WATER EDUCATION: Nestlé’s Harmandeep Kaur leads a water awareness programme at a primary school in Bilaspur village, near our Moga factory in India.
According to the World Bank, only one in 10 Sri Lankan households has water on tap and every fifth person relies on rivers, streams and other unprotected water sources for their drinking water. To help rural communities gain access to drinking water, Nestlé Lanka has financed clean drinking water facilities in villages located near its manufacturing operations since 2006. These water fountains are complemented by awareness campaigns, water education programmes and competitions to teach schoolchildren about the importance of safe drinking and water conservation.
In addition, Nestlé Lanka’s School Sanitation Project develops basic facilities such as toilets in the schools surrounding its Kurunegala factory. Facilities at the Napokuna, Galewela and Pannala primary schools have been upgraded, and these healthier, cleaner environments will benefit generations of students in the years to come.
Local schools in the surrounding villages near our Moga factory in India have been the subject of similar programmes. These have:
- provided 113 drinking water fountains in schools close to the factory, benefitting almost 4 000 students, complemented by information about water scarcity, conservation and pollution;
- improved the sanitation facilities in nearby girls’ schools, encouraging many girls to continue with their education;
- educated 362 secondary school girls about nutrition, in conjunction with the Punjab Agricultural University, through 28 344 hours of nutrition training.
The content of this page was externally assured by Bureau Veritas, March 2011.
