PSI 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.
