President Dr Arif Alvi, on Friday, stressed on the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation as the key priority areas of the ‘Clean Green Pakistan’ movement. He was speaking as Chief Guest at the inauguration of Paak Saaf Pakistan initiative launched by Procter & Gamble (P&G) Pakistan to support Prime Minister’s ‘Clean Green Pakistan’ Movement, at a local hotel in Islamabad. He further said on the occasion, “Ensuring the health of our people requires that we invest in adequate infrastructure to increase access to safe and affordable drinking water as well as sanitation facilities.” The president relayed the importance of raising awareness about water conservation, sanitation and good health and hygiene practices from the grass-root level. He lauded P&G for its continued efforts to help improve the health and hygiene of the Pakistani communities. “The reach and impact of its programs to date and P&G’s continued commitment towards this cause will continue to make a meaningful difference in the lives of the Pakistani people,” he added. P&G Pakistan announced commitments for its ‘Paak Saaf Pakistan’ initiative over the next three years, which included the provision of 50 million litres of clean drinking water to an estimated 250,000 people through its Children Safe Drinking Water program, and a campaign to create awareness regarding cleanliness and hand-washing amongst five million children via its Safeguard School Education Program. This announcement was made by P&G Pakistan Vice President, Sami Ahmed. Minister of State for Climate Change, Zartaj Gul, was also present on the occasion as the Guest of Honor. P&G was joined by its community partner HOPE for the third consecutive year, leading up to World Water Day, to raise awareness about the clean drinking water crisis through the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program. HOPE was represented by its chairperson, Dr Mubina Agboatwalla on the occasion. P&G Pak to supply 50 million litres of clean water in three years A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was also signed between the Climate Ministry and P&G Pakistan, which reiterated the company’s commitment to play an active role in supporting the official campaign to achieve shared goals. Minister Gul believed, “Only together can we create a strong positive impact. It is deeply encouraging to note that Procter & Gamble Pakistan has been dedicated to the cause of safe drinking water and health and hygiene awareness for over a decade and will continue to create further awareness about this cause.” She appreciated P&G for its Children Safe Drinking Water and Health & Hygiene programs for their lasting impact on society. “I applaud and congratulate the company for its efforts and encourage other industry leaders to also play their part,” she added/ P&G Vice-President said, “P&G’s Paak Saaf Pakistan umbrella brings together our efforts to help create a healthy and hygienic Pakistan through P&G corporate and brand community programs.” He further asserted, “In living up to our purpose of improving Pakistani lives, our community programs to date have improved quality of life for over an estimated 46 million Pakistanis.” Ahmed happily shared that P&G had celebrated a new milestone of delivering 15 billion litres of water around the world through its Children’s Safe Drinking Water program and fulfilled its global 2020 commitment a year early. According to an international non-profit organization, Water Aid, around 22 million people do not have access to clean water in Pakistan while 19,500 children under the age of five years die every year from diarrhoea caused by dirty water and poor toilets. In this regard, P&G has made available over 875 million litres of clean drinking water to Pakistani communities in need through its non-profit Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program to date. This is enough to provide nearly 5.7 million people with clean drinking water for three months. Published in Daily Times, March 22nd 2019.