World Water Day
“Water is fundamental for life and health. The human right to water is indispensable for leading a healthy life in human dignity.”
~The United Nations Committee on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights
Clean water projects enable children, especially girls, to attend school for a brighter future. Established by the United Nations in 1993, March 22 is celebrated every year as World Water Day. The main goal of World Water Day is to promote and encourage awareness on the importance of water as a human right and how it plays a vital role in the economic and social well-being of each and every society all across the globe.
The theme of World Water Day 2007 is “Coping with Water Scarcity,” which emphasizes the significance of a cooperative approach to local and international water resource management to make sure everyone has the water they need to survive.[1]
There are currently approximately 1.2 billion people without access to clean and safe water.[2]
As a result, from this 1.2 billion, nearly 2 million children die unnecessarily each year from water-borne diseases such as cholera, malaria and hepatitis.[3]
In December 2004, the Southeast Asia tsunami destroyed villages and cities on the Indian Ocean, killing thousands of people and tearing families apart. In Sri Lanka, one of the countries most devastated by the tsunami, its people are still suffering the aftermath the tragic event.
Most of Sri Lanka’s coastal areas rely on shallow, hand-dug wells as their sole source of sanitary water. Tens of thousands of these wells have been either wiped out or contaminated by the tsunami, forcing many people out of their communities.[4] As a result, more than 20 per cent of the country’s population is still without a stable source of clean water.[5] With your help, Free The Children is helping to change this by building clean water wells in areas most affected by the tsunami.
Take Action
On the local level, there are many simple ways we can conserve water in our daily lives and respect this vital resource. Little things, such as turning the water off while brushing your teeth or taking shorter showers, really make a huge difference.
On the international level, you can take action through Free The Children’s Adopt a Village: Clean Water project. By providing communities with clean sources of water, you will enable children to grow up healthy and attend school. Clean water sources in communities are especially key to girls’ education, as they reduce the burden of fetching water from distant and unclean rivers, allowing them to attend school instead. Together, we are making a huge difference.
Useful Links
“World Water Day,” the International Water and Sanitation Centre. URL: www.worldwaterday.org, as accessed January 18, 2007.
“Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis,” Human Development Report 2006. URL: http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006, as accessed January 18, 2007.
“Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis,” Human Development Report 2006. URL: http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/, as accessed January 18, 2007.
American Geophysical Union “Sri Lanka Water Supply Still Suffers Effects of 2004 Tsunami” http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/prrl/prrl0613.html as accessed January 25, 2007.
Human Development Report 2006 “Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis” http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_LKA.html as accessed January 25, 2007
Ibid., 3.
Free The Children is the largest network of children helping children through education in the world, with more than one million youth involved in our innovative education and development programs in 45 countries. Founded by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children has an established track-record of success, with three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and partnerships with the United Nations and Oprah’s Angel Network. |
