Geneva/New Delhi, 6 November 2020: Today, over 785 million people are still without access to safe drinking water, another 2.2 billion lack safely managed drinking water services and an estimated 4.2 billion lack access to safely managed sanitation services.1 This is incompatible not only with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (WBCSD) Vision 2050, where nine billion people are able to live well within the limits of the planet, but also with the United Nations (UN) human right to access to drinking water and sanitation. Accelerated action is urgently needed to address these issues.
A proposed first step in accelerating business action is for companies to commit to the Pledge for Access to Safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH Pledge). This Pledge aims to have businesses commit to securing appropriate access to safe WASH for all employees in all premises under direct company control.
The WASH Pledge Guiding Principles has now been translated to Spanish by CEMDES, WBCSD’s global network partner in Ecuador.
This publication includes a set of guiding principles that will support companies in their efforts to implement WASH at the workplace – an essential first step for businesses supporting global objectives related to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. This document also provides guidance and tools to help businesses assess their WASH conditions at the workplace, as well as along its value chain, including suppliers and surrounding workplace and/or worker communities.
The WASH Pledge self-assessment tool is also available in Spanish. The self-assessment tool is an excel-based tool that can be used by companies to evaluate their implementation of access to safe WASH at the workplace in comparison to leading practices. It can help identify areas for improvement, and support decision-making regarding investment and priority action.
Visit the WASH Pledge site for more resources.
