World Water Day -2016

World Water Day is held annually on March 22 as a means of focusing attention on the importance of fresh water and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. The occasion of World Water Day is also used to highlight required improvements for access to  WASH (water, sanitation, hygiene) facilities in developing countries  

 An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nation Conference on Environment And Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro .The United Nation General Assembly responded  by designation 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day. The United General Assembly adopted resolution on 22 December 1992 and 22 March of each year was declared world day for water, To be observed starting in 1993 . In conformity with the recommendation of the United Nation Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).

Additionally, a number of nongovernmental organizations promoting clean water and sustainable aquatic habitats have used World Water Day as a time to focus attention on the critical issues of our era. Events such as theatrical and musical celebrations, educational events, and campaigns to raise money for access to clean and affordable water are held worldwide on World Water Day, or on convenient dates close to March 22

World Water Day is an international observance and and an opportunity to learn more about water related issues be inspired to tell others and take action to make a difference .Earth year ,UN Water –the entity that coordinates the UN’s work on water and sanitation –sets a theme for World Water Day corresponding to a current or future challenge .The engagement campaign is coordinated by one or several of the UN-WATER Members with a related mandate .On this day stares were invited to devote the day ,as appropriate in the national context ,to concrete activities such as the promotion of public awareness through the production and dissemination of documentaries and the organization of conference ,round tables ,seminars and expositions related to the consecration and development of water resource and the implementation of the recommendation of agenda 21.

Theme Of World Water Day -2016 –

Theme of 2016 World Water Day is –Water and Jobs

(Better water Better Jobs)

Theme shows the correlation between water and jobs created either directly or indirectly by water sources on the globe .Today almost half of the world’s workers -1.5 billion people work in water related sectors and nearly all jobs depends on water and those that ensure its safe delivery .Yet the millions of people who work in water are often not recognized or protected by basic labor rights .How enough quantity and quality of water can change workers lives and livelihood and even transform societies and economies .

Some Facts

884 Million People In The World Lack Access To Safe Drinking Water.

More Than 840,000 People Die Each Year from Water Related Disease.

Almost Two In Three People Who Need Safe Drinking Water Survive On Less Than $2 A Day .

80% Of Sewages In Developing Countries Is Discharged, Untreated ,Polluting ,River And Lakes .

Water is essential to human health .The human body can last weeks without food ,but only days without water .Water is essential to our survival. Regular hand washing ,is the best way to remove germs and avoid getting sick and prevent the  spread of germs to others . Up to one trillion germs can live in one gram of poop . As for the human body on an average it is made of 50 -65% water .Babies have the highest percentage of water ,newborn are 78% water. Every day ,every person need access to water for drinking ,cooking and personal hygiene .Water is essential for sanitation facilities that do not compromise health or dignity .The world health organization recommend 7.5 liters per capita per day will meet the requirement of most people under most conditions . A higher quantity of about 20 liters per capita per day will take care of basic hygiene need and basic food hygiene.

Despite impressive gains made over the last decade,748 million people do not have access to an improved source of drinking water and 2.5 billion do not use an improved sanitation facility .Investment in water and sanitation services result in substantial economic gains. The return on investment of attaining universal access to improved sanitation has been estimated at 5.5 to 1, whereas for universal access of improved drinking water sources the ration is estimated to be 2 to 1 . To cover every person worldwide with safe water and sanitation is estimated to cost $107 billion a year over a five year period.

There is a need to shift towards environmentally sustainable economic policies that take account of the interconnection between ecological systems .One challenge is to maintain a beneficial mix between built and natural infrastructure and provision of their respective services.

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Through successful WASH intervention

Through successful WASH intervention, communities access a new service that improves their quality of life, and also learn about equity and inclusion.

The abysmal state of access to safe water and sanitation facilities in the developing world is currently a major cause for alarm; 580,000 children die every year from preventable diarrheal diseases. This is due largely to the 2.5 billion people around the globe who do not have access to safe sanitation. Not only can an effective WASH intervention save lives, it can also engineer changes in the social fabric of communities that adopt these behavioural changes. This points to a key attribute of a successful WASH intervention – that through these programmes, communities not only access a new service that improves their quality of life, but they also learn from being part of a concrete intervention that emphasises equity and inclusion.

Let me explain how. Safe sanitation is essentially ‘total’. In a community, even one family practising open defecation puts the health of other families at risk. Also, unsafe sanitation practices pollute local potable and drinking water sources in the habitations. Together, this can undo any gains from partial coverage of WASH interventions. This much is now widely accepted by sanitation practitioners around the world. However, there remains a serious challenge when it comes to the implementation of this concept.

When a community is introduced to a WASH-focused behaviour change campaign, there are often variations in the levels of take-up in different families. This could be because of several barriers – financial ability, cultural beliefs, education levels, etc. In response, external agencies have many options. They can focus more on families in their behaviour change campaigns, offer them material and financial support or incentives, or exert peer pressure (which may in some cases become coercive, etc).

However, the best approach – whether facilitated by an external agent or not – is for a community to devise a collective response. The issue should be framed as a collective action problem that requires solving for the creation of a public good. In many instances, communities have come together to support the poorest families – social engineering at its finest. At its best, recognising the needs of every member of a community will lead to a recognition of the challenges that the typically marginalised groups face. It is this recognition that could prompt a rethink of social norms and relationships.

On the other hand, the power of peer pressure can be effective. Where families that are able, but unwilling, to construct a toilet and switch behaviour, the initial take-up from other families has a strong demonstration potential. In societies with caste and class differences, this can be deployed effectively to highlight choices that threaten the public good.

Encouraging the development of shared norms and collective action is also a key aspect of determining the role of subsidies in WASH programmes. As research evidence from Bangladesh shows, subsidies could be effective when targeted at communities, instead of at individuals. Where it is possible to measure progress at the community-level, subsidies can be designed and delivered accordingly. This will encourage communities to take up WASH as they would approach say, the building of a road or a school.

This is no longer just a theory. Increasingly now, various organisations have documented such successes. For example, in multiple NGO-led programmes in eastern India and Bangladesh, local community-based organisations formed initially to tackle sanitation went on to engage in collective livelihoods activities. However, as with any other, this theory too should be put to test – evaluated at different sites and for different approaches. Currently, we are not sufficiently focused on the positive social externalities a WASH intervention could generate, and as a result, are running the risk of restricting ourselves to narrow technocratic approaches. This needs to change.

This brings me to a key message I have for WASH interventions: do not hurry into scaling up. Given the urgency of the problem – about 2.5 billion people do not practice safe sanitation – this might seem completely counter-intuitive. However, there is the real risk that aiming for scale will lead to the perpetration of target-driven hardware interventions which will neither change behaviour, not create social cohesion. It is not unusual for organisations that rush to scale end up compromising on exactly those key design elements that made their pilots a success.

In conclusion, it is important to acknowledge that WASH interventions have the potential to go far beyond basic service delivery. In order to realise these gains, one must follow a very careful sequence of steps designed to promote community ownership and systematically change behaviour. The goal should be to nudge communities towards a public spirit and collective problem solving, so that WASH works as an entry point into communities, creating fertile ground for future interventions.

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