Steven Hilton gives key speech at the World Bank to celebrate World Water Day

On World Water Day, March 22, 2011, Steven Hilton, President and CEO of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation was one of the keynote speakers at the "Water for the Future" event held at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. The convening featured key U.S. Government and World Bank leaders, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and World Bank President Robert Zoellick.

The high-level meeting celebrated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and the World Bank to strengthen support to developing countries seeking a water-secure future.

The signing ceremony event held at the World Bank headquarters also celebrated new commitments to solve the global safe drinking water and sanitation crisis made by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and The Coca-Cola Company.

Steven Hilton invited several of the Foundation's grantees to join him onstage, including the Millennium Water Alliance, UNICEF, WaterAid America, and World Vision.

www.hiltonfoundation.org

CONRAD N. HILTON FOUNDATION PLEDGES $50 MILLION TO IMPROVE GLOBAL WATER CONDITIONS

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation today on World Water Day announced a pledge of $50 million to address the water needs of more than one million people in sub-Saharan Africa and water stressed areas of India and Mexico. The $50 million grant over five years will fund a three-part strategy that will deliver access to sustainable safe water; increased advocacy and capacity; and expand knowledge on global water best practices for communities, governments, NGOs and donors.

900 million people (14% of the world population) do not have access to adequate clean water. More than 2.5 billion people (38% of the world population) live without basic sanitation.

The Hilton Foundation’s water program over the past two decades has focused on WASH – Water Access, Sanitation and Hygiene. Thanks to the Foundation and its implementing more than two million people have been provided with safe drinking water. Access to adequate clean water has improved the quality of their health, education, livelihoods and overall well being. Moreover, thousands of women and girls are freed from spending their days carrying water, with girls able to go to school and women able to start small businesses or work on the family farm, he reported.

The Hilton Foundation grants announced thus far have gone to:

· WaterAid America and World Vision to build sustainable safe water sources in the West African countries of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali and Niger and to educate communities on sanitation and hygiene;

· CREPA (Centre Regional pour l’Eau Potable et l’Assainissement/ African Regional Centre for Water and Sanitation) to assess the functionality of 2,000 existing wells funded by the Hilton Foundation and to develop long-term sustainability guidelines for current and future projects;

· Water.org for a comprehensive communication and advocacy program;

· Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security to implement the Water for the Poor program that provides West African WASH practioners, community members, NGOs, local governments and donor organizations with accessible information and tools on appropriate and available technologies and solutions; and

· The Foundation Center to build a web-based platform that will serve as a central hub for information on the global water crisis aimed at attracting more donors to participate in sustainable global water projects.

These grants reinforce the Hilton Foundation’s 20-year commitment not only to ensure clean drinking water but to improve the well-being of millions of people by giving them the tools they need for long-term success.

www.hiltonfoundation.org

Meat Loaf Wins $20,000 For The Painted Turtle On Celebrity Apprentice. Watch This Sunday.

Watch The Painted Turtle get their donation this Sunday, March 20 9/8c on NBC

HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL TO RECEIVE $1.5 MILLION CONRAD N. HILTON HUMANITARIAN PRIZE

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation today announced that Handicap International, the largest non-governmental organization providing assistance and advocacy for people with disabilities, will receive the 2011 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize of $1.5 million. The Hilton Foundation presents the annual award, the world’s largest humanitarian prize, to an organization that is doing extraordinary work to alleviate human suffering. Handicap International was selected for the 2011 Prize by a prestigious independent international jury.

Formed in 1982 by two French doctors to help Cambodians seriously injured by landmines, Handicap International now provides crucial assistance to acutely vulnerable people around the world including those disabled from natural disasters, injury, armed conflict, disease and poverty. It currently manages 300 projects in 60 countries and has become a major first responder for persons with disabilities in emergency situations.

The 2011 Hilton Prize will be formally presented at a special ceremony at the Global Philanthropy Forum’s 10^th annual conference on Wednesday, April 13, 2011, at the Hotel Sofitel in Redwood City, California. Michelle Bachelet, the first Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, will be the keynote speaker for the prize dinner. Ms. Bachelet most recently served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010.

Special events are planned in Geneva, Lyon and Washington, D.C. to honor Handicap International and its selection as the 2011 Hilton Prize recipient.

www.hiltonfoundation.org

www.handicap-international.org