From left: Harsha Samaranayake, Senior General Manager – Brand and Media, Group Marketing of Dialog Axiata PLC; Kamal Gamage, Acting Executive Director, Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement; Navin Pieris, Group Chief Officer, Dialog Enterprise, Dialog Axiata PLC; Nilushi Jayatileke, Marketing Director – Personal Care and Beauty & Wellbeing, Unilever Sri Lanka; Sharmila Bandara, Marketing Director – Home Care & Nutrition, Unilever Sri Lanka; Channa Tennakoon, Head of Media & Activation, Unilever Sri Lanka; and Harini Rajadasa, Head of Regulatory & Corporate Affairs and External Communications, Unilever Sri Lanka

Unilever has pledged their support to the ‘Manudam Mehewara’ emergency relief programme, initiated by Dialog Axiata PLC, MAS Holdings, Hemas Holdings PLC, execution partner Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement and independent auditor PwC Sri Lanka, together with CBL Group, Citi, Sunshine Holdings PLC and Huawei Technologies Lanka Co Pvt Ltd.

Together with its like-minded corporate partners, the ‘Manudam Mehewara’ initiative aims to provide emergency relief to more than 200,000 vulnerable families across Sri Lanka. Emergency relief is currently being distributed across all 25 districts, where over 100,000 families in-need have been assisted to date. The Manudam Mehewara programme will conduct its relief efforts until a sustainable benefit transfer system is established in the country through an effective economic recovery plan.

Nilushi Jayatileke, Marketing Director, Personal Care and Beauty & Wellbeing of Unilever Sri Lankasaid, “It moves us deeply to see the economic hardships and unprecedented challenges faced by our fellow Sri Lankans. 

At Unilever, we believe in making sustainable living commonplace. Many of our purpose-led brands have always considered it a responsibility to help build a sustainable Sri Lanka by facilitating a better quality of life for our people. Whilst all of us have been doing our part as corporates, the national crisis which we are faced with today is of a much greater magnitude than what a single brand or single corporate can do to make an impactful change. This is where the power of the collective plays an important role. 

I would like to congratulate Dialog and Sarvodaya as well as the other founding partners for launching Manudam Mehewara, to create a platform to bring together the power of the collective, in order to help our fellow Sri Lankans in a way that would make a scalable impact.”