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March 19, 2008
20th March 2008 marks World Water Day, with international focus
on the need to improve access to the most basic water and sanitation
facilities. This annual event helps to reinforce global efforts
to meet the 7th Millennium Development Goal: to cut in half
the proportion of people without access to safe water and basic
sanitation by 2015. Currently more than 1.1 billion people (18%
of the world's population) lack access to safe drinking water.
Approximately 2.6 billion people (42% of world's population),
and 980 million of them children, lack access to basic sanitation.
Contamination of water supplies from improper disposal of liquid
and solid wastes challenges Egypt's limited water resources.
One programme that is helping to meet the 7th Millennium Development
Goal is taking place in rural Egypt, where up to 80,000 people
will benefit from improved water quality, reduced water health
hazards, and increased water productivity. This will be achieved
through enhanced management of liquid and solid wastes thanks
to a partnership between The Coca-Cola Company, U. S. Agency
for International Development (USAID), the Government of Egypt,
UNICEF and International Resources Group (IRG).
This activity is one of the projects conducted by the Water
and Development Alliance (WADA), a public-private partnership
between The Coca-Cola Company and USAID. This partnership started
in 2005 to help address issues of water scarcity, degraded water
quality and lack of basic water and sanitation services in developing
countries around the world. To date, with a combined investment
of $13.8 million, WADA is having a positive impact on the lives
of people and the health of ecosystems in 14 countries, 12 of
them in Africa, directly benefiting approximately 250,000 people.
The community activities carried out under WADA in Egypt and
elsewhere are just a few of over 100 projects in 49 countries
which The Coca-Cola Company has developed through its Community
Water Partnership (CWP) programme in partnership with local
Coca-Cola business units, foundations, bottling partners, government
authorities and international and local non-government organisations.
The CWP is one of the ways the Company is meeting its significant
aspirational pledge to return the water used in their drinks
and their production. This is being addressed by reducing
the amount of water used to produce their drinks, recycling
water used for manufacturing processes so it can be returned
safely to the environment and replenishing water in communities
and nature through locally relevant projects.
"The Coca-Cola Company is committed to the good health
and wellbeing of communities around the world. Water is our
most critical ingredient and is fast becoming one of the world's
most pressing global challenges. One vital way that our Company
is contributing to communities is through water stewardship
and the Community Water Partnership programme," said Steve
Leroy, Communications Director, Coca-Cola Europe.
"We are delighted to work with our programme partners
to help build sustainable communities here in Egypt and look
forward to a successful completion of this water quality project
in August which will benefit over 80,000 people. " said
Curt Ferguson, President, Coca-Cola North & West Africa
Business Unit.
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Note to Editors
The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners are the world's
leading producers of non-alcoholic beverages, with operations
in more than 200 countries, encompassing over 900 manufacturing
facilities. The Coca-Cola Company is committed to responsible
water stewardship across its global beverage operations. In
addition to direct funding support for projects through both
the company and its charitable foundations, the Company leverages
its global network of marketing, communications, and technical
experts, providing guidance and information to project stakeholders.
The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation
The Coca-Cola Company has a long history of engagement in Africa
and, through The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation created in 2001,
is now tying its business to the business of development. Enabling
healthy, prosperous communities by investing in critical priority
areas of Water, Entrepreneurship, Education and Health, Coca-Cola's
vision is to lay a strong foundation for the continent's long-term
social and economic growth, underpinning the timely attainment
of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Working in partnership
with Coca-Cola Bottlers in Africa, The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation
has also leveraged the System's unparalleled manufacturing and
distribution network, to access some of Africa's most remote
locations for community development and numerous disaster relief
efforts across the continent. The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation's
programmes are also designed to enable Coca-Cola employees to
contribute, either financially, through our employee-matching
programme, or in kind, by lending their expertise and time to
specific projects.
The United States Agency for International Development has
been providing water supply and sanitation services, promoting
hygiene behavior change, improving water resources management
for food security and livelihoods, and supporting the sustainable
management of watersheds in developing countries for over 40
years, including a significant commitment in recent years to
establishing public-private alliances for development.
World Water Day Statistics (Source UN Website)
- Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation and hygiene claim
the lives of more than 1.6 million young children every year
-- almost 5,000 children each day.
- It is estimated that by 2025 two-thirds of the global population
will live in water-stressed areas
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