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A young boy looks upwards as he collects water in his hands.

World Water Day:
22 March

World Water Day

World Water Day, on 22 March every year, is a United Nations day to draw attention to something which most of us take for granted – clean water.

Water is just the beginning…

At WaterAid, we believe water is the beginning of a better world. 

Access to safe, clean water transforms people's lives: it can prevent disease, save time, empower women and keep children in school. And when all those changes happen together the transformation is amazing.

Safe water has changed everything in the village of Alakamisy, Madagascar.

Join us on a journey to meet the residents and hear their stories first-hand >

A women carrying a water container to a house

World Water Day

For WaterAid, it is a key day to highlight the fact that some 768 million people worldwide still lack access to safe, clean drinking water.

We believe this is unacceptable, and we use World Water Day as a moment in the calendar to draw attention to the issue, and ask people, organisations and governments everywhere to do something about it.

This year, globally, WaterAid supported The World Walks for Water and Sanitation, an incredible global movement calling for urgent action to tackle the world's water and sanitation crisis. This campaign also calls on governments around the world to Keep their promises on water and sanitation.

As well as supporting these actions, you can find out more about how we marked World Water Day in some of our member countries below:

#20ways in 20 days

By joining our countdown to World Water Day on Twitter and Facebook you helped to show that investment in water and sanitation can be the beginning of a better world. Below are all 20 of the #20ways images. Thank you for helping spread awareness of just some of the ways water changes lives!

Three girls washing their hands. 'Way 1 - Water is just the beginning because it stops disease spreading'.
Woman holding up a sign that reads 'We are exposed to rape when we go long distance to fetch water'. Way 2 - Water is just the beginning because it makes life safer for women.
Teacher in a classroom with students. Way 3 - Water is just the beginning because it attracts teachers to schools.
A woman with her daughter.
An elderly woman with her family, smiling.
A nurse examining a pregnant woman in hospital.
A woman in her shop
A woman in her shop
A woman in her shop
A woman in her shop
A woman in her shop
A woman in her shop
A woman in her shop
A woman in her shop
A woman in her shop
A woman in her shop
A woman in her shop

Highlights

We've used Storify to capture just some of the many highlights on what was a very exciting World Water Day indeed!