25. Mar. 2021
On 11 March, the Foundation Board approved five new Community Engagement Grants helping Grundfos companies engage in their local areas.

Ghana: Sanitation project

Grundfos Ghana is working hard to pilot new water business models, replacing old and dilapidated water systems with Grundfos’ state of the art technologies (also known as the Ghana Water Initiative) in Abomosu in central Ghana’s Atiwa District. On behalf of their local partner, COLANDEF, they have secured a grant to supply the 1,400 people community with proper sanitation to avoid open defecation and reduce the risk of water-borne diseases and thus increase the overall impact within the community.

  • COLANDEF will receive a grant of EUR 25,000 toward this project

Nigeria: Water supply for Obuofia Community

Grundfos Subsaharan Africa has secured a grant for the Rector Cares Foundation to increase the supply of clean and safe water for domestic use through construction of a number of solar-powered borehole wells with water reservoirs for over 10,000 residents (the majority women and children) in Obuofia Community, Bende Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria.

  • Rector Cares Foundation will receive EUR 62,000 toward this project

Argentina: 3 year extension of Active Hygiene Program

The objective of the initial community engagement project was to implement technology for access to safe water and deliver hygiene workshops (online) to the community leaders in the settlement areas in the Province of Buenos Aires, prioritizing the Municipality of Escobar. The project is a collaboration between Proyecto Agua Segura and Grundfos Argentina.

Community centers will be equipped with technology for access to safe water as well as protection material for referents who work daily to care for families in the community, delivering food and hygiene instruments and graphic communication material. The implementation of Life Straw community filters will provide access to safe water to these communities for at least 3 years or more. We will also implement a rainwater harvesting kit to collect rainwater.

  • Proyecto Agua Segura will receive a grant of EUR 113,000 toward this project.

Philippines: addressing rapid population growth through water and hygiene

The population in the Philippines has been growing extremely quickly in the course of the last few years: according to the World Bank, it went from 75 million inhabitants in 1995 to 100 million in 2014. This fast growth translated into massive urbanization of the population and led to a flood of challenges, with lack of clean water being a major challenge.

350 new individual water connections at home will be built through this project, improving access to safe drinking water and hygiene for approximately 1,750 people living in precarious neighbourhoods (barangays ) near Grundfos’ office in Cebu.

Interventions will be done in the following barangays:

  • Brgy. Tangke, Talisay, Cebu (2)
  • Brgy. Inayawan, Cebu City, Cebu (1)
  • Brgy. San Roque, Cebu City, Cebu (1)

At the end of the project, 11 fire pumps will be installed to equip community fire brigade volunteers and protect these areas from fires.

  • EUR 50,000 will be granted to Water and Life Philippines, a a locally driven NGO. The project is co-financed with the Coca-Cola Foundation and the Eurofins Foundation

Eau & Vie Philippines has been working in the slums of Manila and Cebu since 2010 Exposure Media Production on Vimeo.

South Sudan: Replacing hand pumps with solar pumping in Nuba Hills

In the past years, there were quite a lot of investments in Nuba. Boreholes were drilled and mini water yards were constructed. Handpumps were broken and not repaired. As per December 2020, there are 157 broken out of 287 pumps and 39 non-functional mini water yards.

This project will refurbish 15 non-functional boreholes and mini water yards in Nuba Hills, South Sudan. For each location, solar-powered technology will replace handpumps and training will be given in health and sanitation (incl. COVID-19 prevention) and technical training on maintenance of the water points. The beneficiary communities will contribute with voluntary labour for all installations.

42 Community engagement grants in 2020

In 2020, the Foundation pledged DKK 20 million to support Grundfos companies’ local outreach and community engagement. You can find statistics and stories in our 2020 annual review and in the Inclusion section of this website.

In 2021, the Foundation has decided to repeat the success and earmarked another DKK 20 million toward the Poul Due Jensen Community Engagement Grant.