Kimberly-Clark Asia Pacific joins ‘Urgent Run’

Kimberly-Clark Asia Pacific employees and their families were part of the Urgent Run Singapore, a 5km fun run that took place on 5 November in East Coast Park. The run, organised by the World Toilet Organization, draws attention to the global sanitation problem and calls for urgent action amongst the world community to tackle this silent crisis.

Globally 2.5 billion people are living without access to proper sanitation and this affects their dignity and escalates the spread of life-threatening diseases. 1 billion people still defecate in the open and 1,000 children die every day due to poor sanitation.

Governmental bodies and world leaders have increasingly called attention to the crisis by organizing events such as World Toilet Day and more recently by including ‘access to water and sanitation for all’ in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The Urgent Run Singapore is the first in a series of global events organised in different cities around the world leading up to the World Toilet Day on 19 November. Over 700 participants took part in the Singapore run this year.

Team K-C getting ready to run for the cause of sustainable sanitation

Leading Team K-C was Deepshikha Kiyawat, Senior Marketing Director, APAC Family Care, Kimberly-Clark. “At Kimberly-Clark, our vision is to lead with essentials for a better life. Sanitation is inherently linked to our business and our brands.Our global Toilets Change Lives program is helping to address the global sanitation issue through on-ground community programs, in partnership with non-profit organizations and supported by our consumers, customers and employees.In Singapore, our partnership with The Urgent Run is aligned with our efforts to bring greater attention to this issue.By collaborating with organizations like World Toilet Organization who share similar goals, we hope to drive engagement and awareness of the need for sustainable sanitation,” she said.

Since its inception in 2014, the Toilets Change Lives program has helped improve access to sanitation to approximately 300,000 people in need, through partnerships between its well-known brands and NGOs such as UNICEF, Water for People and Charities Aid Foundation India.

Participants of the run took home Kleenex Moist Toilet Tissue products