It's on us. Share your news here.

DP World partners with WaterAid to deliver water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure

Posted on October 19, 2022

Access to WASH services is a critical focus area of DP World’s ‘Our World, Our Future’ strategy under the Water legacy pillar. While we’re already making great strides across our three legacy pillars of Education, Women’s Empowerment and Water, a partnership with WaterAid will take that progress one step further. We recognise the clear material value of water to our business model: clean oceans provide critical arteries for trade, and clean water is a vital part of the value chain of every product we transport. That’s why it’s vital that, as the world’s leading trade facilitators, we become vanguards of the communities in which we aim to make a positive impact.

Maha AlQattan, Group Chief People and Sustainability Officer, DP World

DP World has signed a partnership agreement with WaterAid, the leading international organisation tackling the global water security crisis, to deliver long-lasting, comprehensive water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure.

WaterAid works in 27 countries to provide clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. DP World is a leading provider of global smart end-to-end supply chain logistics, enabling the flow of trade across the globe. It operates in 78 countries across six continents, including many of those served by WaterAid, such as Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Senegal, India and Pakistan.

Under the agreement, DP World will advocate for the private sector to address water and sanitation challenges globally, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 6, to ensure access to water and sanitation for all.

Maha AlQattan, Group Chief People and Sustainability Officer, DP World, said: “Access to WASH services is a critical focus area of DP World’s ‘Our World, Our Future’ strategy under the Water legacy pillar. While we’re already making great strides across our three legacy pillars of Education, Women’s Empowerment and Water, a partnership with WaterAid will take that progress one step further. We recognise the clear material value of water to our business model: clean oceans provide critical arteries for trade, and clean water is a vital part of the value chain of every product we transport. That’s why it’s vital that, as the world’s leading trade facilitators, we become vanguards of the communities in which we aim to make a positive impact.”

Tim Wainwright, Chief Executive Officer, WaterAid, said: “WaterAid exists to ensure that everyone, everywhere, has access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene services. That’s why we’re keen to partner with DP World, an organisation that recognises the critical importance of access to WASH services and can drive impact at scale. Access to these services is central to gender equality, quality education, community health and economic development. Our partnership will ensure we have the resources to collaborate with local governments and roll out these much-needed programmes.”

The global partnership with DP World starts in Mozambique, where an estimated 37% of the population don’t have access to safely managed drinking water; 63% don’t have access to safely managed sanitation services and 12% of households do not have access to handwashing facilities or soap and water.

WaterAid’s work in the country is focused on the rural northern Niassa Province, which is disproportionately affected by the lack of WASH services. The World Heath Organization (WHO) estimates that while more than 90% of the population in the southern province of Maputo has access to safe water, in Niassa the figure is only 38%.

DP World will invest GBP 200,000 over the next year to allow WaterAid to design and implement a comprehensive WASH programme to meet the unique needs of the most vulnerable communities in the country.

The WASH programme includes technical infrastructure, system strengthening, community capacity building, government advocacy and integration through other key WaterAid sectors – health, education, nutrition and livelihoods. The infrastructure plan covers building solar water supply systems, as well as building and rehabilitating sanitary blocks for patients and health staff, at five healthcare facilities in the Cuamba district.

DP World has already invested $90 million in Mozambique’s Port of Maputo, turning it into a gateway for southern Africa and unlocking enormous business opportunities in the region. More trade translates into a greater GDP and more resources for development, including water.

Source

It's on us. Share your news here.
Submit Your News Today

Join Our
Newsletter
Click to Subscribe