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The global water crisis goes even beyond the realm of people having enough water to drink. It seems clear that concentrated efforts by the United Nations will become even more necessary as water shortages loom and the war drums beat along the boundaries of dry and impoverished nations.

American President Barack Obama addressed the issue in his inaugural speech, pledging to work alongside poorer nations to "make your farms flourish and let clean water flow," and to urge other plentiful nations to do the same.

Corporations and industry, both those that consume vast amounts of water and those that play part in exploitation and degradation of underdeveloped areas, must act as leading contributors to the ongoing advance of clean water strategies. Companies, at the very least, should not stomp over the basic rights in other nations they would hold sacred in their own countries.

Must we rely, though, on governments, agencies, corporations, and organizations to remedy this ongoing and further impending crisis?

Organization is often one of the first steps taken to resolve crisis; every good leader knows success lies also in the administration and individual work of people coming together for a common goal. Global partnership and communication across borders are essential to finding a solution.

The Knight Foundation's Onewater project is bringing global awareness to the water crisis by working with ITVS (Independent Television Service) and utilizing media in its different and exquisite forms. Partnering with Helium.com, a global writer's website, provides global voice and platform to both professional and citizen journalists, opening the issue worldwide to writer's with knowledge in all aspects of technology and science, as well as vital personal perspective and insight.

These media enterprises and partnerships enable further examination in addition to civil discussion and debate of both local and global water issues and concerns, even acting as a model for transboundary nations who will need to work together to ensure the most humanly beneficial preservation and development of this most precious resource.

The power of one, and the growth of personal relations across borders cannot be underestimated or discounted, either. After trips to Kenya as an aid-volunteer, Patty Hall, through email exchanges with one of her guides, found out the people of his Kathungu village desperately needed to build a dam to aid in bringing water to over 2000 residents in the Kwa Kasolo area of Kenya.

As a teacher, she was able to raise these issues in her class; the students were eager to get involved. They locally raised more than the money needed to build the dam. The resulting attention gained through national media coverage enabled the school project ( now, a non-profit organization ) to collaborate with other schools. To date, more than 100 schools have taken on projects to directly aid developing nations with water, sanitation, and hygiene, as well as bringing attention and knowledge to young minds in the classroom.

Education is an essential component to ending the global water crisis. Ironically, even as technology and sustainability advance to bring relief, education is the often first thing to go in places where children must spend most of their day securing water. The girls and women, usually responsible for obtaining this basic human necessity, are unable to attend school in the face of cultural taboos revolving around lack of proper sanitation and hygiene issues.

Without awareness, it can be hard for people of more advanced nations to realize the thought of having to travel miles, (in many warring regions, putting their very lives and safety in danger), just to have water to drink, prepare meals, or clean oneself. As witnessed by the recent cholera epidemic, improper or lack of sanitation facilities will only continue to spread debilitating and deathly diseases which know no borders.

Of course, as vital and important as they are and will be, schoolchildren and future generations can't be obliged to end this crisis. More than ever, we need cooperative leadership efforts on behalf of the United Nations and all governments to guide the way for industries and organizations to work together toward securing the basic rights and needs of their peoples.

Global media has a unique opportunity to bring exposure, awareness, thought, and accountability to the ongoing crisis and to empower people through knowledge. Individual action and combined community efforts can be an immediate and driving force.

It is evident that, like in any organization, all of these factors must work together to stem the tide of the global water crisis. We must utilize education, partnerships, communication, and action to resolve this human dilemma. For too many people of the world, the resolution can't come any too soon.

Sources: http://www.1h2o.org/
http://www.itvs.org/index.htm
http://www.helium.com/journali sm-awards/1h20-citizen-journal ism-awards
http://www.h2oforlifeschools.o rg/index.html

Learn more about this author, A. Pesarosa.
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