The L'Oréal Foundation, in partnership with the association SOS Children's Villages, is launching its "Beauty for a Better Life" educational program in Beirut, in the presence of HE Elias Bou Saab, Minister of Education and Higher Education in Lebanon, future beneficiaries of the program, Lebanese personalities from the socio-political fields, and local media representatives.
Commenting on the event, Sara Ravella, Director of Communications, Sustainable Development and Public Affairs for L'Oréal and Director General of the L'Oréal Foundation, said: "Beauty for a Better Life enables vulnerable people to find their place in society thanks to training in beauty professions. This international program is based both on our professional expertise, which has been gathered over a period of more than a century, and the deep conviction shared by everyone at L'Oréal that beauty has a genuine social usefulness."
About Beauty for a Better Life
The mission of the international "Beauty for a Better Life" program, initiated and implemented around the world by the L'Oréal Foundation, is to help certain fragile communities regain self-esteem and reintegrate socially through free, top-quality beauty training programs (hairstyling, make-up and beauty care). Beauty-related professions are not only characterized by social interaction and service provision, but are also professions where passion, creativity and imagination take center stage. L'Oréal is convinced that these qualities positively impact one's self confidence and motivate the proactive development of one's future.
The beneficiaries of the program are mainly women from disadvantaged backgrounds; among them are the unemployed, the underprivileged, as well as those with school or family problems. The "Beauty for a Better Life" program deploys customized teaching methods characterized by reinforced instructor supervision in relation to a limited number of students. The training is both theoretical and practical and takes place in an authentic, specially-equipped salon.
In each country where the program is deployed, the L'Oréal Foundation works with a local partner (an NGO or association) that is perfectly familiar with the country's particular conditions and can identify the right beneficiaries. These partners are recognized experts in the fields of economic development and vocational training. In Lebanon, the program is being rolled out in partnership with SOS Children's Villages.
«"Beauty for a Better Life" program is designed to extend utmost support to SOS youth and other adolescents who have experienced different kinds of problems in their families or their societies as a whole. The theoretical and practical trainings are at the same time motivating and diploma awarding; this allows youth to be fully functional and promptly fit both at a social and professional level. After having finished their training, they can become financially independent and support their families", explains Malek Bekdache, General Manager of L'Oréal Levant.
SOS Children's Villages is an international humanitarian organization dedicated to providing family-based child care to children who have lost parental care and to preventing child abandonment through strengthening families at risk. The child lives in a family environment which guarantees him a stable emotional and educational situation until he is able to be autonomous. SOS Children's Villages tries to fulfill its mission to provide a loving home for every child
Mrs. Afifa Arsanios, President of the board of SOS Children's Villages Lebanon, praised the pioneering nature of this partnership between the private sector and non-governmental organizations ; an initiative that "creates new opportunities for young people, helping them enhance their potentials and build their self-confidence. SOS looks forward to more collaborations with L'Oreal and more engagement on a wider scale of socially responsible activities to reach new beneficiaries in Lebanon and to provide them with a better life through a beauty métier."
"Beauty for a Better Life" will be the first free institute for beauty profession training entirely dedicated to underprivileged people in Lebanon. More than 30 young people will take part in Year 1 of the program.
Key Facts
- 2009 saw the first initiatives that led to the creation of this educational program.
- "Beauty for a Better Life" has been established in almost 20 countries worldwide: from Latin America to Asia, through Europe and the Middle East.
- "Beauty for a Better Life" benefits more than 1,000 people in very difficult social or economic circumstances.
About the L'Oréal Foundation
The missions of the L'Oréal Foundation focus on two main causes, promoting science and providing help to the most vulnerable members of society. Conveying the values of excellence, generosity and creativity, science is at the core of the Foundation's commitments, most particularly its commitment to supporting women researchers through its "For Women in Science" program, a worldwide initiative in partnership with UNESCO. The Foundation's other commitments, whether reconstructive surgery, socio-esthetics or education, are based on a vision of beauty as a way to improve the lives of disadvantaged people and help them re-enter the world of work, a way to help them regain the sense of self-esteem and self-respect necessary for a life of dignity. www.fondationloreal.com
About SOS Children's Villages Lebanon
SOS Children's Villages Lebanon was founded in 1969. It is a non-profit private social association that responds to children's needs by providing family-based child care to those who have lost parental care and by preventing child abandonment through strengthening families at risk. Almost 3000 children and their care givers are supported by this association every year.
SOS is spread all over Lebanon:4 SOS Children's Villages in Lebanon in Bhersaf, Sferai, Kfarhay and in Ksarnaba, 7 SOS Youth Houses, 2 SOS Social Centers: SOS Social Center-Beirut that includes a handicraft atelier and SOS Social Center -Ksarnaba that includes a kindergarten, dental clinic and a mother and child health care unit to serve the SOS Children's Village, the families participating in the FSP and the surrounding community.
On an international level, Hermann Gmeiner established the first SOS Children's Village in Imst, Austria in 1949,. Since then, the work has expanded to include 134 countries, including, 11 in the Arab world. They are all active under the umbrella organization SOS Kinderdorf International, based in Innsbruck, Austria.
