Today marks the 20th World Water Day, an annual event held on 22nd March. Designated by the United Nations the day is designed as
“a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. “
According to WaterAid 783 million people lack access to clean, safe water and approximately 2000 children die each day from diarrhoeal diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.
The hashtag #waterday was used by the website waterday.org to create a collage of images – some beautiful, some very personal and some frankly a bit odd.
Instagram images tagged #waterday to mark World Water Day
Unlike other natural resources it is not the quantity of water that is the issue – as National Geographic stated in 1993
“All the water that ever will be, is right now.”
It is the quality and distribution of water that needs to be addressed in the International Year of Water Cooperation We can only hope that on the 40th anniversary of World Water Day in 2033 the numbers at the start of this post are all down to zero.
