At the 7th World Water Forum, Ahmet Bozer, Executive Vice President and President of Coca-Cola International, announced the expansion of The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation’s (TCCAF) Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN), pledging an additional US$35 million to support Pan-African safe water access and sanitation programs for 4 million more people by 2020. This new funding builds on an original RAIN commitment of US$30 million to bring safe water access to 2 million people across the African continent by the end of 2015 made at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul in 2009. This funding will help to improve the lives of more than a total of 6 million Africans through access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) by 2020.
Today, with more than 140 partners, RAIN is a public-private partnership led by TCCAF whose programs currently empower 2,000 communities through WASH programs in 37 African countries. The expansion builds on the strong progress RAIN has made toward its goal of improving safe water access for 2 million people across Africa – a goal the program is on track to achieve by the end of 2015. Through the RAIN program expansion, TCCAF and its partners will work to improve safe water access for 6 million Africans; economically empower up to 250,000 women and youth; promote health and hygiene in thousands of communities, schools, and health centers; and return up to 18.5 billion liters of water to nature and communities.
“Our commitment to the well-being of African communities is unwavering. Through the efforts of RAIN, we are reinforcing the incredible progress made to date with our many partners and are pledging to do even more,” said Dr. Susan Mboya, President, The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation. “As we begin work in this era of new commitments, we must continue the progress made from the Millennium Development Goals to set these economies up for success. Through programs and partnerships focused on safe water access, women’s economic empowerment, job creation and community well-being we are investing in the future progress and prosperity of the African people and economy.”
RAIN and its partners announced programs that will protect watersheds, provide sustainable safe water access and create new opportunities for women and youth entrepreneurs in Africa by the end of 2020. These programs include:
In Kenya, Madagascar, and Mozambique, Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) will leverage RAIN funding to contribute to city-wide access to improved water services and associated reductions in water and hygiene related diseases in selected cities, benefitting up to 2 million people by 2018.
In Zambia, TCCAF, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and WSUP are providing sustainable safe water access throughout the city of Lusaka. WSUP and USAID are leveraging TCCAF funds to provide sustainable safe water access to more than 40,000 people through community water kiosks and a distribution network as well as to provide sanitation facilities and hygiene education in schools in peri-urban Lusaka, benefiting up to 50,000 people. MCC’s broader investments in water, sanitation and drainage in Lusaka are expected to improve the health and economic productivity of more than 1.2 million of the city’s residents. Alongside these crucial investments in water and sanitation infrastructure, maintaining the effectiveness of the city’s drainage systems is key to ensuring long-term health benefits and resilience. As for the homes in the city, they may have to rely on services like French drains Madison.
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In Rwanda, TCCAF and Global Grassroots are empowering women to lead water enterprises, improving water access for 30,000 people across the country.
“WSUP is proud to be one of TCCAF’s key strategic partners creating systemic change in WASH service provision across Africa,” said Neil Jeffery, CEO of Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor. “Building on our joint success, we will support and enable service providers to enhance their response towards a shared vision of improved water and sanitation service. TCCAF will also collaborate with WSUP’s consulting arm (WSUP Advisory) to partner with others who are scaling WASH service delivery outside of WSUP’s core countries.”
