The 2016 World Water Day was observed in ceremonies around Korea on March 22 with a big ceremony taking place at BEXCO in Busan jointly managed by both the ministries of land, infrastructure and aviation and environment telling the importance of water to humans and call for cooperation of every country in the world to solve the problems associated with water including its shortages every year since its establishment in 1992 by the United Nations.
UN designated this year’s theme for the event as Water and Jobs to show the importance of water for creating jobs around the world.
The ceremony at BEXCO in Busan on March 22 was attended by some 2,500 people from various levels and sectors of the country led by Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, Minister Yoon Sung-kyu of the Ministry of Environment, Vice Minister Choi Jungho of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, K-water President Choi Kye-woon, and Busan Mayor Suh Byung-kyu, among other dignitaries.
Prime Minister Hwang presented the medals, citations and prizes to 16 people who made outstanding contributions to control of water in Korea including Professor Choi Seung-il of the Environment System Engineering Dep’t of Korea University who won the Order of Flushing Compliment Medal. He was the 10th chairman of the Korea Potable Water Academic Society and had a role in the Five-year Water Development Plan and legislations of various laws governing the reuse of water and the support for the water resources development projects making a great contribution to the development of water control projects in Korea.
Some 711 water-related organizations around the country mobilizing some 175,000 people held ceremonies to celebrate the World Water Day as they did every year this year.
World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day.
Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. In 2015, World Water Day has the theme "Water and Sustainable Development".
In 2016, the theme is "Water and Jobs," in 2017 "Wastewater" and in 2018 "Nature-based Solutions for Water".
2015 is a seminal year with the intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda. Given water’s essential role for development, the focus of the 2015 World Water Day is on ‘Water and Sustainable Development’ with UNDP as the lead coordinator.
“Water is at the core of sustainable development” is a key quote in UN-Water’s ‘Strategy to 2020’. Yet few fully understand what sustainable development means and if they have a definition, it likely differs from another person’s. This is why World Water Day: The 2015 Campaign will tell the sustainability story around water. It aims to raise awareness and inspire global action. For this to happen, there needs to be strong learning component as sustainability means weaving water into a wide range of issues, from WASH to energy, from food to industry.
Water and energy are closely interlinked and interdependent. Energy generation and transmission requires utilization of water resources, particularly for hydroelectric, nuclear, and thermal energy sources. Conversely, about 8% of the global energy generation is used for pumping, treating and transporting water to various consumers.
_물의날 01.jpg)
_물의날 04.jpg)
_물의날 로고.png)
