Lahore: P&G, the maker of world renowned products such as Pampers, Always, Safeguard, Ariel, Head & Shoulders and Pantene, has collaborated with METRO Cash & Carry and Health Oriented Preventive Education (HOPE) to provide clean drinking water to Pakistani communities in need through its Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) program. On the occasion of World Water Day, P&G, METRO and HOPE came together to raise awareness about the global clean drinking water crisis and reinforce their commitment to help save lives through the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water program. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1000 children die every day from diseases caused by drinking contaminated water. These losses are more than those caused by HIV/AIDS and malaria combined. Moreover, diarrhea caused by drinking contaminated drinking water is a leading cause of illness and death among infants and children in the developing world, including Pakistan. Through the P&G-METRO-HOPE partnership, around 45 million liters of clean drinking water have been provided via P&G Purifier of Water sachets to disaster-struck families in Pakistan, reaching an estimated 200,000 people with clean drinking water for 4 months. This partnership has reached families affected by the drought in Tharpakar, earthquake in the northern areas such as Swat and floods in Sindh, Punjab, and KPK during the monsoon season over the past 3 years. At a press conference held at METRO Cash & Carry in Model Town, Lahore, Mr. Fayyaz Rizvi, Associate Director Sales for P&G Pakistan stated: “Clean drinking water is a problem for millions of people around the globe. We are proud to share P&G’s water purification technology to help transform the lives of people in need. Clean drinking water can improve people’s health, help children stay in school and provide better economic opportunities for their families. Since we began operations in Pakistan 25 years ago, P&G has been committed to touching and improving Pakistani lives. Through these years we have remained steadfast in our commitment to invest in the community. Through the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water program over 865 million liters of clean drinking water has been made available to Pakistani communities in need, with support from our partners since 2005.” He further added, “We are immensely pleased to have partnered with METRO Cash & Carry for the past 3 years on our Children’s Safe Drinking Water program here in Pakistan. At P&G, we are committed to delivering 15 billion liters of clean drinking water globally by 2020. By expanding the reach of the Children’s Safe Drinking Water program, we are committed to fighting the world water crisis, in partnership with NGOs, companies, and consumers.” Sharing his thoughts, Mr. Marek Minkiewicz, Managing Director of METRO Cash & Carry Pakistan also addressed the gathering: “METRO is proud to be associated with P&G and its Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program. METRO Cash & Carry employees in several countries are actively involved in activities to promote social and ecological projects under our global Corporate Citizen program,’Care & Share’ which was launched back in 2008. In Pakistan, under the umbrella of Care & Share, our purpose is to improve people’s lives, create awareness about the global clean water crisis and motivate people to help provide those in need with clean drinking water. To support this year’s UN World Water Day, METRO is also running its own global “Water Initiative” campaign which is an awareness program to save wastage of water. For a developing country like Pakistan it is yet another demonstration of commitment. We are proud to be partnering with P&G in this project as a part of our Care & Share program where we can help bring clean drinking water to children and families in the developing world.” Also present on this occasion, Dr. Mubina Agboatwalla, Chairperson HOPE, said: “Water is a basic human right. It is unfortunate that an overwhelming number of people all over the world and in Pakistan do not have access to clean drinking water. In partnership with P&G, through its program, HOPE has taken positive measures to provide clean drinking water to communities across Pakistan, particularly in areas where there was no access to potable water. The P&G-METRO collaboration with HOPE for disaster-relief over the past 3 years is an example of the positive impact of such collaborations by the corporate sector. HOPE is committed to facilitate P&G and METRO in its endeavor to help disaster-affected communities in Pakistan and looks forward to more collaborative projects in the future.”