Santa Monica College Afro-Brazilian dance students perform during World Water Day on Monday, March 22, 2010. International World Water Day is held annually on March 22 as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

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The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

 

In many communities around the world, women and children must walk up to 6 miles a day to retrieve clean water for their families. The Walk for Water on World Water Day is a symbolic act of solidarity and an effort to educate the public about the World Water Crisis. The world water crisis is one of the largest public health issues of our time.  Worldwide, nearly 1.1 billion people (roughly 20% of the world’s population) lack access to safe drinking water . The lack of clean, safe drinking water is estimated to kill almost 4,500 children per day. In fact, out of the 2.2 million unsafe drinking water deaths in 2004, 90% were children under the age of five]. Water is essential to the treatment of diseases, something especially critical for children.

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