global luxury skincare brand drives mauritanian women’s empowerment programme
Intermón Oxfam backs Natura Bissé revenue-sharing initiative aimed at improving underprivileged women’s living conditions.
Natura Bissé International, the leading luxury skincare brand, has joined forces with Spain-based NGO Intermón Oxfam to promote livelihood of women in the urban and rural areas of Mauritania.
The joint initiative is aimed at gradually improving women’s living conditions in a country where rural areas suffer from extreme drought and inefficient use of fertile land, compounded by overpopulation due to lack of resources and unemployment.
More than 2,400 women and 20,000 people overall will benefit through the granting of interest free micro-credit loans designed to boost productivity and enhance marketing capabilities of agricultural and fishing products, whilst increasing local incomes and promoting sustainability.
Mr. Ricardo Fisas Mulleras, President of Natura Bissé said: “In Mauritania, 76% of all those in poverty are women, and there is a majority of female headed households. Our aim is to provide a reliable source of nutrition through a variety of methods such as improving agricultural productivity and techniques. Natura Bissé will also be supporting self-employment projects to guarantee a reliable means of subsistence in rural towns and generate income for women and their families.
“By using 0.7% of our global sales towards the financing of those schemes we are giving indirectly our customers the opportunity to empower thousands of women to claim their right to an adequate standard of living and to secure a better and more dignified life for themselves and their families.”
A member organization of Oxfam International, Intermón Oxfam enjoys a long history and expertise of implementing projects in development and emergency settings in 48 countries worldwide over the last 50 years. Bringing about a fundamental change in poverty and injustice levels is a long term development goal that must start at the community level, commented Intermón Oxfam. Giving poverty stricken women the tools and skills to attain some of their most basic economic and social rights is crucial. This is the only guarantee that they could eventually break away from the cycle of exclusion and inequality.
Through this campaign Natura Bissé is taking major steps to involve indirectly consumers in improving the quality and standard of lives of many women and their families across Mauritania. In a country where human rights are abused and racial division is at its peak, we are confident that the initiative of Natura Bissé will make a difference.
The campaign is underway worldwide and Natura Bissé’s future initiatives include improving the management of water resources, incorporating new agricultural methods, advancing the marketing of products, organizing means of transport to reach regional markets and extending training for women in the cooperatives.
