AXA XL Partners With Charity WaterAid to Bring Clean Water to Communities in Northern India

LONDON, England, Oct. 2 -- AXA XL, an insurance and reinsurance company, issued the following news release:

As part of its efforts to improve water resilience around the world, AXA XL today announced it has entered into a three-year partnership with international charity WaterAid to help provide more than ten thousand people in rural India with access to clean water.

Nearly one million people globally die each year from diarrhoeal diseases linked to dirty water, and poor sanitation and hygiene. The crisis has a particularly devastating impact on children, affecting their education and health. The provision of clean water, sanitation and hygiene could help save the lives of some 310,000 children aged under five each year.

Investing in water and sanitation not only helps transform lives, it has financial benefits for whole communities. Every US$1 invested in water and toilets returns an average of US$4 in increased productivity.

Today in India, more than 163 million people are currently without safe water and nearly 732 million do not have access to decent sanitation. As part of the new partnership, AXA XL and WaterAid will work to provide communities and schools in the Fatehpur district of Uttar Pradesh in Northern India year-round access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.

Among other things, AXA XL's funding will support WaterAid in creating sanitary blocks and healthcare facilities in schools and community centres, a pipeline water supply unit and rain water harvesting infrastructure. It will also enable community-level training on water testing and basic hydrology, so that communities can manage and sustain the new infrastructure into the future.

The partnership is one part of AXA XL's broader Corporate Social Responsibility focus on improving water resilience, which NASA has warned are likely to be the key environmental challenge of the century.

Speaking about the new partnership, Derek Nazareth, Head of Global Operations and Country Head, AXA XL India, said: "AXA XL has a long and established presence in India, with offices in Gurgaon and Bangalore for more than 12 years. We have always been committed to supporting our local communities all year round, but now our interest in the country goes beyond these locations, which is why we're proud to partner with a charity such as WaterAid to bring clean water to some of the country's most vulnerable people."

Suzanne Scatliffe, Director, Corporate Social Responsibility at AXA XL, added: "Water scarcity is a threat to billions of people in both developing and developed countries, and extreme weather patterns, population growth and demographic trends will only exacerbate this problem going forward. As a global (re)insurer, developing resilience is the essence of what we do. We're looking forward to partnering with WaterAid to reduce the risk of critical water shortages in the most exposed regions."

Marcus Missen, Director of Communications and Fundraising at WaterAid commented: "An estimated 3.6 billion people lived in water-scarce areas in 2016, and that number is expected to increase to around 5 billion by 2050, while a staggering 2 billion people currently live without access to basic sanitation. This global crisis requires urgent action as these basics are vital to overcoming global poverty. We're therefore delighted that AXA XL will be joining us on our journey to achieving a world where everyone, everywhere has access to clean water, improved sanitation and good hygiene."

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ABOUT AXA XL1

AXA XL1, the property & casualty and specialty risk division of AXA, provides insurance and risk management products and services for mid-sized companies through to large multinationals, and reinsurance solutions to insurance companies globally. We partner with those who move the world forward. To learn more, visit www.axaxl.com

ABOUT AXA XL1 INSURANCE

AXA XL1 Insurance offers property, casualty, professional, financial lines and specialty insurance solutions to mid-sized companies through to large multinationals globally. We partner with those who move the world forward. To learn more, visit www.axaxl.com

ABOUT WATERAID

WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 27 million people with clean water and 27 million people with decent toilets. For more information, visit www.wateraid.org, follow @WaterAidUK or @WaterAidPress on Twitter, or find WaterAid UK on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wateraid.

- 785 million people in the world - one in ten - do not have clean water close to home.

- 2 billion people in the world - almost one in four - do not have a decent toilet of their own.

- Around 310,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's around 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes.

- Every pound sterling1 invested in water and toilets returns an average of pound sterling4 in increased productivity.

- Just pound sterling15 can provide one person with clean water.

1 World Health Organization. 'Drinking-water: Key Facts', available at https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water

2 CDP, Treading Water: Global Report 2018, available at https://www.cdp.net/en/research/global-reports/global-water-report-2018.

3 WaterAid, available at https://www.wateraid.org/where-we-work/india.

4 The Guardian. 'Water shortages to be key environmental challenge of the century, NASA warns', available at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/16/water-shortages-to-be-key-environmental-challenge-of-the-century-nasa-warns.

5 WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines.

6 WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG Baselines.

7 washwatch.org.

8 World Health organization (2012) Global costs and benefits of drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to reach the MDG target and universal coverage.

9 www.wateraid.org.