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June 08, 2004. Procter & Gamble’s
PuR Purifier of Water product has
won the International Chamber of
Commerce (ICC) World Business Award
in support of the Millennium Development
Goals. These are the first worldwide
business
awards to recognize the
significant role business can
play
in the implementation of the UN's
targets for reducing poverty around
the world by 2015. ICC will present
the awards in association with
the United Nations Development
Programme
(UNDP)
and The Prince of Wales International
Business Leaders Forum
(IBLF) on 8 June in Marrakech.
The winning projects were selected
by an independent
judging panel drawn from business,
labour, research and academic
organizations,
environmental groups and the United
Nations.
PuR
Purifier of Water is a low cost
and simple-to-use in-home water
purification technology that visually
clarifies the water and reduces
pathogenic bacteria, viruses,
and parasites to result in drinking
water that meets World Health
Organization guidelines. An estimated
2 million children die each year
because of diarrheal diseases,
many of which could be prevented
by safe drinking water. P&G
is currently providing PuR Purifier
of Water to global relief agencies
so they can provide drinking water
in emergency situations. PuR has
been used in Botswana , Chad ,
Malawi , Liberia and Zimbabwe
. PuR Purifier of Water is also
being tested in several markets
to learn how it can be provided
on a sustainable basis in the
developing world.
The
Millennium Development Goals were
established by world leaders at
the UN Millennium Summit in September
2000. They consist of eight primary
goals including: universal primary
education, promotion of gender
equality, the eradication of extreme
hunger, improved maternal health,
environmental sustainability,
and the reduction of child mortality.
Goal number 7 is to ensure environmental
sustainability and includes the
target of reducing by half the
proportion of people without access
to safe drinking water by 2015.
Today more than one billion people
lack access to safe drinking water,
so meeting this target is a significant
challenge. PuR has the potential
to begin to address this issue.
Further information:
Dr. Forbes McDougall,
Corporate Sustainable Development,
P&G, Cobalt 12
A, Silver Fox Way, Cobalt Business
Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE27
0QW, UK. Tel. +00 44 (0)191
297
6013
Further
details on PuR Purifier of Water
are available at:
http://www.pghsi.com/communications/pur.htm
Further
details on the ICC-UNDP-IBLF
World Business Awards in support
of the Millennium Development
Goals are available at:
www.iccwbo.org/awards
Further details on the Millennium Development Goals are available at: www.undp.org/mdg
Further details about the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) are available at :
http://www.iblf.org/
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