The 2023 UN focus on World Water Day is accelerating change to solve the water and sanitation crisis. This year’s global campaign is called Be the change, and it encourages people to take action in their own lives to change how they use, consume and manage water.
World Water Day is celebrated annually on March 22nd to raise awareness about the importance of freshwater. Water is essential for all life on earth and is a fundamental human right. However, access to clean water remains a significant challenge for millions worldwide, with According to UN Water more than two billion people lack access to safe drinking water. Moreover, climate change exacerbates the water crisis, as rising temperatures and changing rainfall threaten water availability and quality.
The UN said that progress on all major global issues, ranging from health to hunger, gender equality to jobs, education to industry, and natural disasters to peace, is impeded by dysfunction across the water cycle.
In 2015, the world committed to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 as part of the 2030 Agenda – the promise that everyone would have safely managed water and sanitation by 2030.
Currently, the world is seriously off track. Rapid, transformative change is needed, and everyone can play their part. Every action – no matter how small – will make a difference. Be a part of the change, take action, and join the 2023 World Water Day movement to accelerate change.
UN 2023 Water Conference
Undoubtedly, 2023 is a particular year for commitments regarding the use of water and its sanitation. The celebration of this World Water Day coincides with the start of the UN 2023 Water Conference (March 22-24, New York).
The conference is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unite the world around solving the water and sanitation crisis. National governments and stakeholders from all levels of society will collaborate to make voluntary commitments to accelerating progress on SDG 6, and other internationally agreed water-related goals and targets.
These voluntary commitments will form the Water Action Agenda, designed to deliver rapid, transformative change in the remainder of this decade.
Other resources
- No ordinary irrigation in the Gambia: innovative solar-powered technologies are securing access to water for rural communities
- Towards addressing the plight of rural communities in accessing water abstraction permits for productive uses.
- Rural people in Sudan call time on water wars
- FAO’s work in water – publications and outreach
- World Water Day 2023: accelerating change
- FAO at the UN 2023 Water Conference
- Migration and its interdependencies with water scarcity, gender and youth employment
- Horn of Africa faces most severe drought in more than two generations