World Water Day: How Nestlé improves access to clean water in West and Central Africa



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Nestlé works with communities around its plants to help people lead healthier lives by providing free access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation as part of its commitment to: raise awareness of water conservation and improve access to water and sanitation along its value chain.

The society believes that access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is a fundamental human right that contributes to reducing mortality and morbidity rates, to strengthen the resilience of communities and to preserve the dignity of the person.

In Central and West Africa, Nestlé works with its partners to improve the lives of local residents by building and repairing damaged water points, raising awareness of the importance of safe water for schoolchildren and teachers, and advocating the best water management. as part of its contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6: Sanitation and Sanitation.

"Free access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene is a basic human right," said Rémy Ejel, market manager at Nestlé CWA Ltd. "We want, together with our partners, to make a real contribution to society by helping more people to access them," he added.

The company's efforts are aimed at highlighting the importance of World Water Day 2019, supporting this year's theme, "Do not leave anyone behind".

Partnership for safe water

More than 2,000 people in the eastern Ghanaian district of Ayensuano now enjoy safe drinking water after Nestlé's merger with International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to to build three new holes.

Clean water is available to children in two local schools where two of the drill holes were constructed. Five water points have also been repaired in the community to reach more people in the neighboring villages.

"Water is rare in this community," said Grace Owu, a mother of four. "We have to travel for miles to get access to water. Sometimes children have to walk in the morning with their sponge and towel for washing and go get water for housework. Because of the distance to the river, they end up late for school and miss morning clbades.

"Some of the children are also swimming in the ayesu, a river in the community infected with diseases such as schistosomiasis. Thanks to Nestlé and the IFRC, we now have wells in the community that allow us and our children to have clean drinking water every day, "said the 48-year-old baker.

Nestlé started working with the IFRC in 2002 to improve access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in rural communities in Côte d'Ivoire. The partnership has helped build thousands of community and school latrines, build water pumps and educate thousands of children about good hygiene practices.

Since 2015, Nestlé and IFRC have expanded their partnership in Ghana. The project has helped to improve access to sustainable WASH services for more than 76,300 people living in 50 communities in rural Ashanti and East, providing more than 40 points of service. water and 110 toilets.

"We have relied heavily on surface waters, which dry up during the Harmattan season," said Eric Awuku, a 34-year-old Ghanaian farmer. "It makes life difficult in this community for young and old alike.

"Fortunately, Nestlé and the IFRC came to our aid with clean water points. Children can now leave the house early to go to school because they do not have to travel miles to get water for the house, "said the father of four.

Philomena Tan, CEO of Nestlé Ghana, praised the partnership with the IFRC and called on other institutions to join forces to send WASH services to disadvantaged communities. "Water is life and collective efforts are needed to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 – Water and Sanitation. At Nestlé Ghana, we will continue to help bridge the WASH gap in Ghana through partnerships such as this, in addition to government efforts. Reaching more communities around the world by 2030

Nestlé also supports the IFRC program Global Initiative for Water and Sanitation, which aims to reach 30 million people around the world by 2030.

The company aims to provide 600,000 local communities with free access to water supply, sanitation or hygiene projects around its production sites and major supply chains. By 2020. Provide safe and healthy drinking water to communities.

Nearby communities nearby Banendale, Bonaberi in Cameroon now has free access to safe water after building a borehole at the Nestlé plant in 2012. Today, about 40 people a day come to the borehole to collect water healthy – never having access to clean drinking water.

Earlier this year, three new fountains were also built at the Abaji plant in Nigeria, providing drinking water to thousands of people in surrounding communities.

In addition, four fountains were built at the Flowergate plant; with four others have just been inaugurated on the occasion of this international day.

In Senegal, about 2,000 people also have access to drinking water from a water point in the Nestlé factory in Dakar.

Raise awareness about the importance of access to water

In Nigeria, Nestlé seeks to raise awareness of the importance of access to water, support early education in water and promote good hygiene by engaging with about 50 schoolchildren and their teachers across the country. its Agbara plant on World Water Day.

Nestlé Waters has also trained teachers and schoolchildren on water conservation and conservation as part of the WET project, which has benefited more than 8,000 students and 420 teachers in 140 schools across the country.

Alliance for Water Stewardship Certification

Nestle Waters, Nigeria is committed to realization certification of the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) by 2020 to benchmark its activities against global best practices in water management – five years earlier than the company's goal of certification AWS from all of its sites.

Until now he has collaborated with the community through many programs, sensitized to the use of water in the area and helped to provide drinking water to the inhabitants of the locality.

As part of the NW As part of Nigeria's water management strategy, groundwater badessments will be conducted every five years in its watersheds to understand the impact of water withdrawals and identify potential contaminants.

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