Procter & Gamble invests Sh300m for 71 million litres of clean water

Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Care International are celebrating the provision of 71 million liters of clean water to Nyanza region through a Sh300 million investment.

The investment is part of the firm's Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) program.

The program has so far gratified 150,000 households in Migori and Siaya counties and has assisted the Kisumu County Government in flood areas and during cholera outbreaks.

P&G’s initiative to provide clean drinking water is geared towards reducing sickness and death in children who drink contaminated water which complements the Government’s pledge to providing universal health care.

“According to water.org, 41 per cent of Kenyans still rely on unimproved water sources, such as ponds, shallow wells and rivers. Stakeholders in private and public sector need to collaborate to improve this situation. Access to clean water would drastically reduce the number of diarrheal deaths by 34 per cent. Knowing this drives us to continually put in place interventions in collaboration with our partners, in order to make clean water available for all,” said George Owuor, Head of Government Relations P&G East Africa.

From Left: Job Wasonga, Project Manager Care International, Kisumu County's First Lady Dorothy Nyong'o, Dorcas Wasonga and P&G representative Joyce Kariuki.

The Children’s Safe Drinking Water program has been in effect in Kenya for over 12 years, providing over 1 billion litres of clean water in rural and peri-urban areas. The program issues P&G Purifier of Water sachets, a low-cost powdered technology in a packet that is designed to purify heavily contaminated drinking water and get it to WHO standards for safe drinking water.

Each 4-gram packet of P&G Purifier of Water turns 10 liters of dirty, potentially deadly water into clean and drinkable water in minutes.

The CSDW program currently runs in several counties including: Machakos, Kajiado, Taita Taveta, Narok, Kisumu, Isiolo, Marsarbit, Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Samburu, Lakipia, Muranga, Homa Bay and Makueni.

The Transformation of Water

P&G invested over Sh300 million during the screening of their Transformation of Water documentary in Kisumu County.

The documentary, produced in conjunction with National Geographic, vividly tells the story of communities that lack access to clean drinking water as well as the progress that has been made by the Government and private sector in addressing this need.

The screening, in partnership with CARE International was graced by H.E Dorothy Nyong’o, The First Lady of Kisumu and the immediate former Kisumu County Deputy Governor, Ruth Odinga.