KARACHI: Procter and Gamble, marking World Water Day, announced on Tuesday that it would continue to collaborate with METRO Cash and 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) programme. A statement quoted Astrid Teckentrup, P&G vice president for sales, as saying that in the fourth year of its disaster-relief effort, through this partnership, the company would provide 11 million litres of clean drinking water to Pakistani communities this year, reaching an estimated 50,000 people in need. “A clean water cause programme is running at all METRO stores in Pakistan from March 17 2018 till April 30, 2018. During this time for every purchase of an Ariel, Safeguard, Pantene, Head and Shoulders, Pampers and Always product, P&G will donate equivalent of a day of clean drinking water to Children’s Safe Drinking Water Fund. “Through P&G-METRO-HOPE partnership, around 45 million litres of clean drinking water has been provided via P&G Purifier of Water sachets to disaster-struck families across the country, reaching an estimated 200,000 people with clean drinking water for four months. This partnership has reached families affected by drought in Tharpakar, earthquake in northern areas such as Swat, landslides in AJK and floods in Sindh, Punjab and KPK during monsoon season.” Marek Minkiewicz, the managing director of METRO Pakistan, said, “METRO Cash and Carry employees in several countries are actively involved in activities to promote social and ecological projects under our global Corporate Citizen Care and Share programme which was launched back in 2008. In Pakistan, under umbrella of Care and Share, our purpose is to improve people’s lives, create awareness about 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 ‘METRO Water Initiative’ campaign to bring together all our water commitments and those of our suppliers just like P&G. Dr Mubina Agboatwalla, HOPE chairperson, said, “It is unfortunate that a significantly overwhelming number of people all over Pakistan do not have access to clean drinking water. We have partnered with P&G, through this programme to make clean drinking water available to communities across country in times of natural disasters and through social markets”. Published in Daily Times, March 21st 2018.