HEINEKEN raises awareness and providing clean water in Vietnam rural areas

Vietnam Brewery Limited (VBL) launched the ‘1 minute less for million smiles’ campaign. The programme’s aim is to support rural communities, for whom clean water shortage is a deadly concern.

In Vietnam, only 11.7% of households in rural areas have access to a safe pipe water source. As a result, 9,000 deaths occur annually, with many more cases of sickness through water pollution and poor sanitary conditions¹. The idea behind Vietnam Brewery’s 1 minute less for million smiles’ campaign is to encourage everyone to use less water in their daily activities, such as turning water taps off when brushing their teeth and using water for cleaning more effectively, in order to preserve more clean water for millions of people.

In 2013, the initiative had a particular focus in the areas of Tien Giang, Danang and Quang Nam, where clean water shortage is critical. Through financial donations, 1 billion Vietnam dong (USD47,500) was raised supporting three clean water stations in the areas mentioned. A total of 590 VBL volunteers in seven locations across the country distributed 10,000 leaflets and cleaned thousands of metres of canals, rivers and beaches.

All these efforts resulted in extensive media coverage, including digital, print, radio and television coverage. To highlight the visibility and engagement of the programme, as of 31 December 2013 the campaign’s Facebook page gathered over 60,000 ‘likes’ and over 39,000 water-saving commitments have been made on the website.

¹Source: Ministry of Health and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

Brewing a Better Future: It is HEINEKEN's strategy for creating shared, sustainable value: for our company, for society and for the planet. And it is fundamental to how we do business. Developed with our stakeholders and based on insight into global trends, our strategy focuses on the four areas where we can make the biggest difference: water, CO2, local sourcing and responsible consumption. These are underpinned by our values and behaviours: living our values, leading by example, and working together to make a difference.