P&G AND CARE ANNOUNCE COMMITMENT TO PROVIDE 100 MILLION LITERS OF CLEAN DRINKING WATER THROUGH INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIP

Over 18,000 thousand families have been provided with clean safe drinking water through Procter & Gamble’s Purifier of Water (formerly Pur) and Care Kenya’s Safe Water system program in Nyanza province reducing the occurrence of water borne diseases in the region.

 

This follows an earlier commitment by the two organizations to provide 100 million liters of clean safe drinking water in Kenya and Ethiopia through an investment of over $1 million dollars. The Safe Water System (SWS) is an inexpensive program of providing safe water at point of use through treatment, safe storage and behavior change. The system makes use of the P&G Purifier of Water sachet is a powdered mixture which purifies previously dirty and turbid water making it safe for drinking. SWS has so far provided  over 3.5 million sachets of P&G purifier of water supplies translating to 35,571,180 liters of safe drinking water to communities in Siaya, Gem, Ugunja and Ugenya and reaching out to  over 18,000 families.

 

Procter & Gamble Brand PR Manager Ms. Irene Mwathi said that the program continues to focus efforts on provision of clean drinking water through partnerships like the CARE schools program.

 

“Introducing the P&G Purifer of Water to children through school programs has a dramatic impact on the community-  the children are educated and empowered at an early age. They then take the benefits of  that knowledge back to their  home to their families. By investing in children, we enable them to make a difference every day in their communities,” said Ms. Mwathi.

 

The P&G program dubbed ‘Children’s Safe Drinking Water’ (CSDW) program was initiated in Kenya in 2006 to provide a solution to communities living in areas with water sources that are turbid. The program works with various implementing partners such as PSI and Care. In executing this particular program, CARE trains two teachers in each school as patrons of the program responsible for teaching improved hygiene behaviors, including hand washing, either directly or through school hygiene clubs. P&G then provides the sachets used to purify the water. The program provides over 17,000 liters of clean drinking water each day to students and their families.

 

"P&G and CARE have brought us a solution to our water problem, said Mr. Michael Ochieng Limbe, Head Teacher at Wambusa Primary School. “We are very pleased that now we have healthy school children free of dysentery.” Wambusa Primary is one of the 20 schools in the program.

 

An evaluation of the program identified a reduction in school absenteeism of more than 25 percent and because students took the messages home, there was nearly a 3-fold increase in household water treatment.

 

“P&G purifier of water is a simple, affordable and convenient   way to bring clean water to people,” explains Project Manager, Care Kenya. “CARE uses the P&G Purifer of Water packets to bring safe drinking water to homes, provide clean water to school children and help expectant mothers stay healthy and help prevent the spread of disease in Kenya, including HIV/AIDS.” He added “They are also an important part of our global emergency response programs”.

 

P&G’s collaboration supports CARE’s distribution of the water purification packets to reach over 350,000 people through community-based programs in schools and clinics in Kenya .

 

“The work being done through this partnership is a perfect example of our company’s Purpose in action,” said Ms. Mwathi. “P&G improves the lives of Kenyans through its innovative brands, dedicated employees, and educational and social programs made possible by partnership with others."

 

School, clinic and community programs are part of P&G’s long-term commitment to save one life every hour by providing clean drinking water around the world. These efforts were most recently recognized when P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program won the 2012 Economist Social Innovation Award for delivering more than 5 billion liters of clean drinking water to families in developing countries, helping save nearly 30,000 lives. The program has also received more than a dozen awards including: national inventor of the year award, popular mechanics breakthrough innovator awards, world technology awards among others. P&G has invested over $ 35 million (ksh 2.9 billion) towards this program since inception.