Dow Chemical CompanyDow Chemical Company

Water scarcity is an issue affecting countries, communities and families all over the world. One in eight people do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. Communities in Africa, Latin America and Asia suffer 1.8 million deaths every year from diarrheal diseases - the death of 5,000 children each day due to inadequate water infrastructure. In these areas, women and children are forced to walk 6km (3.7 miles) each day to secure water that is likely unsuitable for drinking.

In the Gulf region, there are increased water scarcity obstacles as well. According to various sources, Arab countries receive approximately 2 percent of the world's rainfall and have a mere 0.4 percent of the world's recoverable water resources, with less than 150 billion cubic meters of total water resources allocated to the 22 Arab states.

The water crisis is not limited in its reach. In cities such as Los Angeles and Sydney, growing demand on limited water supplies has led to enforced water rationing and increased costs to the public. Adding to these existing issues, the effects of climate change are increasingly impacting both supply and quality of available fresh water throughout the world--shifting traditional rainfall patterns, altering water-shaping ecosystems and magnifying the effects of pollution.

"Dow is proud to be the title sponsor for this groundbreaking event," said Ian Barbour, general manager at Dow Water & Process Solutions, a business unit of Dow. "As part of our 2015 Sustainability Goals, we are committed to leveraging science and technology to help solve some of the world's greatest challenges - like the water crisis. Our partnership with Live Earth is just one of the many ongoing efforts Dow is making to address water scarcity and help millions of people around the world gain access to safe, clean drinking water."

Through a cross-platform global fundraising effort, all donations raised by the Dow Live Earth Run for Water will be disseminated to fund sustainable and scalable water programs. A growing global network of NGO partners including Global Water Challenge, A Child's Right, Akvo, Fondo Para La Paz, Indonesia Water Partnership, Lien Ad, Pump Aid, Wildlands Conservation Trust and many others who will successfully implement water and conservation projects around the world. For the comprehensive list of Live Earth's NGO partners around the world, please visit http://liveearth.org/runforwater/partners.

Dow Chemical in the Middle East actively supports the social and economic aspirations of the communities in which it operates and enables success by forging partnerships to effect regional change. One partnership includes the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) in which Dow's commitment to protecting the Middle East environment was recognized with an annual EEG award in 2008.

For more information about The Dow Live Earth Run for Water, visit http://liveearth.org.

-Ends-

About Dow in the Middle East:
Dow has several current and proposed Middle East joint ventures in the UAE, Egypt, Kuwait and Libya as well as in Saudi Arabia, where Saudi Aramco and Dow are in the formation process of a joint venture to build, own and operate a world-scale chemicals and plastics production complex in the Eastern Province. From the opening of its first commercial office in Cairo in the early 1970's to its facility in Jebel Ali in Dubai and its 10-year partnership in Kuwait with EQUATE, Dow has managed to establish a solid presence in the Middle East petrochemicals industry. For more information about Dow in the Middle East, please visit www.dowmiddleeast.com

About Live Earth:
Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action. A for-profit company, Live Earth seeks to leverage the power of entertainment through integrated events, media, and the live experience to ignite a global movement aimed at solving the most critical environmental issues of our time. More information about Live Earth can be found at http://liveearth.org.

For editorial information:
Yara Najjar
Public Affairs Representative
Middle East & Africa
t +971.4.312.3662
ynajjar@dow.com

Reuven Proença or Anan Ibrahim
Weber Shandwick
t +971 (0)4 3210 077
dow@ws-mena.com

© Press Release 2009

 

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