Today is World Water Day

INTERNATIONAL WORLD WATER DAY is marked annually on March 22 as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).

The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating March 22, 1993, as the first World Water Day.

Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater to bring focus on the fast depleting water resources.

This year’s global theme is ‘Transboundary Waters –shared water, shared opportunity’.
According to SOPAC –Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission, this year’s Pacific World Water Day regional theme is: “Connecting the Pacific –Shared Waters Shared Opportunities”.

Nurturing the opportunities for cooperation in transboundary water management can help build mutual respect, understanding and trust among countries and promote peace, security and sustainable economic growth.

Transboundary more specifically means waters that cross borders.

This can not only mean across nations but also across our own provincial and local borders like the mighty Fly River and the Sepik River as well as organisation responsibilities.

With shared water and opportunity, comes a shared responsibility; meaning we all have a part to play to ensure future generation of Papua New Guineans have access to clean water and safe sanitation services.

These include national and provincial governments, local level governments, public and private users and the public at large.