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World Water Day 2019: Leaving No One behind March 22nd, 2019
On this World Water Day 2019, billions of people are still living without safe water, says the United Nations. In a press release on the occasion the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development notes:
Every year, the United Nations celebrate the World Water Day on March 22nd. Many institutions and organizations from different countries celebrate this event, in order to give more visibility to the many, complex, and often worrying water issues.
This year, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development has decided through this Communiqué to support the celebrations that are taking place, since the theme chosen by the UN for March 22nd, 2019 is very meaningful and symbolic: “Leaving no one behind”.
We welcome with gratitude the Message that the Holy Father has addressed to the FAO for this Day, and would like to invite the Bishops’ Conferences and institutions addressing water issues to contribute to its dissemination. Read the full press release and and Pope Francis’ message at this link.
March 22: World Water Day March 21st, 2013
World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. Designated by the UN, it is an international day to celebrate freshwater.
In 2013, in reflection of the International Year of Water Cooperation, World Water Day is dedicated to the theme of cooperation around water.
In February of 2013, members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) held a Roundtable in New York on the Human Right to Water and Community Engagement. A gathering of companies, community representatives, investors and NGO representatives, the Roundtable was a successful beginning to a process of dialog around corporate impacts on scarce water supplies.
For information on the UN World Water Day events and materials, visit World Water Day 2013
To learn about the ICCR Water Roundtable, click here.
For Lenten faith resources on water, visit the Ecumenical Water Network of the World Council of Churches, which has an online compilation of biblical reflections and resources on water.
March 22 is World Water Day! March 22nd, 2012
Water is essential for life, and yet increasingly, both in the United States and around the world, water is becoming a scarce commodity. Once largely taken for granted, clean, accessible, affordable water has become a hotly debated and much studied subject.
We have a few things to share on the occasion of World Water Day that may be of interest:
- Bishop Michael Pfeifer, OMI of the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas has written a reflection on water from the perspective of the drought-stricken region of west Texas, which we gladly share here. The article has been published in the San Angelo Standard Times. (Download PDF)
- The UN Millennium Development Goal on access to water has been met, three years early! The goal was to reduce by half the number of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water. According to a report issued today by UNICEF and WHO, between 1990 and 2010, over two billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources, such as piped supplies and protected wells. The related goal on sanitation has yet to be met, but increased attention to this is encouraging.
- Corporations are increasingly examining their water use, measuring risk, and looking at the impacts on local communities and the ecosystems on which they depend. The Oblate Faith-Consistent Investment initiative has focused on water as a key issue affecting the poor, and is engaged in substantive dialogs with major US multinational corporations on the subject. Read the Statement of Principles and Recommended Practices for Corporate Water Stewardship developed by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR).
World Day for Water March 26th, 2009
To underscore both the potential dangers of “water wars” in places that are home to 40 percent of the world’s population – and the promising opportunities for cooperation and development – the United Nations marked the World Day for Water on 22 March with a focus on trans-boundary waters and their management.
“The amount of water we have has remained constant for thousands of years, while the number and types of users have increased massively… population growth, urbanization, land use changes, and global warming … are creating competing pressures on this finite resource,” says UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura in his remarks marking World Water Day. “As a result, the amount of water available for each person is increasingly unequal, and diminishing dramatically.”
This year’s theme, “Shared Water – Shared Opportunities,” aims to explore opportunities to build trust among countries as they manage their common water resources in ways that promote peace, security and sustainable economic growth. Some 900 million people lack access to safe drinking water, making them vulnerable to the water-borne illnesses that kill 4,200 children every day.
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