#WorldWaterWeek: MTN joins the international community in favor of access to drinking water

MTN Group joins the international community to celebrate, from 27 to 31 August 2018, World Water Week under the theme: “Water, ecosystems and human development.” Organized every year by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), World Water Week is the focal point of discussions and exchanges on global issues related to water in the world. According to the United Nations Organization (UNO), access to potable water and adequate sanitary systems still constitutes a challenge for populations worldwide, with over 2.4 billion people who still do not have access to the precious liquid. The UN calls for a strong mobilization in favor of potable water access, notably in developing countries because potable water is the center of sustainable development. An opportunity to reiterate that, each day, an African or Asian woman covers an average distance of 5.9km to fetch potable water, a situation that calls for urgent action.

Sensitive to this noble cause in Cameroon, MTN Foundation has seized the occasion this Week to reaffirm its engagement to ease access by the underprivileged population to potable water, while drawing their attention on the necessity to take care of this vital resource. Within the framework of its activities, the Foundation has already built 46 potable water access points which benefit roughly 170,000 people throughout the regions of the country. These potable water access points are deployed in priority in rural areas where access to potable water is still an enormous challenge for the population exposed to waterborne diseases.

The potable water access points built by MTN Foundation are varied, notably manual pump wells built in partnership with PEP Otélé (Otélé Water Project), boreholes built within the framework of several partnerships with organisms such as GIZ, entire potable water supply projects with a distribution network such as that in the locality of  Nzemelem, located some 25Km from Dschang in the West region, or the points undergoing construction in the villages of Young Farmers of the Ministry of Agriculture in Nlobesse (South Region ) and Wassande (Adamawa Region).

It should moreover be noted that water points have also been installed in schools built by the MTN Foundation. These water points are accompanied by latrines to ensure better hygiene for students in particular, and the educative community in general.MTN Group joins the international community to celebrate, from 27 to 31 August 2018, World Water Week under the theme: “Water, ecosystems and human development.” Organized every year by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), World Water Week is the focal point of discussions and exchanges on global issues related to water in the world. According to the United Nations Organization (UNO), access to potable water and adequate sanitary systems still constitutes a challenge for populations worldwide, with over 2.4 billion people who still do not have access to the precious liquid. The UN calls for a strong mobilization in favor of potable water access, notably in developing countries because potable water is the center of sustainable development. An opportunity to reiterate that, each day, an African or Asian woman covers an average distance of 5.9km to fetch potable water, a situation that calls for urgent action.