UAE provides clean water to 10,000 people in Vietnam

Humanitarian mission deploys water fountains for villagers as part of its global vision to support communities in need

UAE's 'Beyond 2020' delivers critical, life-transforming solutions to communities around the world. Photo: Wam

The UAE has provided safe and clean drinking water to 10,000 people living in rural communities in Vietnam.

Beyond2020, a humanitarian drive supported by local and international governments, installed eight water filtration systems to serve five villages and three schools in the Quang Nam province of the Asian country.

The assistance aims to reduce incidences of waterborne diseases and enhance overall health.

The Beyond2020 scheme was launched by the UAE's Zayed Sustainability Prize to provide sustainable solutions for urgent challenges faced by vulnerable communities around the world.

The campaign in Vietnam is being led by the Agir Ensemble Foundation in France, a Zayed Sustainability Prize finalist who developed the Safe Water Cube.

It aims to raise private and government funding to deploy fountains in countries that lack access to clean drinking water.

The fountains work by operating through a hand pump to purify water from microbes, viruses and other impurities by relying on different filtration systems without using harmful chemicals and electric energy.

One fountain can pump 1,000 litres of clean water an hour and provide clean water to a village with a population of up to 1,000.

The pumps have previously provided clean water to 8,500 people in Madagascar and 4,400 people in Cambodia.

“The UAE and the Republic of Vietnam share great determination and an unwavering resolve to promote innovative solutions that urgently address the pressing sustainability challenges in the world today,” said Dr Bader Al Matrooshi, UAE ambassador to Vietnam.

He also said that initiatives such as these will enable communities to withstand climate change.

Nguyen Manh Tuan, ambassador of Vietnam to the UAE, said that providing drinking water to communities in Vietnam is one of the country's top priorities.

“The Beyond 2020 initiative has contributed by providing clean drinking water to 10,000 local residents,” he said.

"Securing a sustainable source of water in remote communities will enable them to live healthier and happier lives.”

Beyond2020's partners include the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Mubadala Energy and Masdar.

The organisation has already offered support to tackle water and food insecurity and health and energy challenges in 15 countries, including Nepal, Sudan, Uganda, Jordan, Egypt, Cambodia, Madagascar, the Philippines and Sudan.

The Zayed Sustainability Prize was established in 2008 as a tribute to the sustainability and humanitarian legacy of the UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

The prize recognises organisations in high schools that are delivering effective and inspiring innovations in the following categories: health, food, energy, water, global high schools and climate action.