DENVER — Nonprofit international development organization Water For People, based here, has been selected to provide technical support for a 31 million euros (US $45.3 million) initiative to bring safe drinking water and improved sanitation to more than 540,000 people in the South African nation of Malawi, Water For People announced in a September 29 press release.

The project is funded by the European Union (EU) Water Facility and European Investment Bank (EIB). Water For People will receive more than US $1.56 million as the “facilitation services provider” for the program.

It will serve 21 low-income areas outside the urban areas of Blantyre and Lilongwe in Malawi.

This is a significant new undertaking for Water For People. The organization says on its Web site that it provided more than 108,000 people worldwide with safe drinking water resources and/or improved sanitation facilities in 2007.

Within the two cities in Malawi, approximately 70 percent of the population lives in unplanned areas. Half of these residents do not have regular access to water supplied by the Blantyre Water Board, and only 13 percent have access to improved latrines that meet basic government standards, Water For People said in the release.

The EU and EIB are providing the funds to the water board to meet its goal of increasing water and sanitation access by 50 percent within four years beginning November 1.

According to Water For People, an important component of the nonprofit’s plan for long-lasting results is the organization’s concept of “Sanitation as a Business.” According to Elias Chimulambe, a water, sanitation and community development specialist at Water For People–Malawi, “Our goal is to build the capabilities and resources of the local private sector, local NGOs, and the government so that they can continue to provide services in the long term… . We will help the Blantyre Water Board to build their own capacity, allowing them to provide and increase services continuously into the future.”

Water For People was founded by, and receives much of its support from private companies and trade associations involved in the North American water treatment market.

To read the full release, click here.

For related information, click here.