Atlas Copco honors the 25th annual World Water Day

Atlas Copco started funding water initiatives as early as in 1984 through its employee driven organization Water for All. This world-spanning, non-profit organization provides people in need with long-term access to clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. Through voluntary employee donations, twice doubled by the Atlas Copco Group, around 2 million people have benefited from the work of Water for All since the start. "Our employees are showing a lot of commitment to our community initiative by contributing with both their time and money," said Sofia Svingby, Vice President Corporate Responsibility. "Atlas Copco also continuously works to reduce water consumption in our facilities and increase the usage of renewable energy." Lack of safe water close to home has enormous health consequences for hundreds of millions of people, especially for women and girls. One of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals aims for everyone to have safe access to clean water by 2030. One of the projects finalized in 2017 is called Jaldoot, meaning water messenger. It has empowered rural communities in the drought-prone Maharashtra region in India to construct and operate their own water supply systems, impacting 88 000 people across 23 villages. Besides providing drinking water the project initiated and fostered community-developed water resource development and conservation plans. This helps reduce over-dependency on the monsoon for agriculture, which is the region’s main source of employment and income. Facts, Water for All in 2017: Approximately 374 000 people benefited from the projects implemented during 2017. Water for All ran 55 projects in Asia, Africa and the Americas. Of these, 26 are still ongoing. More than 8 000 Atlas Copco employees worldwide are active members in Water for All.