Water for All, Epiroc's main community engagement initiative, is celebrating 40 years of providing people in need with clean water and sanitation.
The initiative from the Swedish global market manufacturer of drill rigs and hydraulic breakers for the quarrying, mining and construction industries has provided millions of people with clean water and continues to change lives.
"The need for clean water and sanitation keeps growing, making Water for All more important than ever," says Helena Hedblom, Epiroc's President and CEO. "We are very proud of Water for All's accomplishments and of all passionate colleagues who, supported by the company, are making this possible."
Epiroc runs the programme together with Atlas Copco Group. It is initiated and driven on a local level around the world by Epiroc and/or Atlas Copco employees.
Water for All's projects include drilling and digging wells, providing rain harvesting facilities, repairing existing water systems, protecting natural resources, and educating people in sanitation and hygiene. A significant share of the focus is on supporting schools. The work is carried out by partnering non-governmental organizations with expertise in water, sanitation and hygiene and with staff in the project countries.
The result is a strong positive humanitarian effect, with a direct impact, especially for many women and girls, including:
- Giving girls the freedom to join their brothers at school, as typically the girls previously had to spend most of their days fetching water (often dirty) from far away.
- Freeing up time for women to work or start businesses instead of fetching water.
- Helping women and girls feel safer by building latrines that offer privacy.
The programme keeps growing, and more than 2,000 Epiroc colleagues worldwide are contributing monthly. These donations go very far. The employee donations are matched with twice the amount by the Epiroc Group. Virtually 100% of the donations go directly into water projects.
Recent projects, among many, include constructing rainwater cisterns for indigenous people in rural Mexico; providing sustainable access to water for at least 15 years for 48 villages in northern Uganda; providing safe drinking water and basic sanitation for 5,000 people in rural Nepal; and helping flooded areas of Ukraine after last year's destruction of the Kakhovka dam.
For more information on Water for All, please see www.water4all.org/en.
