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World Water Day was conceived during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in 1992. Since then the goal of the annual celebration has been to draw attention to the need for sustainable management of this vital resource. Each year World Water Day places attention on a different aspect of freshwater. 

This year's theme, water & gender underscores the belif that safe water and sanitation are human rights and critical enablers of equality. The campaign's slogan, "Where Water Flows, Equality Grows", was chosen to promote action on Sustainable Development Goal 6, "safe water and snitation for all" and SDG5, gender equality and empowerment of women and girls.

World Water Day 2025 provides teachers and students with excellent opportunities to explore the essential nature of water and contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal #6.

Why Care about World Water Day?

• Clean, freshwater is a basic requirement for all life. 
• Currently, >2.1 billion people live without access to safe drinking water. (UN Water, 2025)
• In places where people lack safe drinking water and sanitation close to home, inequalitites flourish with women and girls bearing the brunt. They are the ones who must collect the water, manage the water and care for people who get sick from unsafe water
• As a result, they lose time, opportunities and suffer greater health and safety risks
• While 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water, less than .003% of this water is potable
• Human activities and climate change are causing serious depletion and pollution of the groundwater in many parts of the world
• Canada ranks second in the world in per capita use of water ( Canada.ca 2024)
• For many of the 400,000 Canadians living on First Nations reserves, access to safe drinking water remains a major challenge
• Water is an integral part of the earth’s web of ecosystems, providing critical habitat for wildlife.
• Canadians depend on healthy aquatic ecosystems to provide essential economic and social services
• As climate change impacts increase, there is an urgent need, within and between countries, to unite around protecting and conserving our most precious resource

Resources 4 Rethinking encourages students and teachers to participate in World Water Day. Top R4R Picks will connect you to some excellent resources to support these efforts.

For more information and ideas be sure to check out World Water Day