World Water Day 2021 – Providing Clean Water to Kelafo

World Water Day

Access to clean water and sanitation is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations in 2015. Even today, one in three people still do not have access to safe drinking water. Together, we can remedy this situation.

Last year, the Iberchem Group carried out a project in collaboration with SOS Children’s Villages Spain (Aldeas Infantiles SOS) in Ethiopia. Through this partnership, we improved access to clean water for the population of Kefalo following the floods that occurred in the region in 2019.

Kelafo is one of the areas of Ethiopia most frequently affected by both heavy flash floods and river floods originating in the highlands of Ethiopia. The flood that took place in autumn 2019 was one of the worst ever recorded. A total of 212,196 people (35,366 households) were seriously affected, and more than 100,000 people were displaced and left in need of urgent humanitarian aid.

To help remedy the situation, Iberchem and SOS Children’s Villages provided more than 4,000 people with drinking water by distributing SAWYER water filters to nearly 700 households. SAWYER water filters can filter on average 500 gallons of water per day and removes more than 99% of protozoan parasites and 99.99% of bacteria, making it one of the most user friendly and effective choices for these types of situations.

World Water Day 2021

The theme of this year’s World Water Day is valuing water. The value of water is much more than its price: what water means to us depends on where we live, how old we are, and much more. By sharing all the different ways water benefits our lives, we can ensure we value it properly and make sure everyone can have access to it.