Kimberly-Clark Reports Progress towards Sustainability
GWC member Kimberly-Clark has announced the release of their 2011 Sustainability Report. The report, titled “Full Circle”, focuses on Kimberly-Clark’s strategic framework of People, Planet and Products while highlighting goals set out for 2015, including a goal for 25% reduction in water use while maintaining water discharge quality. Kimberly-Clark has affirmed their commitment to water-replenishment projects around the world, with an anticipated return of 205 million gallons of water per year to surrounding communities. Highlights of water social initiatives include:
Supporting watershed development in India, including phases of both water conservation projects as well as access to clean drinking water
Securing the water supply in Israel by building a private well that provides non-drinkable water to a local Kimberly-Clark plant while freeing up more drinking water for the local population
Reducing water use in Spain with a “Save a Flush” Scottex campaign that gave consumers a device that reduced 1 liter of water per flush when installed on a toilet
Rockefeller Foundation Launches 2012 Innovation Challenge
In celebration of its centennial, the Rockefeller Foundation has announced its 2012Innovation Challenge. The contest, which will award nine finalists up to $100,000 in grants, challenges participants to submit ideas that will solve complex problems in data, irrigation and agriculture for the next 100 years. The Irrigating Efficiency Challenge calls for ideas that will both maintain the improved agricultural yields and food security that irrigation ensures, while also solving the negative side effects of water pollution and depletion that can occur from irrigation.
Video Highlights Safe Water for Africa Program in Ghana
Safe Water for Africa (SWA) is a partnership of the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation (TCCAF), The Diageo Foundation, and WaterHealth International, Inc. (WHI) to provide access to safe, sustainable drinking water to African communities. SWA seeks to work with communities to catalyze the expansion of an innovative water service delivery model across the African continent beginning in Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria.
On World Water Day 2012, Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd (GGBL) and the Coca-Cola Company held a Safe Water for Africa (SWA) fundraising breakfast at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra Ghana to encourage other like-minded businesses to join the partnership.
GWC Launches Women for Water Website
Today, Global Water Challenge is pleased to announce the launch of the new Women for Water website. The launch of this website is a major first step in the campaign to empower women around the world to provide water to those most in need around the globe.
As the Women for Water campaign continues to grow, this website will serve as a hub of the campaign: connecting women, sharing stories, and raising awareness about the incredible opportunities of investing in water for women.
We invite you to explore the site, learn more about the campaign, and get involved. You can also help by letting your friends know about the campaign. Pass this email on, or click here to send out a tweet about the launch of the new Women for Water website.
We will continue to keep you updated on the campaign and the lives of those it impacts. We look forward to working together to empower women around the globe.
Secretary Clinton Launches U.S. Water Partnership
This World Water Day, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched the U.S. Water Partnership, a partnership that will unite and mobilize “best of U.S.” expertise, resources and ingenuity to address water challenges around the globe, with a special focus on developing countries where needs are greatest.
Stone Foundation Launches Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Water
The Stone Family Foundation has recently launched a new £100,000 Prize—the Stone Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Water. The prize seeks to find and support exciting new initiatives focused on improving the quality and access to drinking water in sub-Saharan Africa and South and South East Asia. The Foundation hopes the Prize can be used to take early-stage initiatives to the next stage of their development.
Applications will be assessed against six criteria: innovation; entrepreneurship; early-stage of development; effectiveness; sustainability and scalability.
Applications are open until World Water Day 2012 (March 22), so please check the foundation’s website and flyer for more information.
Ford Targets 30 Percent Water Reduction Per Vehicle
In December, GWC Member Ford Motor Company announced plans to target a 30 percent reduction by 2015 in the amount of water used to produce each vehicle. From the Press Release:
Ford’s latest water reduction initiatives are designed to build on the success the company has had with its Global Water Management Initiative that launched in 2000. Between 2000 and 2010, Ford reduced its global water use by 62 percent, or 10.5 billion gallons. That’s the equivalent of how much water 105,000 average American residences use annually, based on figures from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Ford also released an infographic showing the magnitude of the water savings reached since the launch of the Global Water Management Initiative:
Ford is committed to reporting on its water reduction target and will communicate progress in the company’s annual sustainability report and through participation in the Carbon Disclosure Project’s Water Disclosure Project.
This month, ABC News featured H2O for Life on a special broadcast to highlight their work to improve Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in schools around the world. H2O for Life matches schools in the United States with schools in developing countries to raise funds for improving WASH conditions in schools in need. In the video above, learn how H2O for Life worked with HB Woodlawn High School in Arlington, Virginia, USA to raise $14,000 for proper handwashing stations, toilets and running water for a school in Bangladesh.
Dow One World|One Water Series Highlights Efforts to Provide Water in Haiti
Dow recently released a series of videos called One World|One Water that highlights their work to provide drinking water and water treatment equipment to those who needed it most in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti in early 2010. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, Dow committed to deliver 20,000 gallons of clean water per day to two Haitian communities:
ONE WATER is an epic journey about people who believe in the power of ONE – the men and women who believe that in a world of many, there is ONE element most essential to human kind: WATER.
Filmed on location in Haiti with supporting visuals from around the globe, ONE WATER is a five part miniseries that chronicles a team devoted to bringing clean water to the world. Amidst the rubble of Port Au Prince and a sweeping cholera pandemic, follow them as they embark on an inspiring journey of hope – marked by moments of anguish and laughter, pain and reward.
Reps. Blumenauer, Poe Introduce Water for the World Act in U.S. House of Representatives
On December 14, Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Representative Ted Poe (R-TX), along with a bipartisan group of ten representatives, introduced the Senator Paul Simon Water For the World Act of 2012 in the U.S. House of Representatives. This bill is an important step in maintaining American leadership on global water, sanitation and hygiene issues and ensuring that existing investments in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are effective and efficient. This bill is the companion to a Senate version of the bill (S. 641) (PDF), which was introduced under the leadership of Senators Durbin (D-IL) and Corker (R-TN), and is a follow-on to a bill that passed the Senate last year with unanimous consent.
The bill would strengthen the implementation of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2005 by:
Improving the coordination of U.S. government agencies working on WASH and enhancing the sustainability of WASH programs, including by building U.S. government technical capacity, improving the targeting of resources to the countries and communities most in need of WASH assistance and prioritizing local ownership of programs.
Establishing a Global Water Coordinator at USAID and a Special Advisor for Water Resources within the Department in State to oversee the effective implementation of country-specific water strategies, improve coordination and maintain political commitment to WASH.
Increasing integration of WASH programs with other critical interventions, such as child survival, global health, food security and nutrition and gender equality to increase the efficiency and impact of all, including through the development of a comprehensive WASH strategy.
Monitoring and evaluating projects implemented by the U.S. government in order to promote sustainable and long-term development while reaching US foreign assistance objectives, and increasing transparency in reporting.
In introducing this bill, Congress has taken an essential step in improving existing U.S. international development programs seeking to address the water and sanitation crisis, as well as reaching the sanitation Millennium Development Goal target to halve the proportion of people with access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.
The Stone Family Foundation has recently launched a new 
highlights their work to provide drinking water and water treatment equipment to those who needed it most in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti in early 2010. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, Dow committed to deliver 20,000 gallons of clean water per day to two Haitian communities: