The Sunday Times FT - Coca-Cola, UN help support post-tsunami water and sanitation needs

Coca-Cola said it has teamed up with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) in a new tsunami recovery initiative to provide essential water infrastructure and sanitation services to two of Sri Lanka’s most vulnerable, tsunami-hit communities: Kattankudi in the east and Kalupe in Galle in the south of the country. Funded through USD 450,000 in combined funds from The Coca-Cola Company and the UN Foundation, construction work is now underway, a statement said.

The first pipe was laid in Kalupe in Galle district at the beginning of this month. Through this project, a 2-km pipeline will connect the village to the Greater Galle Water Project to deliver safe drinking water to tsunami-affected people in and around Kalupe. Beyond the pipeline infrastructure, the project is incorporating UNDP’s unique “Aid Watch” strategy whereby the community is engaged through training and awareness-raising to monitor the project’s implementation. Community members in Kalupe will communicate and work directly with representatives from the UNDP, the UN agency implementing this project under the overall technical guidance of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board.

The Kattankudi project is also underway with procurement and continued consultations taking place with community partners and the urban council. The project will provide an integrated package of water infrastructure and sanitation services to one of the hardest-hit tsunami areas of the Eastern coast of Sri Lanka. Located in Batticaloa district, Kattankudi is one of the most densely populated townships in Asia. The Kattankudi community faces two urgent problems: scarcity of safe drinking water and safe disposal of household sewage. The project will help the most vulnerable members of the community to improve their access to water and sanitation services by providing a sustainable sanitation and wastewater management system as well as rooftop rainwater harvesting units.

In both Kalupe and Kattankudi, the community is empowered to participate in and jointly ‘own’ the monitoring process to ensure accountability and transparency in the project implementation. Both projects also include a focus on hygiene-promotion activities at the community level led by expert health and hygiene promoters.

The project activities in Sri Lanka are part of a broader partnership effort between Coca-Cola, the UN Foundation and UNDP to support the longer-term tsunami recovery effort in Asia. Funded through over USD 2 million in matching funds from The Coca-Cola Company and the UN Foundation, water and sanitation recovery activities are also underway in remote, tsunami-affected areas of Thailand, Indonesia and the Maldives, helping communities to meet water and sanitation needs in a sustainable way.

“With UNDP’s experience in post-crisis recovery and development, coupled with the partnership backing of Coca-Cola and the UN Foundation, and the support of Caritas, we’re committed to providing these tsunami-hit communities in Sri Lanka with essential water and sanitation access for the long-term,” said Sanaka Samarasinha, Deputy Country Director, UNDP Sri Lanka.

“We are extremely proud to be part of this initiative which provides families with safe drinking water and a sanitation system which so many of us take for granted, it is testament to our continued focus to uplift the lives of underprivileged and Tsunami effected families,” said Basil Gadzios, Country Manager of Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Ltd.