Water is one of the planet’s most precious resources. World Water Day is observed each year on March 22 to promote the responsible use of water and access to safe water for everyone.
Every day, people use water for drinking, agriculture, industry, recreation, hygiene, sanitation, and health care. Water resources are precious and finite. Warming temperatures and other natural and human-made stressors threaten to impact the quantity and quality of our water on a large scale. World Water Day highlights the essential role water plays in our lives and how we can better protect it.
World Water Day is an annual United Nations (UN) observance day held on 22 March that highlights the importance of fresh water. The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. The theme of each year focuses on topics relevant to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), which is in line with the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6. The UN World Water Development Report (WWDR) is released each year around World Water Day.
World Water Day is celebrated around the world with a variety of events. These can be theatrical, musical or lobbying in nature. The day can also include campaigns to raise money for water projects. The first World Water Day, designated by the United Nations, was in 1993.
UN-Water is the convener for World Water Day and selects the theme for each year in consultation with UN organizations that share an interest in that year's focus.
2024 theme: “Leveraging Water for Peace”
CAMPAIGN TRELLO with social media resources in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
FACTSHEET in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
POSTER in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
SOCIAL MEDIA assets in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
VISUAL IDENTIFIER in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
2023 theme: “Accelerating Change”
2022 theme: “Groundwater”
2021 theme: "Valuing Water" and the public campaign invited people to join a global conversation on social media to "tell us your stories, thoughts and feelings about water".
2020 theme: "Water and Climate Change".
Previous themes for the years 2016 to 2019 were "Water and Jobs'", "Why waste water?" "Nature for Water", and "Leaving no one behind".
Access to Water
Global access to safe water, adequate sanitation, and hygiene resources reduce illness and death from disease and lead to improved health, poverty reduction, and socio-economic development. The COVID-19 pandemic has further demonstrated the urgent need for universal access to safe water, as frequent and proper handwashing with soap and water is one of the most effective actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Even so, many people lack access to these basic necessities, leaving them at risk for diseases related to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Globally, 2.2 billion people do not have safe drinking water, 3.6 billion do not have safe sanitation services, and 2.3 billion do not have access to a handwashing facility with soap and water at home.
Diarrheal Diseases
Many diarrheal diseases, such as typhoid fever and cholera, spread through unsafe water and sanitation. Although rare in the United States, outbreaks of typhoid and cholera continue to occur in settings with limited resources. Together, these diseases sicken millions, and an estimated 257,400 people die each year as a result of them.
Protecting water sources and developing and maintaining WASH systems to keep human waste out of water, food, and the environment are critical to preventing diarrheal diseases. In areas without a consistent source of safe water, people often resort to using untreated water that can make them sick.
Places with heavy rainfall and flooding may also experience contaminated drinking water and ground crops—for example, when latrines overflow. Human waste can mix with drinking water or a community’s food supply when there is no sanitation facility to safely separate waste from human contact. This can result in the spread of many germs that cause diarrheal diseases.
Water is a crucial element in preventing and treating diseases. It plays a key role in maintaining good hygiene, particularly through regular handwashing with soap—one of the most important actions a person can take to prevent the spread of germs. Safe water is also an essential part of oral rehydration therapy (ORT), which is an important treatment for cholera and many other diarrheal diseases.
CDC works to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks in the United States and around the world and provides technical support in cases of emergencies. In addition, CDC has partnered with the World Health Organization to launch Ending Cholera: The Global Roadmap to 2030, a collaborative approach to cholera prevention and control.