Malta will be one of the first countries in the HSBC Group to contribute towards WaterAid projects through employee voluntary fundraising initiatives, thereby providing additional support to communities all over the globe benefitting from the Water Programme.
This was announced by HSBC Water Programme European Coordinator Chris Goode, guest speaker at HSBC’s internal conference Let’s Lead 2013. Mr Goode also shared his experiences of the Project’s implementation in Ghana after joining the global team of HSBC staff in Ghana with the communities benefiting from the support of WaterAid and the HSBC Water Programme.
The HSBC Water Programme is a five-year, USD100 million, environmental initiative addressing three key objectives: providing water, sanitation and hygiene to communities in need; protecting key river basins vital to communities and business around the world; and promoting the value of water to HSBC’s community of employees through learning and volunteering.
“At present, around 20% of the Ghanian rural population lack access to safe water, with adults and children queuing for several hours to gather water,” explained Mr Goode. “Improved access to water in Ghana will improve so many aspects of life in this community, bringing far reaching health, and hygiene benefits while also providing the infrastructures the community needs to become more productive and self-sufficient.”
With the support of HSBC Water Programme, WaterAid will reach 1.1 million people with safe water and provide better sanitation for 1.9 million persons over the next five years in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Ghana and Nigeria.
HSBC Malta’s CEO Mark Watkinson noted that the HSBC Water Programme is being carried out on the scale necessary to deliver a powerful combination of water provision, protection and education, resulting in the most ground-breaking water programme ever committed to by a financial organisation.
More information relating to the HSBC Water Programme is available online at www.thewaterhub.org.
