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Unilever Indonesia has announced a number of steps that have been and will be taken to support the national effort to handle the pandemic Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) disease. These steps include helping the lives and livelihoods of various parties, ranging from consumers, customers, communities, to all company employees.

Hemant Bakshi, President Director of PT Unilever Indonesia, Tbk said: "We are very concerned about the adverse effects of the COVID-19 virus on the lives of people in various parts of the world. We believe that all parties can play a role to help break the chain of transmission of this virus. " He said that Unilever Indonesia had actively provided support in various forms since the Covid-19 virus became pandemic.

"Today we announce our commitment to provide financial assistance and donations in the form of products worth a total of Rp50 billion that have been and will be distributed to the community through various partnership programs, including with health institutions, governments, and other organizations," he added.

Unilever believes all parties have a role to play in efforts to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. Close collaboration between institutions is one important key in efforts to tackle the virus. Therefore, with the spirit of #MariBerbagiPeran, the assistance was manifested in the form of hand sanitizers, soap, food and beverage products, hme hygiene and care products, food packages for medical personnel, and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for medical personnel, all of which were well distributed independently and in partnership with a variety of trusted official institutions.

Some support that has been given by the company include the distribution of cleaning product packages for 100,000 mosques through the "Gerakan Masjid Bersih" in collaboration with the Indonesian Mosque Council (DMI), Pertamina, and Indah Logistik. The company also provides hand washing soap products for eight government-referred hospitals through its partnership with the Association of Indonesian Hospitals (PERSI).

Other efforts that have been made are supporting the "Gerakan Sekolah Bersih" and "Gerakan Bersih Lingkungan" by disinfecting schools and some public spaces, in collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Health and the Association of Indonesian Environmental Health Experts (HAKLI). In addition, the company will also continue to educate the public through public service announcements and digital campaigns about the importance of maintaining personal and home hygiene.

Furthermore, Unilever Indonesia has taken more stringent preventive steps to protect all of its employees and their families, such as the introduction of a Work-from-Home policy for office-based employees. Meanwhile, the company applies higher safety standards for factory and field employees so that consumers can continue to get the benefits of Unilever products.

Play an active role in partnering with medical communities and government in improving the healthcare condition is in our DNA. In view of the development of COVID-19 in Indonesia, Novartis Indonesia is taking part in giving back to society by donating IDR 7.4 billion (USD$500.000) through the Special Taskforce for Acceleration of COVID-19 handling to help ease handling of the pandemic. The donation is presented by Jorge Wagner, President Director of PT Novartis Indonesia to Doni Monardo, Head of Special Taskforce for Acceleration of COVID-19 handling, who is also Head of BNPB, in Jakarta.

Novartis Indonesia donation is part of Novartis AG Response Funds in the total amount of USD$20 million for immediate response and recovery efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic to impacted countries.

Jorge Wagner said, “It hurts me deeply to see how Indonesia suffers from this COVID-19 pandemic. Every day we see the dramatic increase of new confirmed cases and the rise of the death toll. We wish to help specially to ensure that the medical communities and healthcare workers are well protected while treating these patients.”

Demonstrating its role as good corporate citizen, Novartis Indonesia is doing its part to ensure its employees are stay at home and work from home while adhering the physical and social distancing. “At the same time, we urged to contribute in a larger scale. The Global Fund has granted us with IDR 7.4 billion to be channeled through the Special Taskforce for Acceleration of COVID-19 Handling. We are convinced that our donation will be properly used by the Special Task Force to provide protection for the healthcare communities in giving the best treatment for the patients”.

“We would like take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to all healthcare workers for their commitment and hard work during these difficult times,” Jorge added.

Egy Massadiah, BNPB Expert Staff of Indonesia's Special Task Force for the COVID-19 Handling, highly appreciate Novartis Indonesia’s efforts in helping COVID-19 management in Indonesia. “We do hope that the actions taken by corporations such as Novartis can be a role model to be followed by others, and together we can overcome this pandemic quicker.”

According to Egy, what we need now to resolve the spread of COVID-19 is to unite and work together. “We will channeled the donation we received to help our medical society as the frontline, nurses, ambulance drivers, and janitors in the hospitals. Once again, thank you for your donation,” said Egy.