Dubai event to highlight clean water needs
Dubai, November 2, 2009
Dubai Cares, the UAE-based philanthropic establishment, will hold a walk in support of children with limited access to clean drinking water in schools around the world.
The Water Bucket Walk will be held at Jumeirah Beach Park on November 20, marking the 20th anniversary of the UN’s Universal Children’s Day which is observed as a day to promote children’s welfare.
The 3-km walk will help Dubai Cares address one of the key issues preventing children’s access to primary education in developing countries, a statement said.
“Millions of children around the world are deprived of primary education and one of the main underlying issues is their limited access to clean drinking water,” said Tariq Al Gurg, CEO of Dubai Cares.
“On average, children in developing countries walk six kilometers every day to collect water for their families and often the water is dirty and highly contaminated, which has serious implications on their health preventing them from attending school,” he pointed out.
These children leave their houses early in the morning and walk long distances to access the nearest water source, and only after waiting for many hours to collect water, they begin their long and exhausting walk back home carrying heavy loads, said the statement.
Al Gurg added, “The purpose behind this event is to provide the UAE community with an opportunity to briefly experience a fraction of the difficulties that children in developing countries face every day in accessing and collecting water.
“Every participant walking represents one child’s access to clean water for one year and hence we encourage and invite all UAE residents to participate in large numbers and support us in providing these children with clean water.”
UAE residents can register for the walk through the Dubai Cares website (dubaicares.ae). Registration fee for the ‘Water Bucket Walk’ is Dh30 ($8.16) with all proceeds going towards helping children.
The Dh30 can provide one child with access to clean drinking water in school for one year, the statement added. – TradeArabia News Service
