International mobilisation for L'Oréal Citizen Day 2016

The 2016 Citizen Day showed once again that together we can make the world more beautiful.

“For the seventh year in a row, every L’Oréal employee was given the opportunity to play an active part in the group’s citizen engagement programme. Together, we can have a positive impact on the world around us,” said Jean-Paul Agon, who is a key supporter of the initiative.

More than 500 associations in 70 countries benefited from the generosity and enthusiasm of L’Oréal employees on this memorable occasion. A record number of 28,000 volunteers took part worldwide, proof that commitment to our community initiative grows stronger every year!

This commitment helps change the daily lives of more than 150,000 people through local associations that take action in our five priority areas: Engaging for Integration, Disability, Environment, Acting for Employment and Sharing at All Ages.

Almost 1,600 employees in China put their energies into helping the children of migrant workers. In Peru, volunteers worked alongside residents to rehabilitate a deprived district of Lima. In Hong Kong, 320 kg of waste was collected from local beaches in a massive coastal clean-up initiative. In Lebanon, employees hand-made 280 terracotta bricks according to Lebanese tradition to build a 100% educational eco-farm. In Taiwan, 148 elderly people were treated to a special day of wellbeing workshops and fun activities organised by the subsidiary’s employees. Similar to the Beauty Days organised in several countries, including Belgium, the Baltic States and Russia, which again opened their L’Oréal Academy to people in difficult circumstances, who were happy to be given this special experience helping to restore their self-confidence.

More than 7,000 photos shared on the L’Oréal Citizen Day app and on social media (hashtags #citizenday and #weareloreal) were evidence of the beauty and power of this collective engagement, the pride employees felt in letting their friends and followers know that, for a day, they were able to put a smile back on people’s faces and change the everyday lives of thousands of deserving people.

Citizen Day is all about creating a long-term impact. The desire to do more prompted some countries to invite employees to get involved all year round, so that their actions would have a lasting impact. In France, employees can respond to advertisements for volunteer work throughout the year on the pilot platform www.citizentime.fr. In Mexico, a Citizen Day partner organisations forum was held recently to enable employees to continue making a difference, either through donations or affinity purchasing schemes. Finally, the Philippines offered their employees an optional half-day a month, i.e. a total of six days a year, working for Citizen Day partner associations. The impact of Citizen Day is increasing year on year and it’s thanks to each and every L’Oreal Employee.