World Water Day 2016
World Water Day 2016
Every March 22nd since 1993 the United Nations has celebrated World Water Day, with the sole purpose of raising awareness of the importance of this vital natural resource. The occasion is a time to bring water to the forefront of our minds and shine a light on those across the globe who need it most. The theme of this year’s World Water Day is better water, better jobs. It’s aiming to highlight the power water has to transform people’s lives. The United Nations (UN) states that 1.5 billion people, that’s around half of the world’s workforce, work in water-related sectors. Nearly all jobs depend on water in some way though this is not often recognized. Here’s some examples: • 40% of the global economically-active population work in crop and animal production, fisheries or hunting. Yet, only 20% are employed as waged workers, according to the World Bank. • In terms of agriculture, which represents 70% of freshwater withdrawals worldwide, a farmer’s job is heavily dependent on water, from managing the available resource, addressing groundwater depletion, climate change and water scarcity. • In some communities, including many in Africa, women and children have to walk for hours to collect safe water. This is a demanding job that is not recognised as such or paid. It’s important this changes to help empower and improve the lives of women. So, whether it’s the presence of water, its quality or its quantity, it’s easy to see how it has such a significant impact on workers across the globe. It’s certainly time to shine a light on the topic this World Water Day –better water, better jobs. Water sits at the very heart of the Eden business, so this year’s theme really resonates with us. We are proud supporters of projects to provide clean water to communities in need in Africa and we’ll be telling you more about these in an upcoming blog.
