A poster for anti-bleaching campaign. |Photo: Don't Bleach Junubia/Facebook.

A group of young South Sudanese girls has launched an online campaign against skin bleaching to advocate for women to maintain their natural color.

The campaign dubbed “Don’t Bleach Junubia” first started in 2020 on social media – where South Sudanese women challenged themselves to post their skin cosmetics to see if they are skin-lightening or not.

Sura Kenneth, a fourth year medical student at the University of Juba says she is concerned about the harmful substances in the skin bleaching creams and the rate at which they are sold and promoted in the country.

Speaking to Eye Radio on Tuesday, Sura, who is a member of the campaign said bleaching cosmetics are harmful.

“I was born dark and the lotion I use does not make me darker am naturally dark skin black and beautiful it’s just the melanin in me, bleaching creams are harmful,” she said.

The medical student said they started the campaign by posting their lotions online but are now doing awareness campaign through radio talk-shows and other activities.

“We started by posting the skin lotions we use and how they benefit our skin we did them in short videos and shared them online, some people liked it and started posting their lotions and how it’s healthy as well.”

She said using bleaching cosmetics damages skin by weakening skin layers. She urges young women and girls to first “look at the ingredients and see how bad it is” before buying the creams.

“If you started, you can stop and alternatively go for better options. If you are doing it for the beauty, there are many beauty tips we share on our campaign which are healthier and safer for your skin.”

Don’t Bleach Junbia is an online campaign that reportedly aims at creating awareness on the dangers of skin bleaching and to encourage embracing melanin.

The campaign uses social media platforms (Facebook) to send messages to the audience. It has about one thousand followers.

Skin bleaching is the use of products to lighten dark areas of the skin or achieve an overall lighter complexion.

These products include bleaching creams, soaps, and pills, as well as professional treatments like chemical peels and laser therapy.

There is no health benefit to skin bleaching.

Results aren’t guaranteed either that there’s evidence that skin lightening can result in serious side effects and complications.