As the world marks World Water Day and National Water Week in South Africa from March 20th to 26th, Procter & Gamble (P&G) stands in solidarity with the United Nations and the South African government in highlighting the fundamental human right to accessible clean and safe drinking water.
This year’s World Water Day theme, “Accelerating Change to Solve the Water and Sanitation Crisis,” is particularly significant to P&G’s long-standing commitment to improving access to safe drinking water through the Children’s Safe Drinking Water Programme. In the late 1990s, P&G scientists invented the P&G Purifier of Water technology while attempting to clean dirty laundry water. When the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) Program was established in 2004, nearly 4,000 children were dying each day as a result of illness caused by drinking dirty water.
“The rollout of the CSDW easy-to-use water purification packet is a significant milestone in our commitment to this cause. Over the past few years, we have successfully rolled out CSDW packet in Sub-Saharan Africa, where community projects have shown the effectiveness of this technology, said Alicia Eggington, Vice President, and General Manager for South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia
“The CSDW packet forms part of P&G’s temporary solution especially in case of emergency and rapid response for communities. For a long-term solution, we have worked with various organisations to drill boreholes and provide continuous access to clean, safe drinking water”. She further emphasized that every stakeholder has a role to play in improving access to safe drinking water, and P&G is committed to making this happen.
Unfortunately, access to safe drinking water remains a significant challenge in some areas, particularly in regions affected by natural disasters and other emergencies.” Anele Nzimande, Communications Manager at P&G expressed concern over the recent cholera outbreak in South Africa and acknowledged the urgent need for access to safe drinking water in affected areas.
“Our CSDW packets are a simple solution that provides safe drinking water in emergencies and disasters, and in areas where access to clean water is limited,” Nzimande said. She added, “P&G believes that a large part of the sustainability goals will be determined by humanity’s ability to protect our water resources.
P&G stands with the South African government in recognizing the importance of access to safe drinking water for all, as we commemorate National Water Week.