P&G’s Commitment to providing 25 Billion Liters of Clean Drinking Water by 2025 is Worth Celebrating

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 844 million people globally do not have access to clean drinking water. UNICEF estimates that women and children spend 40 billion hours each year collecting and managing water that is often contaminated. Statistics of this nature have been consistent for years.

The United Nations has prioritized the need to address this through UN Sustainable Development Goal #6, which aims to ensure clean water and proper sanitation for all by 2030.

Most times, these underserved people drink water directly from rivers, lakes or ponds, all of which are still not safe. Not to say they have a choice between safe or unsafe drinking water, but the choice is between waterborne diseases and dehydration.

Procter and Gamble, makers of iconic brands such as Always and Ariel are celebrating the achievement of its 2020 goal of delivering 15 billion liters of clean drinking water through its non-profit Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) Program. The Company is now accelerating its efforts to help provide clean drinking water to more people by delivering 25 billion liters – more than 100 billion glasses of water – worldwide by 2025.

P&G announced this new goal at an event co-hosted by Global Citizens and P&G. The event featured key stakeholders like the Minister of Water Resources, the Edo, Cross River and Ondo state governments, Leaders from Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), Society for Family Health (SFH), Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), as well as Nigerian-American actor Uzo Aduba and female musician, Falana amongst others.

Stakeholders at the event emphasized the need to work together to ensure that more Nigerians have access to safe drinking water. The Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu called for an end to open defecation while Director of Global Government Relations, P&G, Temitope Iluyemi called for an education campaign where one and all understand the importance of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).

Since the P&G Children Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) program launched in 2004, P&G has worked closely with a network of more than 150 partners to raise awareness of the global water crisis and provide water to families in more than 90 countries through a simple purification process invented by a P&G laundry scientist. With just one packet of the P&G purifier, a bucket, a stick and a clean cloth, 10 liters of dirty, turbid water can be turned into clean, drinkable water in only 30 minutes. Through the CSDW Program, 240 million liters of clean drinking water have been delivered to Nigerian families in dire need of clean water.

P&G’s efforts to providing access to clean water are transforming communities, improving health, enabling education and increasing economic opportunities in Nigeria. Through partnerships with organizations like Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) and Society for Family Health, P&G continues to drive its initiative of providing clean water and behavior change efforts in Nigeria.

P&G is also partnering with National Geographic again to celebrate World Water Day and share the stories of five “Water Champions” – who are working each day, individually and collectively with P&G, to help solve the water crisis.