World Water Day

World Water Day is celebrated every year on March 22 since 1993, when the United Nations declared it as "World Day for Water". This day was first formally proposed in Agenda 21 of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. People started observing it in 1993 and since then, there has been a significant growth in its importance.

Countries devote this day to implement UN recommendations through specific activities relating the world's water resources. Each year, one of various UN agencies involved in water issues takes the lead in promoting and coordinating international activities. Since its inception in 2003, UN-Water has been responsible for selecting the theme, message and lead UN agency for this day (Wikipedia). In addition to the UN member states, a number of NGOs promoting clean water, have used the day to focus public attention on critical water issues.

World Water Day themes so far

Various activities like, walkathons, conferences, seminars, guided walks through water bodies, painting competitions, debates and the like are conducted to raise awareness about fresh water resources and the need to conserve the same.

World Water Day over the years

In 2013, to mark the year of water cooperation, several events were held in different parts of India including a seminar on groundwater recharging at the Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, Gujarat and a national science seminar at Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai. School children took part in the Parivartan campaign by holding placards with messages to people about becoming water-wise.

In 2012, the UN-Water 'Water for Life' Best Practices Award were given to projects involved in best water management practices. This was awarded to: Protection of Bangalore lakes for posterity – setting a legal precedent for conservation of lakes as a common resource.

In 2011 scores of people walked on the Rajpath from India Gate till Vijay Chowk as part of 'Walk for Water 2011', ahead of World Water Day. Shouting slogans, people of Delhi pledged to make Delhi completely water secure and self-sufficient in water over next five years - 'The Blue Delhi Declaration'.

World Water Day 2014

The theme for 2014 is ‘Water and Energy’. Water an energy are very closely interlinked since energy generation in the form hydroelectric energy and thermal energy requires water. Similarly, we need energy to pump water to make it available at different places away from the source of water. In 2014, the UN is working closely with its member nations to address issue of access to safe and sustainable water and energy to those who are at the bottom of the pyramid living in slums and rural areas. In the current year, particular attention is being paid to identify best practices that can make a water- and energy-efficient 'Green Industry' a reality.

Objectives of World Water Day 2014 

  • Raise awareness of the inter-linkages between water and energy
  • Contribute to a policy dialogue that focuses on the broad range of issues related to the nexus of water and energy
  • Demonstrate to decision makers in the energy sector and the water domain through case studies, that integrated approaches and solutions to water-energy issues can achieve greater economic and social impacts
  • Identify policy formulation and capacity development issues in which the UN system, in particular UN-Water and UN-Energy, can offer significant contributions
  • Identify key stakeholders in the water-energy nexus and actively engaging them in further developing the water-energy linkages
  • Contribute as relevant to the post-2015 discussions in relation to the water-energy nexus. 

What are we doing for World Water Day 2014?

Come March 22nd, our distributed team spread across different parts of India will engage with local communities via seminars, workshops, conferences and other such events along with other leading organisations who have brought momentum to the story and narrative of water. More details on these events can be viewed at the the UN World Water Day events directory.

Since water is a very local topic, issues, solutions and experiences also vary from place to place. Our team constantly tries to build and spread this knowledge found in villages, cities and metropolitans while acting as a medium of dissemination, dialogue and engagement.

We will constantly update this page with information from all our events across India, so stay tuned!

Share stories of water conservation efforts in your community with us.

 

World Water Day themes so far

Term Path Alias

/topics/world-water-day

Featured Articles
March 21, 2016 The theme for 2016 is 'Water and Jobs'. With water resources declining at a rapid rate, this theme brings to the forefront concerns related to water and livelihoods in India.
Theme of World Water Day 2016: Water and Jobs (Source: UN Water)
March 21, 2016 Urban floods and pervasive environmental pollution are living testimonies of unplanned and hurried urbanisation. With cities already stretched to their limits, how much more can they endure?
Houses constructed on the fringes of the Ambattur eri in Chennai
March 21, 2016 Celebrations for World Water Day 2016 in Nagaon, Assam personify passion by honouring grassroots water-workers for their thankless efforts.
Contribution of water sector workers at the grassroots level goes unrecognised very often
March 20, 2016 Fish traders in the state, which has the highest freshwater fish yield at 2,500 kg per hectare, are mainly groups of Bihari migrants playing to their strengths.
First half of the day is spent netting the fish which is sold in the evening.
March 19, 2016 Parineeta Dandekar of SANDRP speaks to India Water Portal about how healthy rivers--and not dams--are the best employment guarantees around.
Two men fish from a small rowboat on the placid Ramganga near Harewali
March 19, 2016 Fishers livelihoods are being directly threatened by mechanised fishing methods and ecologically destructive fishing practices.
Traditional fishers livelihoods are directly threatened by mechanised fishing methods (Source: Vikas Sahayog Kendra, Palamau)
India Industry Water Conclave on Nov 28, 2017 at FICCI, New Delhi
The third edition of India Industry Water Conclave and fifth edition of FICCI Water Awards on Theme : ‘Water Use Efficiency- An Imperative for India’
Posted on 07 Nov, 2017 10:12 AM

The theme for the Conclave this year is “Water Use Efficiency: An Imperative for India” to highlight the imperative of water use efficiency in the industry, agriculture and urban contexts

Should we look beyond 'jobs' to 'livelihoods' this World Water Day?
The theme for 2016 is 'Water and Jobs'. With water resources declining at a rapid rate, this theme brings to the forefront concerns related to water and livelihoods in India. Posted on 21 Mar, 2016 09:39 AM

With water resources dwindling at a rapid rate globally and its predicted serious impacts on economies and livelihoods, World Water Day 2016

Theme of World Water Day 2016: Water and Jobs (Source: UN Water)
Courting catastrophe: Unplanned urbanisation and flooding
Urban floods and pervasive environmental pollution are living testimonies of unplanned and hurried urbanisation. With cities already stretched to their limits, how much more can they endure? Posted on 21 Mar, 2016 08:40 AM

South India's rivers are rain-fed unlike those in the North, which are glacier-fed due to the contrasting topography and climate. Unlike the Himalayan system, many of India’s peninsular rivers dry up during the hotter half of the year, leaving lips and fields equally parched.

Houses constructed on the fringes of the Ambattur eri in Chennai
Water is more than a job for them
Celebrations for World Water Day 2016 in Nagaon, Assam personify passion by honouring grassroots water-workers for their thankless efforts. Posted on 21 Mar, 2016 08:39 AM

"A job isn’t just a job. It’s who you are". That quote seems to define the five people who are being honoured for their extraordinary dedication in ensuring water to the people in Nagaon and the newly declared Hojai district of Assam.

Contribution of water sector workers at the grassroots level goes unrecognised very often
Bihari bait for Punjabi fish
Fish traders in the state, which has the highest freshwater fish yield at 2,500 kg per hectare, are mainly groups of Bihari migrants playing to their strengths. Posted on 20 Mar, 2016 11:56 AM

“This is my business, I am nobody’s slave,” says Kapal Nishad. He is one of the over two million migrants who came to Punjab over 20 years ago.

First half of the day is spent netting the fish which is sold in the evening.
Think livelihoods, not only jobs
Parineeta Dandekar of SANDRP speaks to India Water Portal about how healthy rivers--and not dams--are the best employment guarantees around. Posted on 19 Mar, 2016 04:33 PM

The theme for the 2016 UN World Water Day is 'Water and Jobs'. What is your opinion of the chosen theme?

Two men fish from a small rowboat on the placid Ramganga near Harewali
Small scale fishworkers fishing for jobs elsewhere
Fishers livelihoods are being directly threatened by mechanised fishing methods and ecologically destructive fishing practices. Posted on 19 Mar, 2016 01:31 PM

Chinna, 35, harvests fish and is engaged on a piece rate basis by the local contractor who has rights to fishing in the village tank in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh. At times, Chinna also uses family labour to complete his work.

Traditional fishers livelihoods are directly threatened by mechanised fishing methods (Source: Vikas Sahayog Kendra, Palamau)
Maharashtra reels under hail storms and unseasonal rainfall
News this month: Maharashtra faces the impact of climate change; Developing El Nino raises fear of a weak Indian monsoon; India's water crisis to worsen in the coming years, says UN. Posted on 31 Mar, 2014 11:23 PM

Maharashtra reels under hail storms

Unseasonal rainfall in Mumbai (Source: Wikipedia)
A picture paints a thousand words? So do comics!
Local jokes, dialogues and narratives from issues of community quarrels over water tanks to rainwater harvesting came alive in a Grassroots Comics workshop in Sikkim to mark World Water Day. Posted on 31 Mar, 2014 10:31 PM

As a run up to World Water Day 2014, India Water Portal conducted a Grassroots Comics workshop with Field Facilitators, Barefoot Engineers and other field workers of the Dhara Vikas Programme.

A better, bluer Bangalore
The Green Bazaar, which brought together local communities and businesses as well as water experts, provided a fitting end to India Water Portal's celebrations of World Water Day 2014. Posted on 31 Mar, 2014 10:26 PM

In honour of World Water Day 2014, the theme at the Green Bazaar, a community event run by The Alternative, was water. India Water Portal collaborated to add some 'blue' to the 'green'.

Green Bazaar in Bangalore
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