LONDON, March 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --
- Stand4her is Avon's global response to the barriers still
holding women back and aims to improve the lives of 100 million
women each year by advancing their earning potential through the
power of beauty, and their ability to live a safe and healthy
life
- The Avon Academy – one of world's largest training academies –
launches to train 500,000 Representatives each month to become
beauty entrepreneurs
- Stand4her responds to recent research that
finds:
-
- Only half of women feel they live in a culture that encourages
female entrepreneurs
- Advancing women's economic potential could increase global GDP
by $12-$28
trillion annually
- Nearly 80% of women believe beauty brands put too much pressure
on them to be perfect
- A fifth of women feel unsafe in their communities, and a third
will experience physical or sexual violence during their
lifetime
Today, Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) launches stand4her
– a global plan to tackle some of the greatest barriers that are
holding women back from achieving their full potential.
As part of the business strategy to 'Open Up Avon',
stand4her aims to improve the lives of 100 million women a
year by standing for: the freedom to work in your own terms and in
your own way; the power of beauty; safe and healthy
lives.
One of the first major initiatives in the 10+ year plan is the
launch of the Avon Academy which will train 500,000 entrepreneurs
every month, enabling more women around the world to earn money, in
their own way and on their own terms. The Academy will be one of
the largest training programmes in the world, and will provide
women with lifelong learning and flexible development
opportunities, delivered through a combination of online videos,
interactive learning modules and peer support.
The Academy will be available through Avon's new state of the art mobile-enabled
platform and through established face-to-face learning and support
programmes. The Avon Academy will help ensure that Representatives
are better equipped with the training, tools and techniques to
provide beauty advice in a more agile and engaging way to their
customers. Avon will continue to
test new concepts, learn new insights and share best practices –
scaling what works to more markets across the world.
Stand4her is being launched in response to new research,
commissioned by Avon with input
from Oxford Economics, which shows that despite the global increase
in flexible working patterns, women still feel they are held back
from running their own businesses. This underpins projections that
women's economic potential is being limited by as much as 50%,
creating a potential loss to annual global GDP of $12-28 trillion per year. The benefits of work
are far greater than economic with Avon's new research finding that:
- 77% of women say that working increases their confidence
- 65% of women say that working has improved the way in which
they are treated by others
- 74% of women say that working has increased their ability to be
a role model for their children
Avon's plan also aims to
address the belief that 80% of women have, that brands are putting
too much pressure on them to be perfect through a new brand
strategy launching later in Spring 2019.
Avon remains committed to its
goal to help eliminate gender-based violence against women and
girls and has exposed how far the epidemic contributes to women
being held back from advancing their lives – with the cost to the
economy of gender-based violence estimated at $4.4 trillion a year, corresponding to 5.2% of
annual global GDP.
Initiatives under stand4her include:
- Avon Fair for Her Programme, to help to
improve working conditions for c.250,000 women across Avon's supply chain. The programme aims to
enhance the social procurement programmes already in place to
ensure that women working in the third-party factories and fields
that supply Avon's products have
the best opportunities to advance their careers.
- Avon Foundation for Women Scholarship Programme
awards Representatives and their families with financial
contributions that cover educational costs, such as tuition
and associated costs, helping scholars pursue their lifelong
educational goals. Additionally, the Avon Foundation will
donate $100k to fund education
programmes for girls and women.
- The Avon Brand will encourage self-expression by
breaking down stereotypes through a new brand strategy which
democratises beauty representing women of all demographics,
ethnicities, sexualities and ages, providing accessible, quality
products at affordable prices, straight from the catwalk to the
sidewalk.
- The Avon Breast Cancer Promise, supported
by the Avon Foundation which aims to reach 100 million women
annually to ensure every woman knows the risks and signs of breast
cancer, and how and when to take action.
- The Avon Promise to Help End Violence Against Women and
Girls aims to educate 100 million women a year
about violence against women and girls by providing information on
where to seek help, encouraging conversation around the issue, and
improving support through partnerships with charities, awareness
events and changing global policies.
- Avon's Global Women's
Employee Strategy addresses the needs and
aspirations of female employees, as well as providing them
with the opportunity and working conditions to thrive.
Avon and the Avon Foundation
are exploring new collaborations with a range of organisations
throughout its value chain to help advise, enhance and launch
programmes under each strategic initiative, including Business for
Social Responsibility (BSR), Cherie Blair Foundation for Women,
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, Vital Voices,
Refuge and Cancer Research UK.
Jan Zijderveld, Avon Chief Executive Officer, said:
"Stand4her is what we do, every day – it's what we've been
doing for over 130 years. We're reigniting Avon's strong sense of purpose and doubling
down on our efforts to support women and provide more meaningful
and rewarding opportunities for our beauty entrepreneurs.
Our core purpose has never been more relevant. Today
female economic participation in the workforce remains below that
of men, but we can be an agent of change, challenges ingrained
barriers and open up opportunities. With 100 million women who work
with us and buy from us around the world, and millions more in the
communities in which we operate, Avon has a critical role – alongside other
partners – to make a real and lasting impact."
Cherie Blair, Founder of the
Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, said: "When you look at the
opportunities that women have forged in the last 20 years there is
so much to be proud of. But when you consider the enormity of the
entrepreneurial gender gap, it's a wakeup call to how many more
hurdles we have to work together to take down. The Cherie Blair
Foundation for Women are excited to collaborate with Avon on stand4her. Their plans are ambitious.
But they need to be. Women's entrepreneurship has the power to
change the world. As well as boosting global GDP, closing the
gender gap in entrepreneurship and fueling the growth of
women-owned enterprises will unleash new ideas, services and
products into our markets that will redefine the future."
www.stand4her.com
www.cherieblairfoundation.org
About Avon Products Inc.
For 130 years Avon has stood for women: providing
innovative, quality beauty products which are primarily sold to
women, through women. Millions of independent sales Representatives
across the world sell iconic Avon brands such as Avon Color and
ANEW through their social networks, building their own beauty
businesses on a full- or part-time basis. Avon supports women's empowerment,
entrepreneurship and well-being and has donated over $1billion to women's causes through Avon and the Avon Foundation. Learn more about
Avon and its products at
www.avonworldwide.com. #Stand4Her
Forward-Looking Statements
This material contains
"forward-looking statements" that are made pursuant to the safe
harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995, including statements relating to training initiatives.
Because forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and
uncertainties, actual future results may differ materially from
those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the
possibility of business disruption, competitive uncertainties, and
general economic and business conditions
in Avon's markets as well as the other risks detailed
in Avon's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Avon undertakes no obligation to update any
statements in this material after it is posted to the Investor
Relations section of our website.