Surge Middle East is organising its annual gala dinner today (December 9) in Dubai, UAE to help raise awareness of the global water crisis and highlight Surge’s work in areas such as India, Nepal, The Philippines and Cambodia.

Under the concept ‘Design Dine Donate’ over 300 guests will converge on The Address Hotel, Dubai Marina, to celebrate Surge’s recent successes, as well as reflecting on the challenges that lie ahead.

“Nearly 663 million people lack improved drinking water access and 2.4 billion lack improved sanitation services, indeed by 2025 two-thirds of the world could live in areas of water stress, due to population growth and the changing climate’s impact on water availability,” said Marita Peters, executive director, Surge Middle East.

“We currently offer educational programmes here in Dubai and we also intend to actively promote filtered tap water, to minimise the negative environmental impact of consuming bottled water,” added Peters.

The gala dinner is also used as the climax for a unique competition which challenges interior designers to create a sustainable coffee table, made primarily out of recycled materials. The competition is free to enter and designers volunteer their own time and creativity and engage build partners to bring their creations to life.

Guests will be encouraged to tie in reusable and recycled materials in their work as Interior designers and in their everyday lives. We will show how sustainable practices such as the use of recycled materials protects the earth’s resources – specifically water.

Commenting on her involvement, award-winning designer Laila Al-Yousuf, Senior Interior Designer at Perkins+Will said: “I was so inspired with the work that Surge does in developing countries, it quickly became a cause I truly believed in and with Perkins+Will’s focus on sustainability, it was a natural fit and one that I had to get involved with.”

“I thought that instead of donating money or attending a networking event, it would resonate with my peers far more, if we had to donate what we value most about ourselves, our creativity! That led me to the idea of starting a design competition and the ‘Design Dine Donate’ concept was born,” she added.

To achieve its aims and objectives, Surge engages with sponsors and donors to invest in sustainable and innovative clean water projects, as well as working with community leaders to develop sustainable solutions in areas of need is crucial to the long term success of these projects. In addition, educating communities about critical practices for clean water, sanitation and hygiene is vital, as is sharing information about the global water crisis to show how local action can have global impact.

The global water and sanitation crisis impacts nearly 2.4 billion people and since its founding, Surge has provided safe water access via sustainable solutions to over 160,000 people in 11 countries.

The gala dinner is supported by numerous sponsors and the participation of sixteen top interior design houses in the UAE which include Aukett Fitzroy Robinson International, HBA, Perkins+Will, Allen Architecture Interiors Design, design worldwide partnership, Bassos Design, K/Kreativ, Bluehaus, Woods Bagot, H2R, DFP Architecture, Maja Kozel, Arsany & Peter, HOK and Jafar Dajani Furniture.

Annually, approximately 3.4 million people, mostly children, die from water-related diseases. In Africa alone, women and girls spend approximately 40 billion hours a year collecting water — travelling long distances, carrying heavy loads, and sacrificing their safety and opportunities for education and economic development, sadly a reality that exists in countries around the world.- TradeArabia News Service