Dedicate 32 Anganwadis and generate livelihood for 2000 community members in flood-affected areas of Tamil Nadu

Chennai, 16 March, 2018: Reiterating its commitment towards building sustainable communities, Coca-Cola, together with its partners- Hand in Hand India and World Vision India successfully implemented the Rehabilitation Project to restore communities in 39 flood-affected villages in Chennai and Kanchipuram districts of Tamil Nadu. The company had announced commencement of the program in May 2017, sanctioning a grant amount of US$ 389,000 towards the initiative.

Post the torrential floods in 2015, there was a strong need to construct new Anganwadis or Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) centers and reconstruct the affected ones in Kanchipuram and Chennai districts. By partnering with World Vision, Coca-Cola has revitalized 32 Anganwadis to facilitate a safe and healthy environment for children in the community. More than 500 children below 5 years of age now have access to a safe environment, clean drinking water, outdoor play area, play material, and a kitchen garden. The Anganwadis are equipped with facilities to provide early childhood care and education services to the children. Additionally, capacity building programs are also conducted by health workers to ensure that the community members receive education on health and nutrition.

Mr. Cherian Thomas, CEO and National Director, World Vision India, said “Collaboration with Coca-Cola has enabled us to provide a safe and healthy environment for children to play, learn and grow.  The parents now feel happy to send their children to these centers as they fulfil the WASH (Water, Hygiene and Sanitation) requirements”.

Coca-Cola collaborated with Hand in Hand India to restore livelihoods in villages of Thiruvallur and Kanchipuram districts. Community members were provided support to restart their livelihood and skill trainings in areas such as Agriculture, Poultry, Milch Animal Management, Tailoring, Handicrafts, and Car Driving. The program has been beneficial in generating income for the beneficiaries, especially for women in rural and slum areas.

Dr. N. Jeyaseelan, Group CEO, Hand in Hand India, said, “We are thankful to Coca-Cola for their support in making this project a success. Enabling communities to generate livelihood is an essential step towards socio-economic development of a nation, and this project has been instrumental in paving the way for their better future”.

Mr. Ishteyaque Amjad, Vice President, Public Affairs and Communication, Coca-Cola India & South West Asia, said, “Coca-Cola has always been at the forefront of creating sustainable communities and actively engages with its partners to ensure better quality of lives of the community members. This is a great

example of how we can empower our communities by leveraging the power of partnerships and engaging with our stakeholders.”

Over the years, Coca-Cola India has helped in creating sustainable and thriving communities in the state of Tamil Nadu.  The company has adopted eight villages in the state and provided better access to drinking water, health and sanitation, education and livelihood opportunities. The company along with its implementing partners Plan India and World Vision India under its campaign, “Support My School” has constructed 332 toilets and 614 urinals in 86 government schools in Tamil Nadu. Apart from toilets, the company has developed 17 playgrounds, 74 drinking water stations, 32 filtration systems and installed 10 rainwater-harvesting systems across these schools benefitting almost 60,000 children.

Coca-Cola India is committed to improve livelihood of farmers in the country through its project ‘Unnati’. The project aims to harness the higher productivity potential of mango and orange farms, allowing owners of small-sized farms to increase crop yields by up to three times. The project is engaging with farmers at a large scale by providing subsidized plants, drip irrigation equipment and training on Ultra High Density Plantation, benefitting more than 22,500 farmers. In Tamil Nadu alone, Project Unnati is targeting to impact about 5,000 farmers holding 10,000 acres land for enhancing Mango productivity.

About Coca-Cola India

Coca-Cola in India is one of the country’s leading beverage companies, offering a range ofhealthy, safe, high quality, refreshing beverage options to consumers. Since its re-entry in 1993, the company has been refreshing consumers with its beverage products - Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Diet Coke, Thums Up, Thums Up Charged, Fanta, Fanta Green Mango, Limca, Sprite, Sprite Zero, Maaza, VIO flavoured milk ‘Almond Delight’ and ‘Kesar Delight’, Minute Maid range of juices, FUZE tea, Georgia and Georgia gold range of hot and cold tea and coffee options, Aquarius, Schweppes, SmartWater, Kinley and Bonaqua packaged drinking water and Kinley Club Soda. The Company along with its owned bottling operation and other bottling partners, through a strong network of over 2.6 million retail outlets, touches the lives of millions of consumers, at a rate of more than 500 servings per second. Its brands are some of the most preferred and most sold beverages in the country – Thums Up and Sprite – being the top two selling sparkling beverages.

The Coca-Cola India system provides direct employment to 25,000 people and indirect employment to more than 150,000 people. The Coca-Cola system in India is contributing in its own small way to building sustainable communities through community initiatives like Support My School, VEER, Parivartan and Unnati and by reducing its own environmental footprint. For further information on the company's India operations and its products, please visit: www.coca-colaindia.com. Follow us on twitter at twitter.com/CocaCola_Ind, or on facebook.

About World Vision India

World Vision India is a grassroots humanitarian organization that serves all people regardless of religion, caste, race, ethnicity or gender. Through development, relief and advocacy, we strive/seek to create lasting change in the lives of children, their families and communities living in contexts of poverty and injustice. World Vision works in nearly 100 countries worldwide, and we have been in India since 1962.

Today we work in over 6200 urban, rural and tribal communities spread over 191 districts across 26 states impacting the lives of 26 lakh children.

For more information, go to:  https://www.worldvision.in/

About Hand in Hand India

Hand in Hand India is a public charitable trust that works to alleviate poverty through a unique integrated community development approach. Registered in 2002, the Organization implements projects in areas of women empowerment, microfinance, job creation, Child labour elimination, education, health, environment, skill building, IT & Governance. Hand in Hand India works in 13 States in India.

Hand in Hand India’s Job Creation Model has been replicated in Afghanistan, South Africa, Kenya, Brazil, Sri Lanka and in Cambodia. The Hand in Hand India team has drawn experts from various fields like agriculture, rural development, microfinance, education, business management, and research professionals. The success lies in the simple fact that they have evolved programmes according to the needs of the community, creating awareness among them and with their active participation. The partnership model of Government- NGO - Corporate - Community has been a win-win situation for all.

For more information, go to:  http://www.hihindia.org/