By Er. Mohammad Ashraf Fazili
Water means different things to different people. This conversation is about what water means to us. How is water important to our home and family life, our livelihood, our cultural practices, our well-being, our local environment? In households, schools and workplaces, water can mean health, hygiene, dignity, and productivity. In cultural, religious, and spiritual places, water can mean a connection with creation, community, and oneself. In natural spaces, water can mean peace, harmony, and preservation. Today, water is under extreme threat from a growing population, increasing demands of agriculture and industry, and the worsening impacts of climate change. By recording – and celebrating – all the different ways water benefits our lives, we can value water properly and safeguard it effectively for everyone.
The value of water can be imagined by this example: Once Khalifa Haroon Rashid of Baghdad was asked by a mystic Bahlol, that if he would be passing through a desert and there would be no water around and you will be thirsty, In this state of distress, if some one offers you a glass of water, what will you give him in return? The Khalifa replied, “I will give him half of my kingdom to save my life.” Bahlol asked, “and if you are not able to pass this water as urine, what will you do?” The king replied, “I will offer the balance half of my kingdom to him, who can help me to pass the urine.” Next Bahlol told to the Khalifa, “So a glass of water is more valuable than your kingdom, in which you are involved round the clock.”
SDG 6 is to ensure water and sanitation for all. Without a comprehensive understanding of water’s true, multidimensional value, we will be unable to safeguard this critical resource for the benefit of everyone.
The Holy Quran reveals:
1) Verily We created man from a product of wet earth (23:12)
2) We made every living thing of water (21:30)
3) Allah had created every animal of water (24:45)
The above Quranic verses are direct, clear and self-explanatory. These Holy verses do not need any interpretation. The metaphysics of Quran has a link with the physical universe, man and his conduct. It is surprising to find the great consonance of science with the verses of the Holy Quran, especially the water content of the protoplasm with the Holy Quranic verses which reveals:And He it is Who hath created man from water, and hath appointed for him kindred by blood and kindred by marriage; for thy lord is Ever-Powerful. (25:34)
The above Holy verses reveal that all living things contain water. Science is in complete similarity with the Quran which reveals that it is the protoplasm of living man and of living things which contain 85 % to 90 % water.God created all matter, it expands with heat and contracts with cold. Against this, when water freezes it expands and increases in size. The chemical reaction of an element, when mixed with other elements, varies with different elements: Who has created this wonderful liquid “water”? It is made up of two elements, one of which (hydrogen) is inflammable, while the other (oxygen) is non-flammable. i.e., it does not itself burn but helps other elements to burn; yet when the two are made into the compound we call water, they extinguish fire. Who else other than God could create elements with such amazing properties and characteristics?Even the surface of the globe is covered with over 70% water. But the usable water is of very meagre quantity that exists in the form of glaciers, lakes, springs, rivers, streams, aquifers and under-ground water, clouds, rains and snow etc., which need to be protected from pollution.SDG 6 is to ensure availability and sustainable management of water for all, by 2030. By definition, this means leaving no one behind.
But today still billions of people are living without safe water- their households, schools, workplaces, farms and factories, struggling to survive and thrive.
Marginalized groups – women, children, refugees, indigenous peoples, disabled people and many others- are often overlooked, and sometimes face discrimination, as they try to access and manage the safe water they need.
Water is everybody’s human right.
With access to sanitation, safe water underpins public health and is therefore critical to sustainable development and a stable and prosperous world.
It is rightly said that we cannot move forward as a global society while so many people are living without safe water.
Sustainable Development Goal 6 envisages by 2030:
6.1: Achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.
6.2: Achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations,
6.3: Improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, having the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.
6.4: Substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity.
6.5: By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through trans-boundary cooperation as appropriate.
6.6 : To restore and protect water-relayed ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes.
On the day itself, the United Nations World Water Development Report is also released, focusing on the same topic as the campaign and recommending policy direction to decision makers.
The United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR), is the UN-Water flagship report on water. It is a comprehensive review that gives an overall picture of the state, use and management of the world’s freshwater resources and aims to provide decision-makers with tools to formulate and implement sustainable water policies.
From 2003 till 2012, the WWDR was produced and released every three years following a comprehensive approach. As a result of a Global Stakeholder Survey in 2012, UN-Water decided to change the periodicity of the WWDR into an annual production with a thematic focus on different strategic water issues. The content produced for the WWDR serves as basis for the celebrations of World Water Day (22 March) and related discussions throughout the year.
Through a series of assessments, the Reports provide a mechanism for monitoring changes in the resource and its management and tracking progress towards achieving targets, particularly those of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Reports also offer best practices as well as in-depth theoretical analyses to help stimulate ideas and actions for better stewardship in the water sector.
This authoritative publication is the result of a highly concerted process among partners and members comprising UN-Water under the coordination of WWAP.
Foundation of the Report
The WWDR was founded in response to a call from the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) to produce a UN system-wide periodic global overview of the status (quantity and quality), use and management of freshwater resources.
In 2015, countries adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Universal, inclusive and indivisible, the Agenda calls for action by all countries to improve the lives of people everywhere, and achievement of a large number of the SDGs is dependent upon the access to safe and sufficient water. In effect, the progress of a country towards the SDGs can partly be measured by assessing that country’s water situation.
As such, the WWDR is part of an ongoing worldwide assessment project to measure progress towards achieving the goals of sustainable development set out by the United Nations. It belongs to a lineage of commitments and efforts made in the international community to resolve the world’s water problems, an effort that dates back several decades.
The WWDR seeks to answer the questions being asked by the international community: how far have we come towards meeting the targets of sustainable development? How far have we yet to do? What actions can we take to make the path smoother, and faster? In today’s changing world, the Report takes stock of past actions, present challenges, and future opportunities in order to provide decision-makers with up-to-date, reliable information that can help to change the ways in which we use water.
The Targeted Audience
The WWDR is targeted to all those involved in the formulation and implementation of water-related policies and investment strategies, as well as to professionals at all levels. Although it offers a broad global picture, it focuses particularly on the situation in developing countries, where the need for better infrastructure and water governance is highest. With the report, WWAP is aiming to show where systems are failing, and to provide the information needed for efficient and effective capacity-building throughout the world.
Gender Mainstreaming
WWAP has been a leader in mainstreaming gender into all of its projects and publications, such as the World Water Development Reports. The Advisory Group on Gender Equality was created in 2010, with the aim of assisting WWAP in implementing gender equality considerations in its products, in particular in the World Water Development Reports (WWDR). The group provides guidance and feedback on the implementation of the gender mainstreaming in WWAP publications and is comprised of experts from all over the world.
We need to realize that fresh water is not an unlimited commodity and we have to ensure optimal, economical, equitable and sustainable use of our water resources. On this water day, we need to put our heads together and take effective, drastic and innovative measures to avoid wastage of even a drop of water, as our ecology, economic development and sustenance of human, animal and aquatic life is impossible without water.
Earth being the only planet, discovered so far, having life because of carrying water in it. No water means no life. So one can realize the importance of water having two atoms of Hydrogen and one atom of oxygen having a formula of H2O a name of God in Arabic language in “Hoo” and hence to abuse water means abusing God, which is a sin punishable by hell-fire.
Er. Mohammad Ashraf Fazili is a Former Chief Engineer
