Chlorine Industry Helps Provide Clean Water to West Africa

Washington, D.C.-The World Chlorine Council®, joining with the U.S. Agency for International Development, World Vision, and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, have announced a nearly $41 million public-private partnership to provide potable water and sanitation to rural villages in Ghana, Mali and Niger, West Africa.

The announcement of the West Africa Water Initiative comes on the eve of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which begins next week in Johannesburg, South Africa. Access to clean water is a major item on the summit agenda. The sponsors of the West Africa Water Initiative will hold a special briefing about the new partnership in Johannesburg on August 29.

By 2008, the partners expect to have provided Ghana, Mali and Niger with a minimum of 825 new water boreholes, 100 alternative water resources and 9,000 more latrines, reaching more than one-half million people. The World Chlorine Council, along with the Global Vinyl Council is making an initial in-kind contribution valued at $300,000, supplying PVC pipe for wells, chlorine for water disinfection and education materials on sanitation and hygiene.

Other partners in the seven-year initiative include UNICEF, WaterAid, the Lions Clubs International Foundation, the Desert Research Institute, Winrock International, and Cornell University's International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development.

According to C.T. "Kip" Howlett, WCC Secretariat and Executive Director of the U.S. Chlorine Chemistry Division of the American Chemistry Council, "There is a critical relationship between water and health, and a real need for cost effective, reliable and easy-to-use water disinfectants, such as chlorine, to help ensure that people around the world have access to safe water."

According to United States Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, "This is an integral part of a larger water initiative that the United States will bring to Johannesburg. By working together, we hope to leverage the resources and expertise of all stakeholders and accomplish more than we might do separately."

President of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Steven Hilton, said: "Our board chose water and sanitation as a foundation priority many years ago, as we felt it was where we could have a maximum impact on the most lives for the monies invested. Where there is no clean water and sanitation, millions of children die each year, and millions of people become blind unnecessarily and suffer debilitating diseases."

Although clean water is available to almost everyone in the developed world simply by turning on the tap, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 20 percent of the world's population-more than one billion people-do not have access to safe drinking water. Worldwide, dirty water is estimated to affect the health of about 1.2 billion people and contribute to the death of 15 million children under five every year.

"Since it was first used on a large scale to disinfect water in the United States in 1908, chlorine has helped combat some of the deadliest diseases of the past 100 years, including cholera, typhoid fever and dysentery. The chlorination of water has virtually eliminated these threats and helped increase life expectancy in the United States by more than 50 percent. We are committed to helping making safe water available to people worldwide," Mr. Howlett said.

###

The World Chlorine Council® was formed in order to respond more effectively to global concerns and issues surrounding chlorine chemistry. The Council consists of national and regional chlor-alkali industry organizations, along with their member companies.

Editor's Note: For more information on the sustainable development initiatives of the World Chlorine Council and its member organizations, please visit our sustainability section.