In June 2012, The Coca-Cola Company and The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation announced a US $3.5 million commitment to the U.S. Water Partnership (USWP) to advance sustainable water access in African countries facing the greatest clean water challenges. The funds are supporting a variety of sustainable water access activities ranging from expanding water access in informal urban settlements to providing water access in hospitals and promoting multiple uses of water that empower women.

With our support, the USWP has identified five countries—Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Somaliland and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—to accelerate the delivery of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). The initiative plans to positively impact more than 200,000 people.

We also are supporting the USWP’s efforts to promote water security in South Asia, where the partnership is focused on the development of tools for early detection systems and helping address significant data and information gaps.

The U.S. Water Partnership is a U.S.-based public-private partnership established to unite American expertise, knowledge, and resources, and mobilize those assets to address water challenges around the globe, especially in the developing world. The USWP was inspired by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2010 World Water Day speech in which she pledged to bring American diplomatic, scientific, private sector and development stakeholders together to address global water challenges.