WORLD WATER DAY March 22.03.2023

EVERY DROP COUNTS!

TODAY IS WORLD WATER DAY 2023

What is World Water Day? Every year, World Water Day (22 March) raises awareness and inspires action to tackle the water and sanitation crisis. It is a United Nations observance, coordinated by UN-Water and led by UN-Water Members and Partners.

The UN 2023 Water Conference is the first such event since 1977. It is a once-in-ageneration opportunity for the world to unite around water and accelerate change towards achieving SDG 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030. The Conference is designed to bring many different types of stakeholders together to commit to new partnerships and promises that will result in rapid action.

The theme is proposed in advance by UN-Water and is aligned with the annual publication of the UN World Water Development Report, published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water, with its production coordinated by the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP).

Some of the key facts on the world water and sanitation crisis are:

• Today, 1 in 4 people – 2 billion people – around the world lack safe drinking water. (WHO/UNICEF 2021)
• Almost half of the global population – 3.6 billion people – lack safe sanitation. (WHO/UNICEF 2021).
• 494 million people still practise ‘open defecation’’. (WHO/UNICEF 2021)
• 8 billion people use or work in health care facilities without basic water services. (WHO 2021)
• Globally, 44 per cent of household wastewater is not safely treated. (UN-Water 2021)
• Wetlands are being drained for agriculture, with more than 50 per cent lost since 1900. (UNEP)
• Global water demand (in water withdrawals) is projected to increase by 55 per cent by 2050, mainly because of growing demands from manufacturing (400 per cent increase). (OECD 2012)

Learn more about the world water and sanitation crisis

EVERY DROP COUNTS! www.unwater.org/bethechange