The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund issued a joint report on the occasion of World Water Week 2025.

According to it, 2.1 billion people, or one out of four of the world population, fail to be supplied with safe drinking water, and 106 million of them use unrefined water, while 3.4 billion live in poor sanitary conditions and 611 million have no sanitary facilities at all.

A survey of 70 countries showed that women and girls devote more than 30 minutes to getting drinking water a day and therefore the percentages of school attendance and participation in social activities of teenage girls in particular are remarkably low.

Experts argue that without safe drinking water and sanitary facilities, children’s health, education and future will be at risk.

At present, the water crisis is one of the three major threats to mankind along with environmental and food crises. The steady population increase and the rapid economic growth are further boosting demand for water. In comparison with such need, the water resources available to humans are extremely limited and, worse still, they are continuously being depleted due to a variety of factors.

Scarce water resources are creating social instability and may lead to serious conflicts among countries. The outbreak of the third Middle East war in the 1960s is mainly attributed to water resources. There are 263 rivers flowing through different countries in the world.

The World Bank had already warned that whereas the 20th century was an era of oil dispute, the 21st century would be an era of water dispute. It is by no means accidental that the media is concerned that the third world war may break out due to the water problem.

The reality requires the international community to actively protect water resources guaranteeing the existence of mankind and economic development.

Accordingly, many countries have taken positive measures to overcome the water crisis.

Many Asian countries are directing efforts to afforestation and acquiring of new water resources. They are pushing ahead with the projects to turn seawater and sewage into new water resources by using the seawater desalination technology and sewage treatment technology and to build underground reservoirs for making effective use of groundwater.

An African country is actively applying water-saving farming methods such as the cultivation of drought-tolerant crops and varieties and dripping irrigation in the agricultural sector, while calling on citizens to install water-saving equipment in offices and homes.

Information activities are conducted in different countries to inform people of the seriousness and consequences of the water problem and the importance of water saving in order to encourage them to actively turn out in the efforts to solve the problem.

To protect water resources and make effective use of water is one of the vital tasks facing mankind.