Project Saubhagya empowers rural women

Unilever Sri Lanka's Saubhagya awarded its top performers at the Annual Diriya Pranama Awards recently at the Cinnamon Lakeside. The awards celebrated the top 100 entrepreneurs of Unilever's Saubhagya project across the island.

Project Saubhagya which comes under Unilever Sustainable Living Plan provides opportunities for women and helps empower women through entrepreneurship through Unilever brands.

This year's top entrepreneur, R. N. Ranjani of the Monaragala district, accounted for a turnover of Rs.10 million. Unilever Customer Development Director, Aruna Mawilmada said, "The advancement of women's rights and the economic inclusion of women is critical for our nation's growth and future prosperity.

This is why we initiated Project Saubhagya in partnership with the Divi Neguma Development Department of Sri Lanka, which grants the entrepreneurs the loans needed for their initial investment."

"By improving their livelihoods through opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship, we are able to build stronger distribution networks and create a more sustainable business," he said.

Project Saubhagya aimed at understanding the difficulties faced by women in developing markets and the integral part they play within Unilever's own distribution network.

It was implemented in 2003 with five women entrepreneurs that took the first step towards economic inclusion and the programme has progressed from there to more than 4,000 Saubhagya entrepreneurs today.

Unilever hopes to grow its network of women entrepreneurs to 14,000 to represent the 14,000 Grama Niladari divisions in Sri Lanka. The chief guest at the event was Thamara Dissanayake, the Personal Secretary to Minister of Social Empowerment and Welfare, S. B. Dissanayake.

The guest of honour, popular TV and cinema artiste, Sriyani Amarasena. Dr. Sunil Jayantha Navarathna, the consultant to the Ministry of Social Empowerment and Welfare, Chandra Wickramasinghe, the Director General of Divi Neguma Development Department, and the Board of Directors of Divi Neguma Development Department were also present.