Hollywood stars Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones accepted a donation for DH 7 million (US$ 1.9 million = € 1.4 million) in Dubai on 6 October 2008 on behalf of the charity Free the Children (FTC). The money is to be used to help provide clean water for underprivileged children in Sri Lanka and Kenya.

Free the Children was set up in 1995 by child rights activist Craig Kielberge and a group of friends when they were only 12 years old. Since then it has built over 500 schools around the world.

The donation, by Dubai-based developer Nakheel, will be used to in a variety of FTC projects to make clean water more accessible to an estimated 200,000 people in Sri Lanka and Kenya. According to the UN, 5,000 children die everyday from diarrhoea caused by water-borne infections.

'This is not fair for any child,' said Douglas, on accepting the donation. 'Together, we can stop water-borne diseases in their tracks.'

Related news:

• Sri Lanka: schoolchildren learn the value of safe water and good sanitation, Source South Asia, 02 Sep 2008;
• Development goals: targeting the poor and coordination save children’s lives, Source, 19 Nov 2007

Web sites:Free the Children; Nakheel

Sources: Faisal Masudi, Xpress, 06 Oct 2008; Nakheel, 06 Oct 2008; Gulfnews, 06 Oct 2008

Tags: africa, financing, south asia, water supply