Peace Corps, USAID, Coca-Cola Company announce WASH training initiative

Oct 17 2012

"The Peace Corps has announced a strategic partnership with the Water and Development Alliance (WADA) -- a long-standing public-private partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Coca-Cola Company (Coca-Cola) -- to improve local capacity to deliver sustainable water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services for the reduction of waterborne disease around the world," a Peace Corps press release reports. According to the press release, "WADA will work with the Peace Corps' WASH initiative to raise awareness and build capacity among Peace Corps and community trainers around sustainable water supply and sanitation services, as well as improved hygiene behaviors" (10/12). "The training package will equip more volunteers to help communities create and strengthen WASH efforts in their homes, in schools, and in health facilities," Jill McGrath-Jones, program specialist for the Peace Corps Office of Global Health and HIV, writes in the AIDS.gov Blog. She adds, "Key actions promoted in the training include building tippy-taps to increase access to water, maintaining latrines, ensuring safe water supplies, and educating others about hygienic practices and behaviors" (10/15).