Supporting Women’s and Girls’ Education and
Financial Independence Worldwide

Shiseido brands and regional headquarters overseas are cooperating to support the education and the independence of socially vulnerable women and girls with the aim of resolving global gender issues and empowering women.

Clé de Peau Beauté: Supporting Education for Girls

In April 2023, Global luxury brand Clé de Peau Beauté and UNICEF^*1 have announced a three-year extension of their partnership dedicated to addressing gender inequality with a focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, employment, and empowerment programs for girls.

The partnership began in 2019 and was renewed in 2023 with the new goal of reaching 5.7 million girls in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Namibia, Niger, Peru, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam by 2025. After one year of the renewed partnership, the supported programs have already reached more than 3 million girls.

To see this impactful work in action, in March 2024, a group of Clé de Peau Beauté and UNICEF representatives, recently visited Bangladesh – one of the partnership’s main supported regions – to witness the benefits up close. The team visited schools that have adopted gender-transformative and skill-oriented curricula, which aims to modernize the education system through an effective and more engaging educational approach.
They also had the opportunity to visit workplaces that provide skills training through the Skills4Girls program. This program is designed to equip the most marginalized out-of-school girls with transferable skills and connect them with employment opportunities.

One of the Skills4Girls graduate shared her personal story: ”Since childhood, I aspired to learn computer skills, but financial constraints halted my education. Thanks to the Skills4Girls computer training course, I've gained diverse skills and am now working as a trainer myself. I've shattered the belief that girls can't excel because we can achieve anything. No boundaries can confine me now.”

Clé de Peau Beauté has pledged the world's largest private sector contribution of US$17.4 million to UNICEF’s Gender Equality Program since the partnership started in 2019. This contribution is funded through the brand’s global Cause-Related Marketing Campaign^*2, where US$3 from every purchase of The Serum, one of the brand’s best-selling products, benefits UNICEF’s on-the-ground work.

*1：UNICEF does not endorse any company, brand, product, or service
*2：A cause-related marketing campaign whereby US$3 from every purchase of The Serum between January 1 and December 31, 2023, was donated to support UNICEF’s programs for the education and empowerment of girls around the world.

Click here for Clé de Peau Beauté global partnership with UNICEF.

UNLOCK THE POWER GIRLS

Additionally, Clé de Peau Beauté's long-term philanthropic commitment includes the annual 'Power of Radiance Awards―a philanthropic endeavor to honor women from around the world who have acted to drive positive change through knowledge since 2019. In 2024, the Power of Radiance Awards recognized Ms. Reshma Saujani from New York, US in recognition for her extensive work championing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education for girls.
Ms. Saujani has dedicated herself to empowering and increasing the number of girls in computer science through the founding of Girls Who Code, an international non-profit organization working to close the gender gap in technology.

The ‘Power of Radiance Awards’ are funded^*3 by a percentage of global sales of The Serum. The brand will continue to support women who have a positive impact on society and celebrate all women’s aspirations to be beautiful and strong, both inside and out.

*3：Grants from the Power of Radiance Awards are donated to a charitable organization of the award recipient’s choice in support of educational initiatives.

Click here for information on the Power of Radiance Awards.

Click here for information on Clé de Peau Beauté.

Ms. Reshma Saujani, recipient of the 2024 Power of Radiance Awards

Shiseido Travel Retail: Supporting Marginalized Women and Girls in Cambodia

In 2020, Shiseido Travel Retail partnered with Friends-International in the “Empower Her” initiative, which aims to help young women from disadvantaged backgrounds in Cambodia break the cycle of poverty by providing them with education, vocational training, and access to job opportunities in the beauty industry. In support of the initiative, we have made cash donations and contributed beauty products, and we have also been involved in the development of the training curriculum. In 2023, 108 women received vocational beauty training, and 57 of whom were given the opportunity for employment.
In 2022, we formed a partnership with Un Village Sous Les Etoiles (UVSLE) to expand our activities. Through UVSLE, we constructed Opportunity Village, which provides vulnerable Nepalese girls between the ages of 4 and 18 with homes, medical care, education and vocational training in a safe environment. We also help them start their careers, including the launch of microbusinesses. By 2023, 109 women had received training, 10 launched microbusinesses and 33 had opportunities to live in Opportunity Village.

Beauty training in progress

Support for the Independence and Higher Education of Children who Live at Childcare Facilities or with Foster Parents

With the vision, “Aiming for a society in which all children are brimming with smiles and shining in their own way,” the Shiseido Child Foundation*1 supports children through three pillars of activities: “Supporting Children’s Challenge for the Future” to help them prepare themselves for challenges brought by adulthood, “Creating Opportunities to Learn for People who Nurture Children” to provide training for child welfare facility personnel, and “Creating a Society in which Children are Supported by Everyone” to disseminate information to the general public.

As part of “Supporting the Children’s Challenge for the Future,” the Foundation organizes Self-Reliance Seminars in cooperation with Shiseido Japan Co., Ltd., Aoki Inc., Recruit Co., Ltd., and other companies and organizations, to enable junior high school and high school students who receive social care*2 to acquire social knowledge and skills from specialists so that they can live independent lives. In FY2023*3, more than 350 children participated in these seminars. In addition, the scholarship program launched in 2007 to support students entering universities, junior colleges, and vocational schools, supported 16 recipients in FY2023, making the total number of recipients 88. Other activities included training staff of child welfare facilities as part of “Creating Opportunities to Learn for People who Nurture Children” and subsidizing child abuse prevention awareness events and seminars for families raising children throughout Japan for “Creating a Society in which Children are Supported by Everyone.”

Self-reliance Seminar

The logomark was renewed in concurrence with the name change in 2022.

*1：In October 2022, the name was changed from the Shiseido Social Welfare Foundation to the Shiseido Child Foundation in commemoration of its 50th anniversary.
*2："Social care" refers to the public responsibility of protecting children who are unable to live with their parents by caring for them and providing support to households with difficulty finding childcare. About 42,000 children in Japan are receiving social care.
*3：FY2023 refers to April 2023 to March 2024

Click here for the activities of the Shiseido Child Foundation.

ABOUT US