by Anja Emerson

Created on: March 22, 2010

World Day for Water (also known as World Water Day) is an annual initiative proposed by the United Nations in 1992, in order to draw attention to the importance of water as a global resource, as well as to the future problems that the scarcity of water will cause during the following decades.

World Water Day 2010 is dedicated to the theme of water quality, under the slogan “Clean Water for a Healthy World”. This year’s campaign addresses the problem of maintaining water quality high by preventing pollution and improving the process of cleaning and supplying water. It also intends to raise awareness about how human activities affect ecosystems and the ever increasing difficulty of providing good quality of drinking water.

In order to effectively achieve its goals, the campaign involves over 300 events all over the world that are meant to focus the attention on the problems that have been identified or that are predicted to occur in the following years. The most important event during World Water Day 2010 is organized by the UN and will take place in Nairobi, Kenya, where scientists, policy makers and other personalities will meet to discuss the problem of decreasing water quality.

Though our technology is becoming more advanced, water quality is declining due to human factors such as: increased population and levels of pollution, rapid urbanization etc. World Water Day 2010 aims to reveal the consequences of our human activities and propose sustainable solutions that will improve the current situation.

Nearly one billion people currently have no access to clean drinking water, while more than two billion are forced to drink water lacking the most basic sanitation. This is due to the fact that the water supply or purification systems have been destroyed in the war or are situated in very dangerous zones, or because the population has relocated in further regions. Because of water scarcity, many people have no other option than drinking from sources that pose a high health risk and diseases become very frequent.

It is also predicted that the world will run out of water before it runs out of fossil fuel. This is due to ever increased usage of water caused by agriculture and the rapid growth of population. The 2030 Water Resources Group has predicted that global water requirements will increase by 50% over the next two decades. This poses a major challenge worldwide, since a level of usage so high is currently not sustainable. Therefore, if solutions aren’t found and implemented in time, water shortages will become even more frequent and affect a larger amount of people.

World Water Day aims to draw attention to a very valuable resource that many people take for granted. Covering 71% of the surface of the Earth, water is a precious asset synonymous with life and growth. It is our responsibility to ensure that everyone can benefit from safe freshwater, including future generations.

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