United Nations World Water Day
March 22, 2023
The United Nations’ World Water Day is March 22, 2023. The Walk for Water to Shut Down Red Hill committee recognizes World Water Day and acknowledges the importance and life-sustaining necessity of freshwater for the global community.
What is World Water Day? The first UN World Water Day was held in 1993, and has been held every year since. The purpose of World Water Day is to focus on the importance of freshwater. Each year there is a theme. The theme for the 2023 World Water Day is “Accelerating Change”, and highlights the importance of freshwater, and advocates for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. (For more information on World Water Day go to https://www.worldwaterday.org)
The United Nations also sponsors the World Water Week, August 20-24, 2023. This event will be held in Stockholm, Sweden. The 2023 World Water Week theme is “Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World.”
All around the world there are some 2.2 billion people who do not have direct access to freshwater. Water is life, and without freshwater, the lives of these people are relegated to poverty, life-threatening living conditions, and a bleak future. Here in Hawaii, and specifically, on O’ahu, we are sustained by our sole-source aquifer which has provided the sweetest, most purest water for generations. Our aquifer has been exposed to toxic jet fuel leaking from the Red Hill bulk Fuel Storage Facility, and more recently, a leak of “forever chemicals” has further threatened the very existence of our way of life.
Unfortunately, we are not alone. World Water Day is an opportunity for uniting together across the globe, to make a difference, by changing the way we view water, how we consume water, and how we need to manage our water resources. We need to stand firm and protect our water from the actions and inactions of the Navy, the derelict stewards of Red Hill. Our Walk for Water is part of the change necessary to move forward and will be registered as an event of World Water Day. We hope to see you on Sunday, April 23, 2023! Ola i ka wai! Water is life!