Span4

Coca-Cola India has entered into a partnership with United Nations Human Settlements Programme (“UN-HABITAT”), to take up community development projects under the UN-Habitat’s “Water for Asian Cities Programme” pertaining to water conservation, access & awareness & sanitation in India & Nepal. The announcement was made at the 21st Session of the UN Governing Council held at Nairobi.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director, UN-HABITAT said, “Clean water and sanitation can make or break human development. Our partnership with Coca-Cola, India, is an innovative example of how Public-Private-Community partnerships can help meet the challenge of the Millennium Development Goals, especially those committed to halving the number of people not having access to clean water and adequate sanitation by the year 2015.”

The initiatives under the projects include improvement in water management & sanitation, water conservation activities, access to safe drinking water and awareness programs on water both in India and Nepal. Projects in India include the provision of safe drinking water in 150 schools in West Bengal and construction of Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) structures in 10 schools in Madhya Pradesh. Project in Nepal aims to provide access to potable water through WHO approved household level purification methods as well as awareness on sanitation.

Deepak Jolly, Vice President for Public Affairs and Communications, Coca-Cola India said, “Water is fundamental to all communities and we understand that businesses thrive only amidst vibrant and sustainable societies. Water management remains a priority and the Coca-Cola Company pursues the 4R program of Reduce, Recycle, Reuse and Recharge to achieve the objective of water management & conservation in India."

The projects will help improve the overall standard of living in communities by improving access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.