The Coca-Cola Company

Company's Post-Tsunami Partnership With UN Foundation Selected As Finalist For Major Citizenship Award

August 18, 2006 edition

Our Company’s post-tsunami water and sanitation initiative with the United Nations Foundation (UNF) has been selected as one of five finalists in the "Partnership Award" category of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s 2006 Corporate Citizenship Awards.

This is a "People’s Choice" award; anyone with an e-mail address can vote through September 15 by visiting the Chamber’s website (www.uschamber.com/bclc/awards). The winner will be announced on November 8 at an awards dinner in Washington, D.C.

Following the tsunami disaster in December 2004, the Company and its bottling partners contributed sustained support to large-scale relief and reconstruction efforts. Mindful of the need to stay engaged over the long haul, the Company forged a partnership with the UNF in early 2005 to find ways to contribute to the UN’s longer-term tsunami recovery efforts in Asia with an emphasis on community water and sanitation needs.

Working in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the partnership is helping remote, tsunami-hit areas of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Thailand to "build back better" by expanding community access to water and sanitation services and infrastructure. For example, in the fishing village of Sanga-U, located at the southern tip of Thailand’s Lanta Island, 10 check dams have been built to collect and retain rainwater for 117 households.

The partnership extends far beyond traditional corporate philanthropy by harnessing the Coca-Cola system's non-cash resources, skills and competencies. For example, last November we loaned one of our Asia-based managers to the UNDP Regional Centre in Bangkok on a one-year assignment, where he is playing an instrumental role in managing the partnership activities across the region and building long-term relationships with the UNDP and UNF with a focus on water sustainability.

Multi-sector teamwork continues to be crucial in the tsunami rebuilding process. This project is about listening to the water and sanitation needs of tsunami-hit communities and responding in a way that’s relevant and sustainable. We’re making progress and learning all the time -- there’s plenty of potential in partnerships like this as the Company delivers on its Planet commitments.

Building on the collective trust formed through this post-tsunami partnership, the Company and the UNF have since joined forces with corporations, foundations and aid organizations to establish the Global Water Challenge, a multi-year initiative to provide safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene education to underserved communities in the developing world.

And, furthering the spirit of collaboration with the UN system, the Company in March 2006 joined the UN Global Compact, the world's largest voluntary initiative to promote responsible corporate citizenship.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Corporate Citizenship Awards program showcases businesses, trade associations and chambers of commerce and their partners who have demonstrated ethical leadership and corporate stewardship, and made a difference in their communities and to society. The Chamber’s inaugural "Partnership Award" honors a charitable organization and their business partner for their ability to collaborate to address an important social issue.

To learn more about our innovative partnership with the UNF and cast your vote, please visit www.uschamber.com/bclc/awards.

Read our Company’s Corporate Responsibility Review.