as the Department of Health, and private companies like P&G.

P&G Philippines launched its P&G Limitless program and the P&G Manila Service Center (MSC) Persons with Disability (PWD) Network

 

Procter & Gamble (P&G) Philippines, a company that has long championed equality and inclusion in the workplace, launched its P&G Limitless program and the P&G Manila Service Center (MSC) Persons with Disability (PWD) Network. 

 

The program aims to enable everyone to become disability confident, from the moment they apply and all through their career journey in the company. Disability confidence in business is when employers are able to have the skills, techniques, tools and confidence needed to understand disabilities and address barriers for their PWD employees. 

 

P&G aims to create an environment where all employees are well-equipped with disability fluency, thus understanding and knowing how to interact and work with persons with a disability. This helps create a more inclusive workplace and company culture where employees with a disability and employees with disabled dependents feel valued, included and can perform at their peak. 

 

Among their practices, the company uses software applications and their features such as live captioning and other visual accessibility tools so that hiring managers, interviewers and employees can leverage these features to successfully conduct interviews, trainings, and meetings with colleagues and applicants with disabilities. For hard-of-hearing applicants, P&G can provide interpreters during interviews and onboarding activities to assist applicants in navigating and understanding processes to give them a strong start in a new company.  

 

“P&G believes in the power of our unique differences and in giving equal access and opportunity to everyone regardless of gender, background, sexual orientation, and disability. We intentionally provide the necessary tools and accommodations that give people an equal opportunity to succeed.  Across our hiring, training, development and appraisal processes, we assess every employee’s performance fairly based on their impact and eliminate bias where it is unnecessary,” says Vince Dizon, Country Human Resources Leader for P&G Philippines.

 

P&G also aims to strengthen its capabilities by partnering with different expert institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the Benilde Deaf School to conduct basic Filipino Sign Language Training.  Recently, the P&G PWD network also collaborated with the University of the Philippines College of Allied Medical Professions to conduct a Neurodiversity awareness and acceptance training for its employees. This included an interactive discussion about the introduction to neurodiversity, neurodiverse experiences and perspectives, and the types of therapies and support services to further help P&G employees to be disability confident.

 

Fostering inclusive communities

 

The PWD Network is the latest community that P&G has established to foster equality and inclusion in the workplace. Other P&G affinity networks include their Women’s Network, Parents at Work, Men Advocating Real Change (MARC), and Gay, Ally, Bisexual, and Lesbian Employees (GABLE).

 

For more information, visit [Link].