Business
Unilever Sri Lanka supports 7,000+ school children with ‘Learning to Make a Difference’ initiative
Unilever Sri Lanka has embarked on the ninth year of its annual ‘Learning to Make a Difference’ initiative, designed to convert every employee manhour – spent on self- e-learning – to Rupees, to support the schoolchildren of its Saubhagya entrepreneurs. The funds collected are used to provide essential school supplies to aid the children in their education.
Saubhagya is one of the oldest government – private sector partnerships, operating in collaboration with the Samurdhi Authority of Sri Lanka. It helps rural women earn a sustainable livelihood by becoming direct-to-home ambassadors of Unilever products. Launched in 2003 with five brave women, the programme now engages with 5,000 Saubhagya entrepreneurs today.
‘Learning to Make a Difference’ has positively impacted the lives of over 7,000 schoolchildren since 2013, nourishing their learning ambitions. Among other things, each sponsored child receives a schoolbag, notebooks, colour pencils, pencil cases, mathematical instruments for geometry, and so on. In 2021, Unilever’s wellbeing team also contributed by converting their fitness hours towards this donation.
Said Ananya Sabharwal, HR Director of Unilever Sri Lanka, “We believe that the most meaningful way to learn, is to help others learn. Many of our employees shared with me that they took the time to engage in our e-learning courses knowing that it would make a difference in the life of a child. That is the power of purposeful learning which we have unlocked with our employees. Our ‘As you learn, they learn’ mindset has also given us the opportunity to invest in our own self-learning, digital and growth journey to sharpen our knowledge, skills and become more future-fit”.
To unlock the donation, employees are required to complete any number of courses that contribute to their individual and business growth on Unilever’s e-learning platforms. This is also based on the company’s global goal to ‘Reskill or upskill employees with future-fit skills by 2025’, a target which Unilever Sri Lanka hopes to accomplish sooner.
The Unilever Saubhagya programme also awards scholarships to the extended families of active Saubhagya entrepreneurs, who have excelled in diverse academic milestones such as Grade 5 scholarships, GCE O/L or A/L examinations. The programme also identifies students who display exceptional talents in arts and sports. Saubhagya so far has awarded 680 scholarships out of which, over 200 children have succeeded in their academic journeys and gained admission to Sri Lankan universities and vocational training centres.
Ceylinco Life’s Ambalantota branch agent AIP Manjula has been named one of three global finalists for the prestigious Insurance Agent of the Year award at the 11th Asia Trusted Life Agents & Advisers Awards (ATLAA) 2026.
The recognition places a Sri Lankan insurance professional among the finalists in a regional field spanning South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region.
Ceylinco Life said the achievement reflected the calibre and customer-focused approach of its agency force, while recognising Manjula’s professionalism and commitment to policyholders.
The award evaluates insurance agents on criteria extending beyond sales performance, including ethical conduct, client service, policy persistency, digital adoption, innovative practices and contributions to the insurance industry and community.
The awards are organised by Asia Advisers Network and Asia Insurance Review, with LIMRA as co-organiser. An independent judging and balloting process is monitored by KPMG as the official scrutineer. The judging panel comprises senior insurance executives, association presidents and industry experts from across the Asia-Pacific region.
CEAT Kelani Holdings (CKH) has retained its National Long-Term Rating of ‘AA+(lka)’ with a Stable Outlook from Fitch Ratings for the sixth consecutive year, reflecting the company’s financial resilience and leading position in Sri Lanka’s pneumatic tyre market.
The ‘AA+(lka)’ rating, the second-highest on Fitch’s national scale, indicates a very strong capacity to meet financial commitments.
Fitch said CKH’s established market leadership and resilient financial profile remained key strengths, while noting its exposure to price-sensitive, cyclical and highly competitive markets.
The Stable Outlook reflects expectations that the company will maintain its market position despite rising input costs and increasing competition from imported tyres, while preserving adequate credit metrics during periods of weaker earnings and higher investment.
Fitch expects CKH’s established brand, extensive dealer network and adaptive pricing strategies to support its market position. Planned production facility upgrades are also expected to improve product quality, particularly in the radial tyre segment.
The rating agency expects near-term pressure on margins from higher raw material and energy costs but said the company’s low leverage and sound liquidity would provide a cushion.
CKH Chairman Chanaka De Silva said the rating reinforced the company’s focus on disciplined financial management, operational adaptability and long-term investment.
SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise, the enterprise services arm of Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, has launched its Premium Cloud service powered by Nutanix, aimed at helping Sri Lankan businesses modernise their IT infrastructure and accelerate digital transformation.
The service was unveiled at the Lanka Tech Summit 2026 held recently at ITC Ratnadipa, Colombo.
The Premium Cloud combines hybrid multi-cloud capabilities with enterprise-grade performance, enabling businesses to run mission-critical workloads, scale cloud deployments and strengthen business continuity through disaster recovery capabilities.
Hosted on SLT-MOBITEL’s Tier III data centre infrastructure, the platform is designed to provide enhanced security, reliability and flexibility while supporting the growing technology requirements of enterprises.
SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise said the platform would also support organisations seeking to adopt AI-ready capabilities and improve the management and performance of IT workloads.
A key feature of the launch was SLT-MOBITEL Enterprise joining the Nutanix Elevate Service Provider Program (NESPP), which the company said made it the first service provider in the region to join the programme.
Powered by Nutanix’s hybrid multicloud platform, the service enables application and data mobility across on-premises environments, public clouds and edge locations.
The company said the partnership combined Nutanix’s cloud technology with SLT-MOBITEL’s local expertise and support, strengthening its multi-cloud portfolio.
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