AMNA RAZZAQ
World Water Day dates back to the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development where an international observance for water was recommended. The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day. It has been held annually since then. Each year, UN-Water – the entity that coordinates the UN’s work on water and sanitation – sets a theme for World Water Day corresponding to a current or future challenge. The engagement campaign is coordinated by one or several of the UN-Water Members with a related mandate. Each year, this very day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. The Water for Life Decade was launched on World Water Day in 2005. This decade ran from 2005 to 2015 and gives a high profile to women’s participation and the UN’s water-related programs. In 2015, World Water Day has the theme “Water and Sustainable Development.” World water day is celebrated throughout the world to increase the awareness of people towards the importance of water in various field of life including the environment, health, agriculture and trade. It is celebrated by organizing variety of events and activities such as visual art, theatrical and musical celebrations of water, excursions to the local ponds, lakes, rivers and reservoirs, symposium at local, national and international level over water management and safety, distributing messages through TV and radio channels or internet, educational events based on the importance of clean water and conservative measures, competitions and so many activities. The main symbol of the World Water Day celebration is the shape of water drop of blue color. Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. Under the theme ‘Water and Jobs’, the year 2016 provides an important opportunity to consolidate and build upon the previous World Water Days to highlight the two-way relationship between water and the decent work agenda in the quest for sustainable development. UN-Water supports the World Water Day campaign and sets the theme each year. At the World Water Week 2014, UN-Water presents the plan for the World Water Day 2016 campaign, which is coordinated by ILO with the support of other UN-Water Members and Partners.
Although Pakistan also celebrates World Water Day, yet its case is different from other countries, as India has stared water terrorism against Pakistan. In this context, with reference to India and Pakistan, the water crisis needs special notice. Since their mutual formation in 1947, India and Pakistan have engaged in three major wars and countless other skirmishes and diplomatic rows. With at least 100 nuclear warheads in each other’s arsenals, the prospect of a South Asian atomic holocaust casts a dark shadow over the entire region. However, the most important issue that divides these longtime enemies is not necessarily nuclear arms nor territorial disputes over Kashmir or a hundred other contentious subjects — rather, the dominant overriding conflict between India and Pakistan lies with the simplest, but most crucial, necessity of life: water. And with the concurrent factors of rising populations and global climate change, the scarcity of water could make all other problems and disagreements between India and Pakistan seem quite irrelevant. Indeed, the lack of access to clean, safe drinking water not only poses a threat to hundreds of millions of people’s lives on the subcontinent, but could conceivably lead to another war. India intends to gain monopoly over all rivers flowing into Pakistan to coerce Pakistan economically and militarily while converting arid land of Punjab (Pakistan) into wasteland. Such actions portray her as water thief in the region. The stoppage of river water by India is a practical evidence of India’s nefarious, malicious and hegemonic designs against Pakistan. It is also a warrant suggesting that Pakistan should develop its own water reservoirs/dams at priority. The Asia Development Bank’s recent report has stated that Pakistan is going to be “water scarce” by 2020.
International World Water Day tries to remind people about the significance of fresh water and to promote sustainability for fresh water resources’ management. It’s a day to celebrate water. It’s a day to prepare for how we manage water in the future. Each year World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. For 2016 this will be: Water and jobs. The event includes official and milestone events as well as many other events organized by various stakeholders around the world. Global water use has tripled since 1950; and by 2025 the demand for fresh water is expected to rise 56% above the amount available. We need to do a better job of keeping our water drinkable and fishable. There’s no time to waste in seeking sustainable watershed management solutions. Awareness of the seriousness of water problems has evolved gradually over the years, and important recommendations have been formulated since the United Nations Water Conference in Mar del Plata (Argentina) in 1977. Other events that have focused on water issues include the 1992 International Conference on Water and the Environment, convened by the UN Organizations in Dublin, Ireland, and the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. The Ministerial Conference on Drinking Water and Environmental Sanitation held in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, in March 1994 adopted an action program to ensure follow-up to Agenda 21, Chapter 18 on Freshwater Resources. In 1994, the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development requested a comprehensive assessment of the world’s freshwater resources, including projects of future needs. The results of the study will be considered by the 1997 special session of the UN General Assembly reviewing the implementation of Agenda 21. The NWNL website is a go-to resource which feels it’s important to share management approaches upstream and downstream, from river to river, and across oceans. Likewise there is need to raise voice against Indian encroachments and violations of Indus Water Treaty so as to save the country from worst shortage of water. Similarly Pakistan should immediately take up this grave matter in the UNSC and International Court of Justice and under the UN deputed unbiased Commission carryout on spot inspection of all the spots on Rivers Chenab, Jhelum and Indus where dams have been/are being built and put an end to India’s madness. And United Nations recommendations should be followed with true letter and spirit. World Water Day invites states and stakeholders to devote this day to concrete activities highlighting specific aspects or distributing information. It is also an outstanding opportunity to share best practices, making a sustainable contribution as part of efforts to tackle the consequences of climate change and the resource revolution.
