In the anniversary year 2015, all employees worldwide were called upon to make donations to the joint project "100 Years – 100 Schools.” In 2017, all ZF employees worldwide were able to participate in the selection of the new annual project for the first time. The decision was made in favor of the "water is life" project.
In order to implement this project successfully, you need a partner who has aid workers in the poverty regions and can provide the relevant expertise of how needy people can be assisted in helping themselves. Our partner at "water is life" is the global aid organization CARE.
- Who or what is CARE? This non-governmental organization, NGO for short, was founded in the United States in 1945. More than 100 million CARE packages helped relieve hunger and poverty in the aftermath of the Second World War. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, CARE is one of the world’s leading humanitarian organizations and has a global network consisting of 14 national CARE organizations. CARE is politically independent and ethnically and religiously neutral. Some 14,000 employees worldwide – 95% are local staff – look after the needs of people in distress.
- CARE focuses primarily on WASH: These four letters stand for access to drinking water (WA), construction of sanitary facilities (S) and instruction in hygiene (H). WASH is considered a key sector of development work and humanitarian aid in many parts of the world. To systematically and effectively implement WASH, the local CARE workers concentrate in particular on the training of women and girls in all aspects relating to the topic of water. That’s because women are responsible for children and thus provide their knowledge to the next generation.
The "water is life" project focuses on three poverty regions: Nepal, Peru and Mozambique. In Nepal, one of the regions of the world most affected by earthquakes, CARE is committed to improving the water supply. In the drought-ridden regions of northwest Mozambique and in the high plains of Peru, the initiative is sponsoring the construction of water access stations and sanitary facilities. In all three countries, the activities are accompanied by hygiene education.