A multinational Chinese heavy machinery company has built 20 water purification systems for 20 public schools in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
In 2019, only 33% of schools in Addis Ababa had reliable water supplies throughout the school week, leaving over 580 million children without basic drinking water in schools.
Despite the rapid growth of Ethiopia’s economy over the last decade, water scarcity and infectious diseases spread by contaminated water are the main causes of high infant mortality.
A Chinese manufacturing company, Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group, commonly known as XCMG, along with a team of 17 suppliers, has sought to help resolve the issue by launching a water purification project.
In 2016, XCMG partnered with the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA) to launch a water cellar project, building at least 121 cellars to helps families in rural areas collect and store clean rainwater.
The company have now completed their new project of donating 20 water purification systems for 20 public schools in Addis Ababa.
“Having access to clean drinking water and providing water for all is an integral part of the world that we want to live in,” said Wang Min, Chairman of XCMG.
“In the future, XCMG will continue to work with our partners to empower United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), which seeks to ensure safe drinking water and sanitation for all and benefit more people in need.”
Since 2019, XCMG and its partners have installed 23 water filtration systems, 157 drinking stations and 152 hand washing stations in the Ethiopian capital.
The company claims that their recent water purification project, accomplished as a joint effort to provide schools with clean water, will benefit over 23,000 school children in Addis Ababa.
“The project was completed on schedule during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I’m deeply touched and appreciated by the fact that the project completed inspections and supervision of the schools one by one,” said Zelalem Msoto, Head of Addis Ababa Education Bureau.
