What is World Water Day? Well, we are glad you asked...
The UN General Assembly designated the first World Water Day in 1993, and each subsequent year the March 22 event has highlighted a specific aspect of freshwater sustainability. Over the years, World Water Days have focused on transboundary waters, sanitation, coping with water scarcity, and water and culture. The annual World Water Day is coordinated by UN-Water, a coordination mechanism of 26 UN agencies working on water. UNEP with its strong environmental focus was designated the lead for World Water Day 2010.
- Increase awareness to change individual behavior around what we put into our water;
- Promote policies that improve water quality with education and advocacy;
- Increase enforcement of the regulations put in place to protect water quality;
- Put investor and consumer pressure on corporations that pollute waterways
So, why do we all need to do this? Well, the stats are staggering:
- Globally, 2 million tons of sewage and industrial and agricultural waste are poured into the world's waters every day;
- At least 1.8 million children under five years-old die every year from water-related diseases, or one every 20 seconds;
- Every day, millions of tons of inadequately treated sewage and industrial agricultural wastes are poured into the world's waters;
- More people die as a result of polluted water than are killed by all forms of violence, including wars;
- Over half of the world's hospital beds are occupied with people suffering from illnesses linked with contaminated water
So how can we get involved? Check out this
great article by the Huffington Post.
