CB BureauMondelez India announced its national community initiative Shubh Aarambh to address the development needs of children by promoting healthy and active lives. The programme is expected to impact close to 200,000 beneficiaries across 5 states over the next 3 years.
Shubh Aarambh will be initially activated in 65 villages across the states of Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu – around the company’s manufacturing and cocoa operations. The company has partnered with NGOs Save the Children and Magic Bus to develop a delivery model to implement this multi-pronged and multi-year programme in India. The programme is supported by Mondelez International Foundation in addition to local funding.
Shubh Aarambh is designed to address children across the age groups of 0″6 and 7″14 and the youth in the 15″18 age group, and will have a holistic approach to development. Working alongside parents, educators and community health workers, the programme aims to improve nutrition and health, encourage sports and play, deliver development messages, provide access to fresh foods through kitchen gardens, train youth leaders, and encourage and support education and skills development.
In the company’s media release, Chandramouli Venkatesan, managing director, Mondelez India, said, ‘Shubh Aarambh is symbolic of new beginnings for young children and youth in the communities in which we operate. As a company, we believe good values and good business go hand in hand, and we hope to see the programme gaining acceptance and growing over the years into a programme that has made a real difference to communities and achieved key development goals. Our vision is that Shubh Aarambh will create a long-term grassroots, sustainable model that will build communities of healthy, educated and productive young people. Given the importance of India to Mondelez International, we are delighted to receive initial funding from our global foundation for the next three years to build and sustain the programme.’