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Partnership Will Ensure Earthquake Survivors Have Clean Water
WASHINGTON and CINCINNATI, October 24, 2005 — The U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) and Procter & Gamble announced a $600,000 public-private
alliance for ensuring that one-quarter of a million Pakistan earthquake
survivors have access to safe drinking water. P&G will provide its
safe water product PUR Purifier of Water, and Population Services International
will deliver it directly to the earthquake zone through its Pakistani
affiliate Greenstar.
USAID has approved $300,000 in funding to PSI and Greenstar to provide
safe water kits made up of PUR sachets, two buckets, a cloth for straining,
Safeguard soap (donated by P&G Pakistan) and information on effective
water treatment to areas devastated by the earthquake. P&G has provided
$270,000 in cash and a donation of PUR sachets worth more than $30,000
and 40,000 bars of soap. The total donation will provide enough PUR
sachets to produce safe drinking water for more than 50,000 households
over three months. USAID will match P&G's contribution to support
the purchase of materials needed for proper preparation of PUR. While
households frequently have these common materials, many families have
lost all of their possessions.
Greenstar staff discovered firsthand the effectiveness of PuR when they
used it to treat muddy water coming out of their office faucets in Islamabad
as a result of the earthquake: "The team stood around and watched
in stunned amazement as PUR cleared the water," reports a Greenstar
staffer. "Sometimes it's the small things in the middle of the
stress that win the day, and we have a new cadre of excited believers
among our staff. They've experienced a new jolt of energy after seeing
what PUR can do."
"P&G is proud to be part of this amazing public health effort
for the people of Pakistan as they face the worst natural disaster in
their history. Our long-standing relationship with USAID and PSI has
helped us to quickly mobilize our response to the earthquake,"
said Greg Allgood, director of the Children's Safe Drinking Water Program
at P&G.
"The partners of the Safe Drinking Water Alliance will together
provide more than 50 million liters of safe drinking water to an estimated
quarter of a million earthquake survivors." USAID and P&G's
first partnership on clean water dates back to 2003, when USAID provided
funding for the Safe Drinking Water Alliance. The partnership launched
PUR to provide safe water in Ethiopia, Haiti, and Pakistan through PSI
programs in those countries.
This new partnership is specifically dedicated to providing clean drinking
water to the victims of the Pakistan earthquake. Global relief groups
can demonstrate that when properly deployed, PUR is practical and effective
for providing safe drinking water in emergencies. More than 8 million
sachets of PUR were previously distributed by PSI/Greenstar for emergency
relief in areas struck by the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia. During
the emergency relief efforts during the floods in Gonaives, Haiti in
September 2004, PSI distributed 500,000 sachets to people in need.
— David Olson, PSI/Washington
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Greenstar distributes PUR sachets to those affected by the Earthquake.
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