Our actions

Empowering Women

42 731

women supported

The relationship between L’OCCITANE and Burkina Faso's female shea butter producers first began in the 1980s. Since then, L’OCCITANE has built up a long-term and fair partnership with these women. At the start, just a dozen women were involved. Today, over 10,000 are working for the partnership!

Since 2013, L’OCCITANE has also been recognised as an exemplary company in Burkina Faso by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). 
In the same vein, the L’OCCITANE Foundation has been focusing its efforts on female leadership since 2006.  In rural areas, it develops literacy programmes with the NGO Aide et Action, and funds microcredit and socioeconomic training projects with the charity Entrepreneurs du Monde. It also supports education access projects for girls with UNICEF, contributing to their emancipation and independence. In 2016, the Foundation started the L’OCCITANE pour Elles programme to boost the creation and development of businesses led by women. It also supports a project to provide training on trades in rural areas, in collaboration with the NGO Empow’Her.

The Foundation recently adopted a new strategy, focusing its actions on apprenticeship projects (in particular girls' education) and trades trainings, but also on entrepreneurial projects with a strong social and/or environmental impact. Exceptionally, the Foundation supports emergency actions in favor of displaced girls and women in the country.

Since 2006, over 42,000 women have been supported in Burkina Faso.

Calls for Projects

The 2020-2021 Call for Projects is currently closed. You can find out more about this year selected projects on the Foundation's website and social media.

Supported projects