Dele Ogbodo in Abuja
The Assistant Director, Global Government Relations, Sub Sahara Africa, Procter and Gamble (P&G), Ms. Temitope Iluyemi, on Wednesday said the company was committed to delivering 15 billion liters of clean water around the world by 2020.
Iluyemi, made the disclosure at the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ceremony in Abuja to mark its 10 billion liters of safe water supply for children within the last 12 years.
According to her, the Society for Family Health, Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in Niger Delta and Action against Hunger, the firm’s partners distributed over 175 million liters of clean drinking water since inception, adding that the outfit delivers its water purifier to people who lack clean water on regular basis.
“In 2004, after much research, the company created the Children Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) programme, a not for profit effort aimed at providing clean drinking water to disadvantage communities around the world.” she said.
As part of its CSR initiative, she, said P&G has found its greatest inspiration in transformation of lives with its products empowering people and communities all over the world.
According to her, access to clean water is one of the greatest challenges confronting humanity, adding that more than a thousand children die every day from disease caused by unclean water, which is more than the deaths from HIV/AIDS and malaria.
“Nearly 1,000 children die every day from diseases caused by drinking unsafe water.” she added.
In a remark, the former Head of Service of (HoS) and the Country WASH Ambassador, Mrs. Ebele Okeke, commended P&G for its efforts in providing safe water for children in 75 countries.
While acknowledging that schools in Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states have benefited from the initiative, she added that most children, especially those in the rural areas die young because of consumption of untreated water.
She however urged government to introduce the study of Hygiene and Sanitation into the school curriculum, adding that the introduction of hand washing initiative at schools, homes, churches and mosques hands at intervals will reduce deaths from communicable diseases by 50 percent.
Okeke called on government to increase its budgetary allocation to relevant agencies involved in water project and supply.
