World Water Day

Overview

The United Nations (UN) designated March 22 of each year as World Water Day, with the overall objective to draw attention to conservation and development of water resources, through such methods as advocacy, publication, and organization of conferences focusing on each year’s theme.

"Shared Waters—Shared Opportunities" is the theme for World Water Day 2009, with particular attention focused on the challenges of transboundary water.

Transboundary water refers to surface or ground water sources that cross borders. Worldwide, there are 263 transboundary lakes and river basins that include the territory of 145 countries. Close to one third of these basins are shared by three or more countries, and 19 are shared by five or more countries (1). Despite the complexity of these boundaries, there have been hundreds of successful international transboundary agreements. Organizations, such as The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, are working to ensure the peaceful collaboration of countries who share water systems (1).

Many countries are challenged to provide safe drinking water and adequate sanitation for their entire populations. Hundreds of millions of people still do not have access to improved sources of drinking water (2), leaving people at risk for water, sanitation, and hygiene-related diseases. Worldwide, there are 1.6 million deaths per year that can be attributed to unsafe water, poor sanitation, and lack of hygiene (3). The majority of these deaths occur among children younger than 5 years of age. Epidemics of cholera, such as the one in Zimbabwe responsible for more than 73,000 cases and 3,500 deaths, are only the "tip of the iceberg" (4) — most of the cases and fatalities due to waterborne diseases are never reported.

Official Website

• http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/ (UN)

Dates of Celebration and Additional Resources

2009

March 22, 2009

• CDC Features - World Water Day
• MMWR: Notice to Readers: World Water Day 2009

2008

March 22, 2008

• CDC Features - World Water Day
• Podcast - Living in a Clean and Healthy World (4:12)
• MMWR: Notice to Readers: World Water Day 2008

1. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. World Water Assessment Programme: Sharing water resources. Available at http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/facts_figures/sharing_waters.shtml.
2. World Health Organization and UNICEF. Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation – Special Focus on Sanitation. Available at http://www.wssinfo.org/en/40_MDG2008.html.
3. UN Millennium Project. Health, Dignity, and Development: What Will it Take? Available at http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/WaterComplete-lowres.pdf  (PDF, 1.71 mb, 228 pages).
4. Mintz ED, Guerrant RL. A Lion in Our Village–The Unconscionable Tragedy of Cholera in Africa. N Engl J Med 2009;360:1060-1063. Available at http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/360/11/1060.

• Please note: Some of these publications are available for download only as *.pdf files. These files require Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to be viewed. Please review the information on downloading and using Acrobat Reader software.