Starr International Foundation Renews Commitment

We are pleased to announce that Starr International Foundation has renewed its long-term relationship with Safe Water Network with a $300,000 grant in support of our India expansion program.  

The foundation has funded several Safe Water Network field and marketing initiatives since our inception in 2006. The current grant will help fund Year One of a three-year expansion program in Andhra Pradesh to demonstrate the viability of Safe Water Network’s approach at scale, co-supported with our partners PepsiCo Foundation and the Merck Foundation. 

This expansion program builds upon the field initiatives and brand development work we’ve been doing in India since 2007. Last year Safe Water Network introduced an innovative communication messaging campaign utilizing the iJal brand. iJal means ‘My Water’ in Hindi. The iJal branded program includes everything a community requires to launch, operate and maintain a Safe Water Station, including comprehensive training materials, manuals and toolkits. 

Safe Water Network has implemented 42 iJal Stations providing safe water access to over 200,000 people in India. In 2014 we intend to add 40 iJal stations, providing an additional 100,000 people affordable, safe water access. Safe Water Network also has offices in Accra, Ghana, where we implement locally owned and managed Safe Water Stations. 

Starr International Foundation was founded in 1955 when Cornelius Vander Starr, an insurance entrepreneur and founder of C.V. Starr & Co., bequeathed his entire estate to the Foundation. With assets of approximately $1.25 billion, Starr International Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Maurice R. Greenberg, chairman of Starr International USA and Starr International Foundation, serves on the board of Safe Water Network.