Restoring hope for vulnerable communities: Nestlé and the Red Cross provide water and sanitation facilities in Mozambique

In Ribaue and Malema districts, in  Nampula Province in Northern Mozambique, it is common to spot women and children carrying heavy buckets of water on their heads.  Some children are as young as five years old, and in some cases the distances they walk to water points or rivers are as long as 50 km, only to get water that in most cases is not even suitable for drinking.

In Ribaue currently only 22 percent of the population has access to clean water, and Nampula is the  province in Mozambique which is most hit by water crises and related diseases.

Nestlé, in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, is contributing to the rescue of these communities, by donating funds for the drilling of deep wells and the installation  of 22 community water supplies to provide clean and safe water for some 40 000 people.  The funds are also be used to train community structures on maintaining the pumps and improve overall hygiene practices.
In order to establish safe and sustainable water supplies, careful geo-physical studies have had to be undertaken, in consultation with the targeted communities, prior to the drilling of the wells. Also, with a view to  encouraging responsibility and a feeling of ownership by the village community, water committees have been elected by community members to ensure  proper management and servicing of the fountains, within the framework of government regulations. They have also set-up hygiene committees.

This project is under the umbrella of the International Federation’s Global Water and Sanitation Initiative (GWSI) launched in 2005, which has set a framework for scaling-up action and partnership to contribute to the UN Millennium Development Goals, in particular the goal to reduce by half the number of people without sustainable access to safe water and sanitation by 2015.

In 2005 Nestlé and the International Federation  entered into a three-year partnership where Nestlé committed to provide funding totalling CHF 1,500,000 to be used mostly for projects focussing on the International Federation’s Global Water and Sanitation Initiative.

On Wednesday, 1 November 2006, people of Cunle village in Ribaue were in a jovial mood when the first water facility was officially launched.  This particular fountain guarantees abundant and safe drinking water for  approximately 900 people (see photo).

In attendance at this momentous launch, were representatives of the Mozambique Red Cross, International Federation of Red Cross Representatives (Harare and Geneva), Senior  Provincial Government Representatives, Nestlé representatives from Vevey, Maputo and Randburg, and representatives of local and international media.
With additional support from the British Red Cross and the Norwegian Red Cross, the Red Cross will install a total of 39 similar water facilities in Nampula province.

We feel particularly gratified to learn from the International Federation that the success of the water facilities initially installed with Nestlé’ support has helped convince the European Union to also join forces to expand that programme in other provinces in Northern Mozambique.