Momentum Building for Corporate Engagement on WASH in 2024: First Quarter Updates

The WASH4Work initiative is pleased to share that from January through March of 2024, 95 companies around the world have signed the WASH Pledge. The WASH Pledge signals a company’s commitment to providing universal access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) across their operations, supply chains, and the communities where they operate. 

The companies that have signed the WASH Pledge in Q1 2024 alone have operations across 3,086 locations, reaching a total of 26,063 employees, and 1,217,082 contracted workers. This marks a significant leap in corporate action on WASH, and vast opportunity for corporate impact on the CEO Water Mandate’s WASH4Work global goal (SDG6) to enable universal access to safely managed water, sanitation, and hygiene. We congratulate all companies that have committed to the WASH Pledge since its launch in 2013.

Bitron is among the signatories of the WASH Pledge. Bitron has used the WASH Self Assessment Tool and reported back on their results. By integrating WASH standards into its corporate strategy, Bitron has demonstrated its commitment to ensuring safe and hygienic working conditions for its thousands of employees and stakeholders across various regions.

Action on WASH can also be taken in an indirect way. For example, Xylem regularly encourages its suppliers to take positive action by acknowledging suppliers that have taken the WASH Pledge. 

The WASH Self Assessment Tool is designed to help companies evaluate their current WASH risks and prioritize areas for action. This tool is particularly useful for companies that have operations or suppliers in areas where access to clean water and sanitation facilities is challenging, aiming to enhance public health and environmental outcomes through strategic planning and targeted interventions.

The inclusion of company names and/or examples is intended strictly for learning purposes and does not constitute an endorsement of the individual companies by the UN Global Compact or CEO Water Mandate. 

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CEO Water Mandate
The Mandate is a commitment platform for business leaders and learners to advance water stewardship. Endorsing companies commit to action across six key elements and report annually on progress. The Mandate Secretariat - a partnership between the UN Global Compact and Pacific Institute - supports the initiative’s mission and endorsing companies in many ways, including: (1) developing research, guidance, and tools that advance corporate water stewardship, (2) convening multi-stakeholder events to identify, explore, and solve key water challenges, and (3) facilitating meaningful collective action to improve conditions in at-risk river basins around the world.