Nile Breweries Limited (NBL) has launched an Inter-University Smart Drinking Challenge among universities dubbed BeSmart DrinkSmart, Beera Mu Class to promote a culture of responsible drinking and reduce the harmful use of alcohol among the youth and University students. The campaign will see students from select universities battling themselves in creative extravaganza for four weeks.
NBL will be partnering with 5 universities which include; Makerere University, Mbarara University of Science & Technology (MUST), Kampala University, Soroti University and Kyambogo University.
“We aim to lead the industry in contributing to the reduction of the harmful use of alcohol. We believe in and share the WHO and UN Sustainable Development Goals’ ambition to reduce the harmful use of alcohol by 10% by 2025, this means that we have set ambitious
Global Smart Drinking Goals for ourselves and initiatives to support them,” said David Valencia, MD NBL.
“The Inter-Uni Smart Drinking Challenge, one of these, is aimed at influencing social norms and individual behaviors by challenging University students to submit the best ideas to encourage responsible behaviour among Youth,” he added.
NBL has invested Shs200M in the Beera Mu Class (Be Smart), which will see students compete in written, video, graphics and social media content forms to create winning concepts based on the theme BeSmartDrinkSmart, Beera Mu Class.
“We intend to create an interactive forum of champions of the behaviours and social norms that embody Smart Drinking in various universities in the country. We want to change lives together with our consumers such as the students,” said Onapito Ekomoloit, Legal & Corporate Affairs Director NBL.
According to Claire Asiimwe, the Project Manager, NBL through various CSR programs, Nile Breweries Limited has continued advocating for responsible consumption as well a supporting initiatives to formalize illicit alcohol in order to contribute to the reduction of harmful use of alcohol.
“NBL’s Smart Drinking goals have over the years been delivered through partnerships, a set of programs and initiatives for instance, in bars activations, awareness campaigns in traditional media and social media, social behavioral change campaigns such as No Excuse, road safety programs among others,” she said.
To join the challenge, students in the partner Universities will dial 2523# and follow prompts where they can submit their concepts in form of voice note, writing, video or art form. These will be subjected to the scrutiny of competent judges. Through taking part in this challenge they not only stand a chance to win Shs3 million in cash prizes but also exposure and opportunities to interact with their potential future employers.
Students can also submit their concepts via https://besmartdrinksmart.ug. The deadline for sending in ideas is September 30 2021.