Dove
Working with UNICEF to improve body confidence & self-esteem
Why we’re working together
Since 2019, Dove Self-Esteem Project and UNICEF have been in partnership with the aim to support children with self-esteem and body confidence education to overcome barriers and unlock their full potential. Together, we’ve reached millions of children across India, Indonesia and Brazil using transformative educational materials.
“When young people do not feel confident, their ability to be change-makers and build a stronger future diminishes. With the renewal of our partnership with Dove, even more young people will be supported to feel confident in their ability to stand up for their rights and fulfill their promising potential,” said UNICEF Director of Private Fundraising and Partnerships, Carla Haddad Mardini.
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What we’re doing
Together, we co-created comic books to deliver self-esteem and body confidence educational content to students aged 11-18. As part of our life-skills programme in India, we are enabling students to access this content, through physical and digitised comics available both in and outside classrooms. Since 2019, we’ve reached over 21 million children across eight states in India with this self-esteem education, so children are confident and supported to learn about their rights.
Recognising the important influence that parents and community members have on young people’s body confidence, Dove and UNICEF launched a social behaviour change campaign across five Hindi-speaking states. Our campaign aims to break false perceptions among parents and the wider community and encourage them to actively support boys and girls in becoming body-confidence champions. In 2025, our campaign reached more than 800,000 parents and community members with supportive self-esteem educational materials.
We’re addressing the issue
When young people are supported and encouraged to develop strong self-esteem, they gain the confidence and life skills that are essential for long-term success.
Strengthening their body confidence not only enhances their wellbeing but also increases their ability to stay engaged in education, transition effectively between stages, and ultimately complete their studies giving them the foundation they need to thrive in school, work, and life.
‘Since 2004, Dove has supported 136 million young people to build their body confidence and self-esteem. With so many young people feeling pressure to look a certain way, we hope that our partnership with UNICEF can support many more young people to advocate for themselves and challenge beauty standards’
