Dubbed "Write Her Future," the initiative sees the French beauty giant partner with CARE, an NGO operating in 94 countries that works to combat extreme poverty. With the help of its celebrity ambassadors, including Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Penélope Cruz, Lupita Nyong'o, Lily Collins, Isabella Rossellini and Taylor Hill, the brand is using social media to raise awareness of the staggering female illiteracy rates around the world -- a figure estimated by UNESCO to be 76 million.
"Literacy is one of the most defining human skills," said Hollywood legend Roberts in a statement. "We read and write -- that's how we communicate, how we share, how we express our feelings, and how we learn to understand the world. To not have that accessible to everyone everywhere is really a crime."
Lancôme is pledging to donate €2 million to CARE over the next five years, funding a literacy program in Morocco, as well as two further planned programs in Guatemala and Thailand, in a move it estimates will directly benefit more than 8,000 women.
Françoise Lehmann, Lancôme International President, referred to the program as "a natural affinity for Lancôme, whose mission, since the very beginning, has always been to help women in their quest for self-fulfillment and expression of what makes them unique."
Write Her Future is the latest of several female-focused social and philanthropic campaigns to be initiated by a major beauty brand. This January, Soap & Glory launched its "More Than Lips" campaign during the Women's March in Los Angeles, a social initiative promoting the stories of women and supporting the organization She Should Run, which aims to increase the number of women running for elected office to 250,000 by 2030. Similarly, Lush Cosmetics shone a spotlight on transgender rights this month with a 14-day campaign dubbed "Trans Rights Are Human Rights" that raised both awareness and funds for organizations supporting the trans community in North America.
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