The World Water Day will be observed in the country today (Friday) as elsewhere in the globe, reports BSS.

This year's World Water Day theme is 'Water For Peace'.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages on the eve of the day.

The President, in his message, said to ensure balanced availability of water, equitable distribution and sustainable use of water from source to consumer must be ensured through proper management of water resources.

The head of the state said that global public awareness needs to be raised on the impact of climate change and the sustainable use, conservation and sustainable management of water resources.

There is no alternative to water for agriculture, transportation, fish production and urbanisation and industrialisation in Bangladesh which is a country of rivers, he added.

In her message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the Water Act, the National Water Policy and the Water Regulations have already been formulated with the aim of introducing water resource management and water use discipline.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in his World Water Day message, emphasized the urgent need for increased transboundary water cooperation:

“Water for peace is the theme of this year’s World Water Day. Achieving it relies on far greater cooperation. Today, 153 countries share water resources. Yet only twenty-four have reported cooperation agreements for all their shared water. We must accelerate efforts to work together across borders, and I urge all countries to join and implement the United Nations Water Convention – which promotes managing shared water resources sustainably.“

As we gear up to celebrate World Water Day for this year, here are a few things that we must remember:

History: An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro. The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution by which 22 March of each year was declared World Day for Water, to be observed starting in 1993, in conformity with the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) contained in Chapter 1.

Significance: World Water Day celebrates water and inspires action to tackle the global water crisis. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030. World Water Day is an annual United Nations Observance – held on 22 March – focusing on the importance of freshwater, coordinated by UN-Water and led by one or more UN-Water Members and Partners with a related mandate," wrote the United Nations on their official website. The day aims to create conversations and raise awareness about the importance of saving water.