The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in support of development activities in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
The signing took place last Friday July 1, 2022.
USAID Philippines, Pacific Islands, and Mongolia Mission Director Ryan Washburn joined Coca-Cola PNG General Manager Philippe Mondada to sign the MoU to promote women’s empowerment, safe water, and sustainable economic growth in his first official trip to PNG.
“Business is good for development, and development is good for business,” said Mission Director Washburn.
“USAID makes it a top priority to consult, strategize, align, collaborate, and implement with the private sector for greater scale, sustainability, and effectiveness. We are happy to partner with Coca-Cola to enhance our development impact in PNG.”
Mondada emphasized the importance of growing their business sustainably.
“Coca-Cola has made a number of commitments that align with the targets underpinning the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Our collaboration with USAID is a great example of Goal 17: Partnership for the Goals and helps us move beyond Corporate Social Responsibility to create shared value and development impact.”
USAID and CCEP will jointly support women’s empowerment and work to combat gender-based violence (GBV), a key development challenge in PNG, with some studies showing over 70 percent of women in PNG have experienced violence in their lifetime.
In addition, USAID and Coca-Cola will continue to collaborate to bring safe water and sanitation services to communities.
USAID and the Coca-Cola Company have a long history of partnership, collaborating on numerous major initiatives, including water, youth and gender, entrepreneurship, health, food security, and innovation and e-payments. Specifically, Coca-Cola and USAID have collaborated on more than 43 projects in over 30 countries.