World Water Day: Precious resource in focus as clean supplies drying up worldwide

UNESCO 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. From droughts stifling once-reliant sources to destructive downpours and floods, what the world does about its water woes is the central question at the UN's three-day water conference that begins Wednesday. Above: A child floats in a public pool of spring water in Japakeh, Indonesia's Aceh province on March 22, 2023, on the World Water Day.

Water is the lifeblood of every community around the world. But a sustainable, clean supply for drinking, hygiene and farming is not guaranteed for hundreds of millions of people, according to United Nations figures. Above: Afghan girls carry drinking water canisters after filling from a stream in the Dara-i-Nur district of Nangarhar province.

Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of World Water Day, it's the first dedicated U.N. conference on water in nearly 50 years. Above: A bathtub ring shows where the water mark on Lake Mead once was along the boarder of Nevada and Arizona, March 6, 2023, near Boulder City, Nevada.

Climate change, pollution and waste have compounded water concerns by squeezing the Earth's resources. Some supplies have dwindled from lack of rain, with dry spells often lasting months if not years in some places. Others have had essential supplies contaminated by chemicals or toxins from human activity. Above: A resident without running water at home fills a container at a water fill station, a day ahead of World Water Day, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, March 21, 2023.

An estimated 190 million children in 10 African countries are at the highest risk from inadequate access to clean water and sanitation facilities exposing them to hygiene-related diseases, according to a new analysis by UNICEF, the UN’s children’s fund. Above: Women balance buckets of water on their heads after filling them for home use in the area of Al Takamul-Hillat Salha, 15 kms southwest of Omdurman, the twin city of the Sudanese capital Khartoum on March 21, 2023.

March 22 is the United Nation’s World Water Day, marked annually since 1993 to raise awareness about the pressing need for billions of people around the world to have access to clean water and sanitation. Above: The cracked earth of the Sau reservoir is visible north of Barcelona, Spain, March 20, 2023.

A report launched on the eve of the first major UN conference on water in over 45 years says 26% of the world’s population doesn’t have access to safe drinking water and 46% lacks access to basic sanitation. Above: The wind pumps of Kinderdijk work in Kinderdijk, Netherlands, Tuesday, March 21, 2023. About a third of the country is below sea level and wind pumps prevent regions from being flooded.

The U.N. World Water Development Report 2023, issued this week, paints a stark picture of the huge gap that needs to be filled to meet U.N. goals to ensure all people have access to clean water and sanitation by 2030. Above: A section of lake Serre-Poncon that's usually submerged is visible in southern France, Tuesday, March 14, 2023.

According to the UN, 1 in 4 people – 2 billion people worldwide – lack safe drinking water and 1.4 million people die annually of diseases related to poor water, sanitation and hygiene. Above: Locals wait for their turn to fill their water containers from water collected in an abandoned highway tunnel at the Cotiza neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, March 20, 2023.

A horse drinks water among plastic residues, glass and other materials at the Cerron Grande reservoir in Potonico, El Salvador, on September 9, 2022. - UNESCO 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

The UN World Water Development Report 2023 paints a stark picture of the huge gap that needs to be filled to meet U.N. goals to ensure all people have access to clean water and sanitation by 2030. Above: A man rows a boat through the polluted water of Gomti river, on the eve of World Water Day, in Lucknow on Tuesday.