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Article

5 Sep 2014

Author:
Cecilia Chatterjee-Martinsen, chief executive of WaterAid Sweden in Guardian (UK)

Chief executive of WaterAid Sweden calls on business to do more to improve access to clean water & improved sanitation

"World Water Week: we must replicate Stockholm's water improvements", 2 Sep 2014

This week the who’s who of the world’s water experts, government representatives, UN agencies and practitioners have descended on Stockholm for World Water Week...One of the major issues is providing access to water, sanitation and hygiene to some of the world’s poorest communities...Stockholm is a world away from the places in which WaterAid works in the developing world, but this wasn’t always so. Up until the 1860s, Stockholm’s residents drew water from wells and ponds....In the 30 years that followed...Stockholm was “developed from an almost medieval system to a hygienic standard acceptable for the 20th century.”...We need to replicate the impact that access to clean water and improved sanitation had on Stockholm, in the developing world...To make this happen business needs to do more: from helping to fill capacity gaps in local government, to finding uses for the by-products of sanitation...Business can also can play a role in what is known as demand-led behaviour change. In essence this means using marketing campaigns to change social norms...Unilever’s Lifebuoy brand of soap products is a case in point...

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