Words by Smiley Team
Following World Water Day on 22nd March, PepsiCo has announced that it has helped provide safe water to over 55 million people around the world since 2006. To support nonprofits globally, it has catalysed nearly $700 million in funding that will help projects focused on delivering clean drinking water to communities struggling to access this basic necessity.
The initiatives supported by the food and beverage company are spread across several continents, from South Asia to Africa and South America. Their partnerships are helping to deliver clean water systems as well as microcredit and support for local entrepreneurs to bolster work at the local grassroots level to improve access to clean water.
Among those driving the collaborations is Silvia Cruz-Vargas, director of social impact at PepsiCo, who explained: “Water is fundamental to the world’s food system and to PepsiCo’s business, and as a company with operations that span countries around the world, we believe we can help drive progress towards global safe water access by working directly with communities in water-stressed areas to bring them this vital resource.
“Our strategies and solutions are tailored to the communities where we work, and we operate where we have local operations and employees who can lend expertise and provide volunteer support.”
Projects which have benefitted from their support include WaterAid’s work building sanitation facilities and community water systems for rural communities in Colombia and Accion Contra El Hambre in Guatemala in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
The company has helped create water access points and to improve hygiene education in Hyderabad, India with Safe Water Network, and they’ve provided affordable washing units in homes and handwashing stations in highly populated areas in South Africa where people lack access to safe water.
Their support also stretches to support water.org to provide microcredit loans to families in Brazil and they support BRAC to help local entrepreneurs provide affordable, clean water to communities in Bangladesh.
Today, 1 in 10 people lack access to safe drinking water and nearly 700 million people will likely face displacement by intense water insecurity as early as 2030. On top of this, the need for solutions to this crisis has escalated with the COVID-19 pandemic, which has worsened the lack of access to this necessity which has impacted communities for decades. Roughly 1.8 billion people are currently at heightened risk of Covid-19 and other diseases because they use or work in healthcare facilities without basic water services.
President of the PepsiCo Foundation Jon Banner said: “The fact that billions of people have been left with limited access to [clean water] for decades is a problem of global importance that we must address rapidly – especially now, during the fight against COVID-19.
“We've worked tirelessly to build infrastructure, pilot innovative solutions and attract catalytic funding from key partners. But our efforts cannot stop here – organizations must continue to invest in water, as safe water access, sanitation and hygiene are imperative for human health and to combat the spread of disease."
You may not have the means of large corporations like PepsiCo, but, as an individual, you can still support the provision of clean water to vulnerable people worldwide by donating to WaterAid via their website.
