Lifebuoy and Grey Pakistan rewrite poem to drive gender inclusivity in curriculum
Lifebuoy has created a campaign for the Ministry of School Education Punjab to drive gender inclusivity for girls in schools in Pakistan, where there is only 7% female representation in the curriculum.
The Punjab government is actively working toward generating better education opportunities for girls / Lifebuoy YouTube
The campaign, called ‘Mein Choti Si Aik Ladki Hoon’ (‘I am a little girl’) and created by Grey Pakistan, shows a young girl in school reading Jamiluddin Aali’s iconic children’s poem, which is told from a male perspective, in front of her class.
As she reads the poem, which highlights male gender roles in society, she is made fun of as the class realizes the irony. The young girl is upset and, after confiding in her mother, the latter decides to rewrite the poem.
This fictional story has become a reality as Lifebuoy has engaged acclaimed Pakistani literary figure Zehra Nigah to rewrite Aali’s poem. The revised poem is written through a female lens, aiming to inspire young girls to also dream big and address the imbalance of gender content and the lack of female inclusivity.
“The Punjab government is actively working toward generating better education opportunities for our children. We are acutely aware of the challenges faced by our girls and are working tirelessly to increase school attendance and retention rates and improve infrastructure facilities,” said Murad Raas, the honorable minister for school education in Punjab.
Asima Haq, director of beauty and personal care at Unilever Pakistan, added: “In 2018, Lifebuoy Shampoo embarked upon a journey to leverage education as a key enabler for females in Pakistan. This campaign reaffirms our commitment to girl empowerment at the grassroots level, where the impact is felt and needed most. We strongly believe that by educating a girl, you open up possibilities of a better future for her, her family and generations to come.”
There are further initiatives planned on top of the campaign, including comic books created by female artists to be distributed to schools nationwide and an anthem that showcases the many professions that girls can aspire toward.
