Acqua for Life Challenge raises over 43 million litres of water

Milan, 17 June 2011 – The Acqua for Life Challenge, a collaboration between Green Cross International and Giorgio Armani, has raised over 43 million litres of water in support of Green Cross International’s Smart Water for Green Schools project in Ghana.

“The results of the Acqua for Life Challenge are a great step forward to ensure that more people have access to safe drinking water and thereby also ensuring children are able to continue with their education,” said Alexander Likhotal, President of Green Cross International. “The cooperation between Green Cross International and Giorgio Armani is an innovative partnership model. A practical step to help make the Right to Water a reality. We look forward to continuing to work together in other communities.”

From 1 March to 31 May 2011, every bottle of Acqua di Gio and Acqua di Gioia, two of Giorgio Armani’s fragrances, sold generated a donation of 100 litres of drinking water. A unique code on each carton allowed people to double their donation by creating their own Acqua for Life community on the Facebook Acqua for Life fan page. Then, each new member of their community generated a new donation of 10 litres of water, and each “like” and/or “comments” within the community, 1 litre.

The outcome surpassed the goal of raising 40 million litres of safe drinking water for communities in Ghana. This allows the project to be expanded to 16 communities. The Acqua for Life Challenge 2011 has already benefited 10 communities, all located in the Eastern region of Ghana. The six other communities that will be helped are located in the Volta Region.

A total of approximately 27,000 people living in 16 communities will thus have access to safe drinking water. Out of those 27,000 people, approximately 3,500 will be children who will enjoy a safe water supply while at school. This will increase the children’s school attendance. In addition, 200 professors will also benefit from the installations. At the end of the project’s implementation about 110 community members – predominantly women, masons and mechanics – will be trained to maintain and refurbish the systems, ensuring their optimal and sustainable utilisation.

Water is the basic ingredient of life and a requirement for health, education and development. Yet safe drinking water is one of today’s key challenges. One in eight people on the planet do not have access to a secured source of safe drinking water. Globally, diarrhoea is a leading cause of illness and death. 4000 children under five perish every DAY because of unsafe drinking water, inadequate availability of water for hygiene and lack of access to sanitation.

About Green Cross International (GCI) Green Cross International is a leading environmental organisation that was founded by President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993. GCI is a non-profit and non-governmental organization working to address the inter-connected global challenges of security, poverty and environmental degradation through a combination of high-level advocacy and local projects. GCI works in over 30 countries and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. For more information about GCI, visit www.gcint.org and follow GCI on twitter @GreenCrossInt and Facebook.

About Armani The Armani Group is one of the leading fashion and luxury goods groups in the world today, with over 5,000 direct employees and 13 factories. It designs, manufactures, distributes and retails fashion and lifestyle products, including apparel, accessories, fragrances and cosmetics, eyewear, watches, jewellery and home furnishings, under a range of brand names: Giorgio Armani Privé, Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani, Armani Collezioni, AJ | Armani Jeans, Giorgio Armani Cosmetics, A/X Armani Exchange, Armani Junior, Armani Baby, and Armani Casa. For further information: www.armani.com and http://www.press-acquaforlife.com/.

For interview requests, photos or more information, please contact:

Michelle Laug Communications Executive, Green Cross International michelle.laug@gci.ch +41 22 789 0817