World Water Day...Goals Retreating, Accelerating Change Is Urgent Requirement

Doha, March 21 (QNA) - Countries of the world will celebrate on Wednesday, March 22, the World Water Day for the year 2023. This year's theme is 'Accelerate Change" to solve the water and sanitation crisis, with the aim of raising awareness of all matters related to water and inspiring others to take the necessary measures towards the most important challenges facing the population of the planet today, which is water scarcity, that comes as a result of natural and human causes and factors. The main focus of this occasion is to support Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which stipulates the need to address the issue of water availability and sanitation facilities for all by 2030. Dysfunction throughout the water cycle undermines progress on all major global issues, from health to hunger, gender equality to jobs, education to industry, and disasters to peace. Access to water, sanitation and hygiene is a human right, but billions of people and countless schools, businesses, healthcare centers, farms, and factories still face daily challenges in accessing even the most basic services. The State of Qatar, along with the rest of the world, celebrates this occasion, out of its awareness of the importance of water and the need to save it, rationalize its consumption and manage its resources in a way that achieves sustainability, especially since these aspirations are in line with Qatar National Vision, which aims to transform the country by 2030 into a state capable of ensuring the continuation of a decent life for its people, generation after generation. The State of Qatar is also working to sustain the provision of high-quality water services and is continually striving to upgrade them to the best levels while adhering to local and international health and safety standards, and this is implemented through a comprehensive strategy to achieve integrated and sustainable management of the country's water resources and through the national program, Tarsheed, which succeeded in reducing the water consumption rate per capita in the country by a large percentage. Over the past years, Kahramaa has succeeded in meeting the increasing demand for water in the country, despite an annual increase in water consumption, and achieved its strategic goals by consolidating the water security in the state, increasing the capacity of the strategic water reserve, and raising the capacity of the water system to enable it to cope with severe emergencies, as the storage capacity was increased from 1,000 to 2,400 million gallons, creating an increase of 140% in Kahramaa's drinking water reserves. In 2022, Kahramaa launched the National Water Control Center, after completing its renovation and development work, and announced establishing the National Emergency Control Center. This launching came within the framework of the long-term strategic plan 2030 of the corporation, and to ensure the flow of water services at the highest levels. Kahramaa continued its achievements and successes in ensuring water security in Qatar through the completion of many projects and works to provide safe and healthy water to all residents. The total annual water production in Qatar reached 671 million cubic meters in 2022. New water networks with a length of 151km were launched to improve the performance of the water network and connect new customers in response to high demand, urban expansion, and great economic renaissance taking place in the country. To enhance the water security in Qatar, Kahramaa added an additional 64 million gallons in mega reservoir projects, equivalent to 4.5% of the total capacity of the project, bringing the total of what was launched to 1,421 million gallons, 100% of the target capacity. The water storage margin rose to 2,396 million gallons, compared to 2,332 million gallons in the same period in 2021. 

In a message marking World Water Day, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that water is the lifeblood of our world, "but drop by drop, this precious lifeblood is being poisoned by pollution and drained by vampiric overuse, with water demand expected to exceed supply by 40 per cent by decade's end." "Meanwhile, climate change is wreaking havoc on water's natural cycle," Guterres said, adding that this is worsening water-related disasters, disease outbreaks, water shortages and droughts, while inflicting damage to infrastructure, food production and supply chains. The theme of this year’s World Water Day reminds us of the cost of these failures on the billions of people who lack access to safe water and sanitation, he said, stressing that the world is "dramatically and dangerously off track to reaching our goal of safely managed water and sanitation for all by 2030." "The United Nations Water Conference, which kicks off today, is a critical moment for national Governments, local and regional authorities, businesses, scientists, youth, civil society organizations and communities to join forces, and co-design and invest in solutions to achieve clean water and sanitation for all," he added. "We don't have a moment to lose. Let's make 2023 a year of transformation and investment for humanity's lifeblood," the UN Secretary-General said in his message. In a similar message on the occasion, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said "Not only is water the source of all life, but it is also the foundation for the health and development of our societies. Water is thus at the confluence of the objectives of UNESCO and the United Nations: for how can we learn well, how can we be in good health, how can we build a world of peace and justice, in a world that is thirsty, or that makes itself sick by drinking water that is unfit for consumption?" "And yet, today, according to the United Nations, 2 billion people do not have access to water. It is therefore urgent to act, to ensure access to water and sanitation for all - and this is all the more urgent as the consequences of climate change are already being felt and threaten to aggravate droughts and water shortages, as well as the scale and frequency of floods," she noted. "At UNESCO, we have long been convinced of the value of this cooperative approach, whether through our Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme, which over five decades has gradually brough together 169 National Committees; or with the UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme, the 29 independent UNESCO water centres and the 70 UNESCO university Chairs on water," Azoulay added. (QNA)