Safe Drinking Water Programme Celebrates 10 Billion Litres of Clean Water

Machakos, Kenya, May 4^th 2016 – Procter & Gamble (P&G) today marked an important milestone of providing 10 billion litres of clean drinking water through their P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program, with 850 million liters going to needy communities in Kenya.

Since 2005, P&G has invested over a half a billion shillings (over Ksh. 500 million) and worked with 25 local and international partners to provide clean water in health clinics, schools and emergency relief efforts.

“In Kenya, 37% of people do not have access to safe drinking water and this impacts not only their health, but also their education and economic opportunities – thus perpetuating a seemingly inescapable cycle of poverty. It is for this reason that our P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program was initiated in order to help address the global clean drinking water crisis,” explains Mr. Vivek Sunder, Managing Director of P&G Kenya.

Speaking during the event, The First Lady of the Machakos County, Her Excellency Lillian N’gan’ga reiterated her commitment to uplifting the communities of Machakos through providing clean water.

“I am proud that corporates such as P&G have come to support our blueprint of providing water to every Machakos homestead by the year 2017. It is through such simple innovative yet effective ways of water purification that we can improve the lives of Machakos’ residents,” said Ms. N’gan’ga.

Machakos County is one of the regions that P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program has focused on, partnering with ChildFund to ensure access to clean drinking water, along with improved sanitation and hygiene promotion activities in areas where the available water is not protected and easily contaminated.

UNICEF estimates that 663 million individuals around the world do not have access to improved drinking water; of these, 319 million – nearly half – are in Sub-Saharan Africa. The effects of consuming dirty water are far reaching. Since 2015, water-related diseases, such as cholera and typhoid have affected communities in Nairobi, Eastern and Western provinces.

Children are particularly affected by this scourge. Diarrhoeal disease, usually caused by poor water quality, insufficient hygiene, or inadequate sanitation, is the third leading cause of death among children under five. It is estimated that almost 340,000 children globally die annually from these diseases – 3,100 of whom are Kenyans.        

“Clean water does not only quench thirst, promote health and prevent unnecessary deaths. It means more people can focus on work and economic activities, and enhances productivity at individual, household, community and even national levels. In fact, the World Health Organization has estimated that every 100 shillings invested in clean water, sanitation and hygiene generates 400 shillings in increased productivity, which enables sustainable and equitable economic growth,” says Sunder. 

P&G scientists used cleaning technology research to invent P&G Purifier of Water packets in partnership with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Company, which has a strong history of cleaning performance with brands such as Ariel detergent, Downy fabric softener and Crest toothpaste, used its innovative capability to pack the power of a water treatment plant into a small 4 gram sachet. The technology is simple to use, with only a bucket, a spoon, a cloth and a small P&G packet, people can purify 10 liters of dirty, potentially deadly water in only 30 minutes providing enough drinking water for a family of five for one day.

Looking towards the future, P&G has pledged to deliver 15 billion litres of clean water globally by 2020 through the Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program. “That’s five billion more litres of clean water in just four years to help play our part in the global efforts to achieve one of the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals – Goal #6 aims to ensure availability of safe water and proper sanitation for all. P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Programme is committed to continuing its work in Kenya and the rest of the world, in order to ensure that even more communities have their lives enhanced by this basic human right,” concludes Sunder.