NEW YORK — Airlink, a rapid-response disaster and humanitarian relief organization, was recognized for its role in a Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action led by WorldWater & Solar Technologies, Inc. (WorldWater). The Commitment to deliver three clean water systems to Sierra Leone was featured onstage during the afternoon Plenary Session entitled “Infrastructure Challenges: Cites of the Future” at the Clinton Global Initiative 2015 Middle East & Africa Meeting in Marrakech, Morocco on Wednesday, May 6, 2015.
“Airlink is honored to be recognized for a second time by CGI for our ongoing efforts to help organizations responding to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa,” commented Steve Smith, Executive Director of Airlink. “It was through our CGI membership that these entities met and were introduced. It is extremely gratifying for Airlink to be part of an organization that enables us to provide support to those battling not only the Ebola virus but, perhaps more importantly now, the devastated healthcare systems that must be rebuilt.”
The CGI Commitment to Action, led by WorldWater, promises to deliver three of its largest solar-powered water purification systems free of charge to the Ministry of Water Resources in the Government of Sierra Leone. These units will assist the Ministry in their efforts as they endeavor to completely eradicate Ebola in the country. The total cost of the water filtration units is approximately $415,000. Chevron is contributing approximately $200,000 towards the project costs, and WorldWater will donate the remaining $215,000. WorldWater will also provide two years of maintenance on these purification units at an estimated value of $100,000.
Through Airlink’s network of air and ground transportation partners, including American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) and Logistics for Independent Foreign Transport (LIFT), the purification units will be sent to Sierra Leone. They will then be delivered to Freetown’s Connaught Hospital, the country’s main hospital and Ebola ward, which is in desperate need of clean water.
