World Day for Water

World Day for Water, or unofficially World Water Day, occurs each year on March 22, as designated by United Nations General Assembly resolution.

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. Observance began in 1993 and has grown significantly ever since.

The UN invited its member nations to devote this day to implementing UN recommendations and promoting concrete activities within their countries. Each year, one of various UN agencies involved in water issues takes the lead in promoting and coordinating international activities for World Day for Water. With the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) coordinating, World Day for Water 2005 also marked the start of the second 'UN International Decade for Action for Water', also referred to as the Water for Life Decade 2005-2015. In 2006, World Day for Water was coordinated by UNESCO with the theme: 'Water and Culture'. In 2007, the theme is 'Coping with Water Scarcity', coordinated by FAO.

In addition to the UN member states, a number of NGOs promoting clean water and sustainable aquatic habitats have used World Day for Water as a time to focus public attention on the critical water issues of our era. Every three years since 1997, for instance, the World Water Council has drawn thousands to participate in its World Water Forum during the week of World Day for Water. Participating agencies and NGOs have highlighted issues such as a billion people being without access to safe water for drinking and the role of gender in family access to safe water.