https://youtu.be/r5I42yGN068
Imagine if drinking dirty water on a daily basis was your only option? According to the World Health Organization, more than 844 million people globally still don’t have access to clean drinking water and nearly 1,000 children die every day from water-borne diseases that’s more than HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. Access to clean water changes lives by transforming communities, improving health, enabling education and increasing economic opportunities.
World Water Day (22 March 2019) is a reminder that water security is everyone’s responsibility, from each consumer to manufacturer to community, it’s why the UN has prioritised its Sustainable Development Goal #6, which aims to ensure clean water and proper sanitation for all by 2030.
Proctor & Gamble Commit to Providing Cleaner Water Around the World
Global consumer goods leader, Procter & Gamble (P&G) has achieved its 2020 goal of delivering 15 billion litres of clean drinking water to people in need around the world, through its non-profit Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) Program, one year ahead of schedule and is now focused on accelerating its efforts to help provide clean drinking water to even more people by delivering 25 billion litres – more than 100 billion glasses of water – worldwide by 2025. As part of the global campaign, P&G South Africa has set a 2019 target to deliver 1.5 million days of clean drinking water to local families in need.
CSDW has enjoyed success through the distribution of an easy to use Purifier of Water sachet, invented by P&G scientists, which together with a bucket, a stick and a clean cloth, can turn 10 litres of dirty, potentially deadly, water into clean, drinkable water in only 30 minutes.
P&G Sets New Goal to Deliver 25 Billion Litres of Clean Drinking Water to Families in Need Worldwide
This World Water Day (22 March 2019), Procter & Gamble (P&G) is celebrating the achievement of its 2020 goal of delivering 15 billion litres of clean drinking water through its non-profit Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) Program. P&G is now accelerating its efforts to help provide clean drinking water to even more people by delivering 25 billion litres – more than 100 billion glasses of water – worldwide by 2025.
“We are proud to have reached this 15 billion litres milestone and are inspired by the even greater impact we can make through our new goal,” said David Taylor, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of P&G. “This easy-to-use technology has helped many families over the past 15 years, and we’re eager to help even more in the years to come.”
Since the program launched in 2004, P&G has worked closely with a network of more than 150 partners to raise awareness of the global water crisis and provide water to families in more than 90 countries through a simple purification process invented by a P&G laundry scientist. With just one Purifier of Water sachet, a bucket, a stick and a clean cloth, 10 litres of dirty, potentially deadly, water can be turned into clean, drinkable water in only 30 minutes.
UNICEF estimates that women and children spend 40 billion hours each year collecting and managing water that is often contaminated. In fact, nearly 1,000 children die every day from water-borne diseases – more than HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. The United Nations has prioritized the need to address this through UN Sustainable Development Goal #6 which aims to ensure clean water and proper sanitation for all by 2030.
To date, P&G’s efforts to provide access to clean water are transforming communities by improving health, enabling education and increasing economic opportunities. “P&G is committed to fighting the world water crisis, in partnership with NGOs, governments, companies, and consumers. We have set a goal for Southern Africa in 2019 to raise 1.5 million days of clean drinking water for local communities in need,” says Jeanne du Plessis, Corporate Affairs & Citizenship Leader, P&G Southern Africa.
Gift of the Givers and Water Purification
Disaster response and management organisation, Gift of the Givers, works together with P&G in Southern Africa to distribute the P&G Purifier of Water sachets to communities in need.
According to Gift of the Givers, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Badr Kazi, “There is still a huge shortage of access to clean water for millions of people in South Africa and neighbouring countries. People without access to clean water still drink water from the rivers or streams that are shared with cattle or drink untreated water from well points and tanks. This presents a major risk due to lack of hygiene and the spread of disease. P&G’s Purifier of Water sachet solution works to neutralise pathogens (including e.coli, typhoid, coliforms, viruses) and metals (iron, lead, cyanide) while removing after-taste and water discolouration, providing a safe, practical and easy-to-use filtration system, particularly in disaster and water stressed circumstances.’’
“Water security is not only the responsibility of governments. What Day Zero has taught us is that everyone – from each consumer to each manufacturer to each community – needs to play their part”,
** For every P&G product consumers purchase during the month of April 2019 from participating Massmart stores, P&G will provide the equivalent of one day of clean water to help children and their families.
To learn more about the Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program, visit www.csdw.org/.
Note: P&G has partnered with National Geographic again this year to celebrate World Water Day and share the stories of five “Water Champions” – who are working each day, individually and collectively with P&G, to help solve the water crisis. To learn more about the partnership with National Geographic celebrating World Water Day, visit www.nationalgeographic.com/pgwaterchampions.
Follow P&G on Twitter @PGSouthAfrica, Facebook @PGSouthAfrica, Instagram proctergamble and take a look at the tags #CleanWaterChangesLives
** This is a post in partnership with P&G and Atmosphere, bringing their story to my readers. It is not sponsored. Pics supplied.
