Every Drop Matters (EDM), a partnership between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and The Coca-Cola Company, worked to improve water supplies and sanitation, and to promote responsible water resource management in a changing climate. Spanning countries across Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Middle East and Asia-Pacific, EDM joined forces with government and non-governmental organizations to promote sustainable, cost effective and replicable ways of managing water.
Access to water and sanitation is needed for people throughout the world to prosper and lift themselves out of poverty. Also, the uncertain effects of climate change are placing great strains on communities throughout the world. Solutions to these problems are available but, often, awareness of them is not great.
The Millennium Development Goals aimed to halve the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. Whilst the safe drinking water goal was assumed achieved in 2010, approximately one quarter of a billion people still lack access. Furthermore, 2.5 billion still lack access to improved sanitation.
Piloting small scale solutions to water and sanitation, and a changing climate offer communities an opportunity to take control of the issues impacting upon their lives. Through trialling and demonstrating the effectiveness of solutions, communities, NGOs, and local to national governments have the opportunity to replicate and upscale successful approaches.
Through the distribution of small grants, the Every Drop Matters programme demonstrates solutions to these challenges. The small grant projects focus on community-based solutions, allowing those in need to take control of their problems. Utilising UNDP knowledge of community-led work and sustainable development, and Coca-Cola’s knowledge and skills in awareness raising, the results from successful projects are then communicated to a larger audience.
Pilot projects aim to increase investment in solutions – either by attracting additional funds to expand a project’s scope, or by providing the evidence governments and donors need to fund the replication of solutions at scale.
Learn more at:
The programme’s dedicated website.
The website of the Coca-Cola Foundation.
Every Drop Matters completed and close its activities in April 2016. To learn more about the programme’s activities, click through the country page links to read about its small scale pilot projects. Results of the programme are also detailed in its closure reports, which takes stock of its achievements. The synthesis report details all of EDM’s global projects, and the accompanying short report covers highlights from throughout the programme.
As part of the stock taking process, the programme engaged an external evaluation consultancy, Oxford Policy Management, to review the methods and modalities of programme implementation. The intention of this activity is to feed into new development partnerships. The review highlights some of the positive effects resulting from the global EDM programme. It also highlights challenges faced in the implementation of EDM and similar programmes. It is therefore hoped that the lessons and insights gained through this review will assist in enhancing future development partnerships. Click here to view to learn more about the report.
Both UNDP and Coca-Cola recognize the continued power of partnership in tackling development challenges. So, whilst EDM is complete, its mission is not. New World: Inclusive Sustainable Human Development Initiatives, a new partnership programme between UNDP and Coca-Cola is a natural extension of EDM. Within the new sustainable development agenda the programme builds on, and enhances, the focus of EDM.
EDM contributed to Coca-Cola’s Water Stewardship and Replenishment goals. Click here to learn more about Coca-Cola’s water stewardship and replenishment work. Further information regarding the work of the UNDP Water and Ocean Governance Programme can be found here.
EDM project in Uzbekistan – for the last 4 years a new community-water supply model has been tested with local village groups: advanced technology in the form of solar-powered energy-efficient pumps.
“Each solar panel and pump set is able to supply around 5000 villagers, providing 470 cubic meters of safe drinking water per day…….. And because the project works closely with government agencies, there is great support for extending the new water-supply model, including the solar pumps, to other communities”. Ulugbek Islamov, UNDP-Uzbekistan.
UNDP Senior Water Advisor
marianne.kjellen@undp.org
Phone: +46 8 121 36 044