World Water Day is an all-encompassing international day within the water field. There are many things that are relevant for this day. The fight for achieving clean water is a comprehensive battle and the engagement of all part takers is important, to work towards the goal of this day; a more sustainable use of our shared water on earth, the most important resource that we have.
Even Though we are far from reaching the goal for clean water, there has been positive progress over the last years: “Between 2015 and 2022, the proportion of the world’s population with access to safely managed drinking water increased from 69 per cent to 73 per cent” states United Nations. This positive development creates optimism for the future. However, this advancement can be threatened by climate change due to global warming, which has a huge impact on water. Due to climate change we experience droughts to a larger extent than before. The access to water becomes more unforeseeable due to climate change and water scarcity more prominent. The fight for clean water and against climate change are inchargebly connected. Moreover, the absence of clean water also contributes to the biodiversity crisis and affects entire ecosystems.
The World Water Day is closely related to the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations. The 6th goal of “Clean Water and Sanitation” is most important to allude to. This international day supports this goal of promoting clean water, sanitation, good water quality etc. For this year’s theme “Leveraging Water For Peace” it is also important to allude to the 16th Goal of “Peace, Justice and strong Institutions” because this year the focus is on collaboration on water between people in order to achieve a better and more peaceful relationship. Moreover, it is important to acknowledge that clean water and the fight for achieving this goal is closely related to the other goals as well. When we fight for clean water it has many positive outcomes for achieving the other SDG’s. Clean water has positive impacts on the 3rd goal “good health and well-being” because clean water improves sanitation which is essential for one’s health. The importance of keeping water clean also has a huge impact on different species in water and on land. So this goal is also connected with the 14th goal of “life below water” and the 15th goal of “life on land”. The sustainable development goals are interconnected and the achievement of one goal influences another.
For this year, 2024, the theme is “Leveraging Water for Peace”. As the name implies, the focus is on how the cooperation on water between countries and communities can be a driver for peace. Water or the lack of water can create conflicts between countries, communities and people. Especially, if the access to water is not equal, conflicts can grow and create animosity between people. UN-Water states that: “out of 153 countries that share rivers, lakes and aquifers with their neighbours, only 24 countries report having cooperation agreements for all their shared water”. The theme “Water for Peace '' strives to promote cooperation and collaboration on water between different actors with the goal of achieving peace. The collaboration on water is expected to have a domino-effect, so the actors also collaborate on other things. The UN-Water fact sheet states that: “cooperation over shared water resources and ‘hydrodiplomacy’ can be a starting point for communication and broader cooperation, including beyond water resources.”
Sources:
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/
https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2023/12/wwd2024_en_factsheet.pdf
https://www.un.org/en/observances/water-day
https://www.unwater.org/water-facts/water-and-peace
https://www.unwater.org/water-facts/water-and-climate-change
https://www.unwater.org/water-facts/water-and-ecosystems
https://www.unwater.org/water-facts/human-rights-water-and-sanitation
https://www.unwater.org/water-facts/water-quality-and-wastewater
https://www.unwater.org/our-work/world-water-day