World Water Day 22 March 2024 - Theme, Importance & History

World Water Day is a global United Nations observance day celebrated every year on the 22nd of March to raise awareness about the value of fresh water and a call for the wise use of freshwater resources.

On this day, various local and global organizations unite to make voluntary commitments to solving the global water crisis and keep efforts to reach the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which says everyone should have access to sanitation and clean water by 2030.

World Water Day 2024 Theme

This year 2024, the World Water Day theme is ”Water for Peace”. The theme emphasizes the importance of water in ensuring global security and prosperity.

Year by year, themes of World Water Day:

• World Water Day 2023 Theme: Accelerating Change
• World Water Day 2022 Theme: Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible
• World Water Day 2021 Theme: Valuing Water
• World Water Day 2020 Theme: Water and Climate Change
• World Water Day 2019 Theme: Leaving No One Behind
• World Water Day 2018 Theme: Nature for Water
  

Importance of World Water Day (WWD)

According to the United Nations, 14 lakh people die each year due to diseases caused by a lack of sanitation, hygiene and clean water. Around 25% of the world's population does not have access to clean water, and nearly half of the global population lacks sanitary restrooms. The global desire for water is anticipated to increase by 55% by 2050.

As water is essential for day-to-day activities, its appropriate usage plays a crucial role in managing freshwater reservoirs. On average, a person in a day accidentally wastes up to 45 litres of water; hence, making a few changes in the daily water usage practice can save a significant amount of water for future use.

This year's World Water Day theme focuses on promoting activities that swiftly implement the required changes to preserve water for upcoming generations. The United Nations has developed certain sustainable development goals for 2030 to stop more than 8.2 lakh people from dying annually due to poor hygiene, inadequate sanitation, and waterborne diseases.

Goals for sustainable development:

• To achieve equitable access to affordable and clean water globally.
• To achieve equitable and adequate access to sanitation and hygiene services and end the practice of defecating in the open, with special attention to the requirements of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations. 
• Quality of the water should be improved by 
• Minimizing pollution 
• Reducing the hazardous release of industrial waste
• Reducing the percentage of the waste water to half that is not treated, and 
• Considerably increasing recycling and safe reuse worldwide. 
• The efficacy of water use across all sectors should be drastically improved, and the supply and withdrawal of freshwater should be sustainable to address the water shortage, thus significantly lowering the number of people affected by it. 
• Implementation of multi-level water resources management that includes transboundary cooperation. 
• Water-related ecosystems such as rivers, wetlands, aquifers, forests, mountains, and lakes must be protected. 
• Water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling, and reuse technologies are some of the water sanitation-related activities that should be expanding through international collaboration and capacity-building support to developing countries. 
• Encourage the efforts of local communities to enhance water and sanitation management.

History of World Water Day (WWD) 

In 1992, World Water Day was included under Schedule 21 of the "United Nations (UN) Conference on Environment and Development" that was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On the 22nd of December 1992, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/47/193 and declared the 22nd of March as World Water Day. Since 1993, it was established as an annual event by the United Nations General Assembly to raise public consciousness about the importance of water and the necessity to protect it.

Preventive measures for water loss

There are several ways where one can prevent water loss by adopting any of the following techniques:

• Check for leaks in the washrooms often
• Short duration of showers and installing water-saving shower heads
• Avoid running water continuously while brushing, shaving, cleaning vegetables or washing dishes
• Use automatic dishwashers and washing machines when it fully loaded
• Gardening the plants when required